“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.”
-Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1864-1912)
Chicago gets the nod over L.A. to represent the United States for the bid to win the 2016 summer games. Now we’re expected to go up against Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Rome, Tokyo and Prague.
Applause for Mayor Daley, Patrick Ryan, and everyone who put in countless hours winning the bid. Daley adores big bold projects, and often gets what he wants (sometimes through totalitarian force), so it should be interesting to see what happens next.
More coverage from the Chicago Tribune and details at Wikipedia.
carlivar
on 14 Apr 07I still don’t understand why the people of Chicago tolerate Daley after that Meigs Field incident. Chicago politics disgust me.
Andy
on 14 Apr 07Considering that even the dead vote in Chicago, it’s hard to get rid of him. Plus, it’s kind of comical when he gets all red-faced on television over something. But I’m not saying that an entertaining government is better than an effective one.
The true irony though is that building Meigs Field was one of his father’s pet projects when he was Mayor.
Anonymous Coward
on 14 Apr 07I still don’t understand why the people of Chicago tolerate Daley after that Meigs Field incident. Chicago politics disgust me.
All you have to do is to live in Chicago to see why. This city has gotten so good over the past 15 years it’s insane. It’s far from perfect, but as far as major cities go Chicago’s got it.
Plus it’s like anything else… You ignore what doesn’t affect you and pay attention to the things that do. For the vast majority of the voting public, Daley is a huge asset to Chicago. That’s why he was just reelected with over 70% of the vote for his 5th term.
Daley gets great things done for the city more than he does bad things for the city. Until there’s a real challenger that can convince voters otherwise, people will continue to vote for Daley in large numbers. I sure will.
Garth KATNER
on 14 Apr 07Sure we got graft but many other cities around the world, our graft gets things done. That’s why they call it the Chicago Way.
Paul M. Watson
on 14 Apr 07They should win for that logo alone. I really think it is lovely.
Midnight X
on 14 Apr 07Agree with Anon, with King Richard you have a benevolent dictator and one of the more efficient forms of government as far as getting things done. The corruption tax we are paying is another matter but, at the end of the day, the city is more beautiful than ever and it is a fantastic place to live. Also, how can you not like the ballsyness of that bulldozing maneuver? :)
My only request is that with this Olympic bid in hand, he’d use his Meigs-like negotiation skills to bash some heads together at the CTA and get the El working again.
carlivar
on 14 Apr 07I guess it depends on how you define “good”. Is the highest sales tax in the country good?
Don’t get me wrong, I like Chicago a bunch – just can’t stand the political machine style of government.
And again… Meigs Field… that was just plain illegal. Digging up an airport in the middle of the night?! I don’t understand how King Richard II got away with that one (I guess see aforementioned political machine).
carlivar
on 14 Apr 07Also, how can you not like the ballsyness of that bulldozing maneuver?
Was it ballsy to use 9/11 as an excuse? I think that was pretty sad.
Anonymous Coward
on 14 Apr 07hg
jonathan segal
on 15 Apr 07Congrats, Chicago.
Just recently read “Devil in the White City”, fantastic book all about Daniel Burnham and Chicago’s hosting of the late 1800’s Worlds Fair. Kick-ass story and an Olympics in Chicago would be great.
Steven Andrew Miller
on 15 Apr 07I still don’t understand why the people of Chicago tolerate Daley after that Meigs Field incident. Chicago politics disgust me.
I used to feel the same way. Then I moved to Chicago and saw what the alternative to Daley was (i.e., the other people who would-be mayor). Then I understood.
Just take a look at what is going on with the Cook County government.
Peter Fein
on 15 Apr 07As a 10+ year resident,
DEAR GOD, PLEASE DON’T SEND THE OLYMPICS TO CHICAGO!
The Olympics are likely to be yet another nail in the coffin of Burnham’s vision. As for the city being well run & Daley’s continuing popularity… not so much
Rob Goodlatte
on 15 Apr 07I agree with Paulthat logo is the coolest Olympics logo I’ve ever seen.
Mark Gallagher
on 15 Apr 07Huge win for the City and the Mayor.
The City is Chicago.
The Mayor is Daley.
Well done.
Cheers, Mark
J
on 15 Apr 07So LA won, then? NOT getting the Olympics is better than getting them. If there is one thing which represents bloat, greed, and distance from core values (other than Microsoft of course), it is the Olympics. Break it up.
Robert Atkins
on 15 Apr 07The logo is “lovely”? It’s the “coolest Olympics logo I’ve ever seen”?
Rubbish. It’s divinely inspired brilliance. Who did it? Where’s a link to their blog post about it?
vsa
on 15 Apr 07Logo was designed by VSA Partners. More here:
http://vsapartners.com/news.asp?article=63
http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?commentID=1124
Thomas
on 15 Apr 07I personally feel the London 2012 logo is a great logo too. I like the simplicity of the Chicago, and its subtle skyline, but you can’t beat this.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e4/London-2012-logo.svg/800px-London-2012-logo.svg.png
This emblem, which was created for London’s successful bid, includes the Olympic rings with the title “London 2012.” The ribbon winding through the title represents the path of the River Thames through London. Until a new design is revealed, the candidate bid logo is being used.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics
Matt
on 16 Apr 07Jason-
Nice use of the Burnham quote. I wonder how many similiarities thee will between the “White City” of 1893 and the Olympics project?
Mike
on 16 Apr 07Matt, I hope there are not too many similarities, White City of 1893 was built to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus landing (make that 401st anniversary since it was a year late). Just like Daley’s Millenium Park (opened 3 years late), hopefully this won’t become the Summer Olympics 2017.
Dan Boland
on 16 Apr 07Chicago over LA shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but as a resident, I really really don’t want the Olympics to come to Chicago. Besides the fact that recent hosts like Sydney and Athens are still recovering from massive Olympic-related financial problems, the Olympic Games are barely relevant anymore, especially to Americans.
If King Richard II wants a big project, how about a mass transit system that isn’t a total fucking embarrassment?
TomC
on 16 Apr 07Da Olympics !!
Ken
on 19 Apr 07As a lifelong resident of the city, Ihope Chicago does not get the Olympics, simply because we can’t afford them. Chicago has terrible schools, a crumbling transit system, and an appalling lack of affordable housing. Thehair brained Daley administration has had eighteenyears to tackle these problems, but there just must not be any corruption dollars to be made by serving the people. It’s true, Daley got 70% of the last elections vote, but only 22% of the registered voters. This was against two unknown, underfunded candidates. My fear is that in 2016, the world will find out what a racist, backwater cow town Chicago still is! But who cares,when you got flowerpots.
Anonymous Coward
on 19 Apr 07It’s true, Daley got 70% of the last elections vote, but only 22% of the registered voters.
That’s the fault of the non-voters, not Daley. Put the blame where blame is due, not where’s it’s convenient.
This discussion is closed.