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I live near Salt Lake City, in the US. We hosted the winter games in 2002. Much of the infrastructure required for a Winter Olympics is still available. So, the

I live near Salt Lake City, in the US. We hosted the winter games in 2002. Much of the infrastructure required for a Winter Olympics is still available. So, the powers that be are trying to leverage that to host another Olympics in 2030 or 2034. I believe a number of locals are excited about that. Getting to be that intimately involved in everything the Olympics offers is a unique experience. That said, if it came here every four years, the novelty would be gone and the harsh realities would set in. It would be great for tourism-related businesses but quality of life for locals would suffer. Perhaps the Summer Olympics could find a permanent home. I am not sure any one locale would want to perpetually host the Winter Olympics -- outside of those who believe they could build wealth upon it. It would start destroying the very reason you want to live in the mountains.

Eric_WVGG 5y ago
I was about to chime in and say, it makes more sense to give the Winter Olympics a permanent home than the Summer Olympics. The Winter events are more dependent on highly unpredictable weather, it would make more sense to pick a spot that was more or less guaranteed to get reliable snow for the next thirty years (Norway? Canada?) than roll the dice every time Sochi or Colorado wants attention.
- jmann99999 5y ago
  I agree, the weather is very unpredictable. If the Olympics were next year in Utah it would be a disaster. Because of the drought, there is little water. That makes snow making very difficult. Perhaps they would take water from others “for this higher purpose” but it doesn’t change the fact that there isn’t enough water. I’d love the Olympics in SLC in 2030 or 2034 but would support finding a place where the winter will remain for a while.
- tomjen3 5y ago
  There is a very obvious place host the summer olympics, which is Greece. That means that the amount of politiking that it takes will just be limiting to if we should do it or not. The amount of politiking about where to host the winter olympics would be insane. And with global warming I am not sure we could guarantee winter weather for the next 30 years anywhere on earth. Svalbard might be a place (and it is very nicely international).
prpl 5y ago
They would need to do something about housing, but that’s not as big of an issue as the other infrastructure. The last time it was a tiny bit of a fiasco with the U of U dorms/housing, but I’m sure AirBnB would be a huge hit. SLC is a no-brainer for winter sports, I’m not sure if it’s still the case but olympic athletes used to also attend Westminster for free too, so a lot of athletes lived there year round anyway.
- jmann99999 5y ago
  Good point. I think a decent amount of the U’s student housing was built by the 2002 Olympics. I’m not sure that could be replicated.
theandrewbailey 5y ago
> That said, if it came here every four years, the novelty would be gone and the harsh realities would set in. What if it happened once every 12-20 years? I read an article a few years ago (can't find it) that proposed that the Summer Olympics would be hosted on a permanent rotating schedule of 3-5 cities, and likewise, 3-5 different ones for the Winter Olympics (Salt Lake being one of them).
- jmann99999 5y ago
  I’d likely welcome that. The novelty would remain and new generations of folks would get to experience what’s great about the Olympics. The cost to rebuild infrastructure may be more at one time, as every 12 years (likely 3-4 years before the event) there would be a push to upgrade facilities, but I think that could be planned for. That is an interesting idea.

Eric_WVGG 5y ago

I was about to chime in and say, it makes more sense to give the Winter Olympics a permanent home than the Summer Olympics. The Winter events are more dependent on highly unpredictable weather, it would make more sense to pick a spot that was more or less guaranteed to get reliable snow for the next thirty years (Norway? Canada?) than roll the dice every time Sochi or Colorado wants attention.

jmann99999 5y ago
I agree, the weather is very unpredictable. If the Olympics were next year in Utah it would be a disaster. Because of the drought, there is little water. That makes snow making very difficult. Perhaps they would take water from others “for this higher purpose” but it doesn’t change the fact that there isn’t enough water. I’d love the Olympics in SLC in 2030 or 2034 but would support finding a place where the winter will remain for a while.
tomjen3 5y ago
There is a very obvious place host the summer olympics, which is Greece. That means that the amount of politiking that it takes will just be limiting to if we should do it or not. The amount of politiking about where to host the winter olympics would be insane. And with global warming I am not sure we could guarantee winter weather for the next 30 years anywhere on earth. Svalbard might be a place (and it is very nicely international).

prpl 5y ago

They would need to do something about housing, but that’s not as big of an issue as the other infrastructure. The last time it was a tiny bit of a fiasco with the U of U dorms/housing, but I’m sure AirBnB would be a huge hit. SLC is a no-brainer for winter sports, I’m not sure if it’s still the case but olympic athletes used to also attend Westminster for free too, so a lot of athletes lived there year round anyway.

jmann99999 5y ago
Good point. I think a decent amount of the U’s student housing was built by the 2002 Olympics. I’m not sure that could be replicated.

theandrewbailey 5y ago

> That said, if it came here every four years, the novelty would be gone and the harsh realities would set in. What if it happened once every 12-20 years? I read an article a few years ago (can't find it) that proposed that the Summer Olympics would be hosted on a permanent rotating schedule of 3-5 cities, and likewise, 3-5 different ones for the Winter Olympics (Salt Lake being one of them).

jmann99999 5y ago
I’d likely welcome that. The novelty would remain and new generations of folks would get to experience what’s great about the Olympics. The cost to rebuild infrastructure may be more at one time, as every 12 years (likely 3-4 years before the event) there would be a push to upgrade facilities, but I think that could be planned for. That is an interesting idea.