Displacement Week: "Chicago and the 2016 Olympics" (video)

A talk by Larry Bennett, Political Science Department, DePaul University. Chicago is one of seven finalists seeking the designation as host city for the 2016 summer Olympic Games. Eight years in advance of the Games, several major components of the Chicago proposal have been worked out and have drawn the attention of local residents and the media. Many other parts of the Chicago Olympic plan remain unspecified at this time. Among the uncertainties associated with the Chicago Olympic bid, and if Chicago wins the contest to host the 2016 Games, with the Games themselves, are the following: How will the Games be financed? What kind of overall economic boost can Chicago anticipate from hosting the 2016 Olympics? Are the city's neighborhoods where major Olympic facilities will be located--notably the mid-South Side Washington Park area, and the near-South Side lakefront--likely to benefit in any fundamental, long-term way from the Games?