this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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Brisbane won the Olympics on an everything-is-already-built-so-no-blow-out-in-cost-likely campaign, and they were basically the only credible bid so got it with no contest. I think the Gabba is being upgraded because it was due for a face-lift anyway. Something like that - bris olympics is different situation.
And I think Bris Olympics only lacks accommodation facilities which will be built, then those apartments will very much help with the housing crisis after Olympics, so it all works and helps the city in the long run.
And pretty large satellite cities share the load, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, is a point of difference also.
Thats's my vague understanding, but don't quote me.
That was definitely how it was sold, for sure. It seems to be rather less true in practice than it actually was stated, though. Among the works being done:
I'm actually pretty pro-Olympics in general, especially compared to the majority of the Brisbane threddiverse, but these specifically are problems that do bug me.
The Olympic Committee specifically asked for bids that emphasized no-budget-blowouts due to many previous Olympics essentially bankrupting cities and the bad rep that was causing to the Olympics brand, and Brisbane's bid was the only one that stacked up to scrutiny, is what I understand. So at least it wasn't just politicians by themselves blowing smoke up are collective arses for a change - there was some kind of scrutiny.
I think the Gabba is a special case. They have been wanting to expand/fix the Gabba district for ages - the two 4-lane roads on either side that the back of the stands over-hang has been a problem forever. Olympics has given them a chance to fix the whole thing, link it up with the river better. They put in the bus tunnels to fix access fairly recently. Adelaide Oval had similar growing pains - that stadium put in large sail structures back in the 2000's that were completely redone only 5 or 10 years later. The Gabba is a signature bit of infrastructure in the inner city worth doing - they will probably use it for big concerts and so on. The whole of the inner Brisbane city is coming along nicely, Southbank and bikeway upgrades and bridges, docks - it's getting there.
The Olympics aren't the Commonwealth games, it's a global audience - think commonwealth games + china, north and south america, the rest of Europe. And Brisbane is an obscure city on the world stage, but has amazing weather and natural tourists attraction, theme parks - I think Brisbane will get value for money, put it on the map.