First Person: The Winners and the Losers of Olympic Host Cities

Hosting the Olympic games is an expensive proposition, but one that brings new life and revenue into a city and country. Over the years there have been some successes and some failures with regards to cities hosting the games. Some cities have spent carefully, partnering with private funding sources to build lasting developments that can provide benefits and use well beyond the games themselves.

Conversely, other cities have overspent greatly and received little in return. Cities can be left with expensive Olympic venues and buildings, with no future uses, leaving "white elephants."

Sadly, a recent loser is the home of the original Olympics: Athens, Greece. In what perhaps was a precursor to the country's current financial problems, Athens spent a staggering $16 billion to host the 2004 Olympics and built some 22 venues to host events. Currently, only six have been leased out, the balance sit vacant and unused. The buildings are now called "modern ruins" and included on tourist visits to the city. While the Olympics didn't cause the Greek debt crisis, they certainly didn't help. And now the country lacks the public funds necessary to renovate or convert the sites and buildings into parks or anything useful.

A unique Olympic success was the 1932 Olympics, hosted by Los Angeles. These games were held at the height of the Great Depression, which extended around the world, not just in the U.S. Times were so bad, no other city bid for the games, only LA. The Los Angeles Coliseum was built, along with other projects, many built with labor from the WPA, the government program that provided work to unemployed people.

The games were the first in modern history to ever pay for themselves, and even generated a profit. The games turned a profit of $1 million, a huge sum at that time, and helped the country and the world to forget about the difficult economic times for a short time. Aside from the beautiful Los Angeles Coliseum, which still stands today, another legacy is Olympic Boulevard, a major Los Angeles street. What was formerly 10th Street was re-named Olympic Blvd. in honor of the games.

The Los Angeles Olympics also brought the then-controversial concept of the Olympic Village, purpose-built bungalow housing just for the athletes. Even this became profitable as the units were later sold for housing and to construction companies.

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