A poll last year conducted by Olympics organizers found that 81 percent of Angelenos supported Los Angeles hosting the 2024 Olympics (more than double the amount of Bostonians who'd wanted that original US bid city to host the Games). But a new poll from Loyola Marymount University finds that, among LA County residents, 88 percent now hope LA will win the Games, reports KPCC.
Of that 88 percent, 56 percent strongly support the Games coming to LA, while 32 percent are just "somewhat supportive." Still, that's a lot of support for an event that's going to cost a lot of money and could seriously alter the city (for good or bad). Unfortunately, most of the 2,425 respondents who back the Olympics are hoping for the "economic boost" they'll bring (31 percent) or the jobs that it will create (18 percent), but "many economists say the actual economic impact Olympics have on cities is small." In fact, almost all Olympics are money losers overall, and Boston rejected the Games in large part because the city would be on the hook for overruns. (Mayor Eric Garcetti thinks LA will make money.)
Those who are anti-Olympics-in-LA are worried about traffic and the cost of the whole thing—an issue of hosting that city analysts have also wondered about. LA is still up against Euro heavy-hitters Rome, Budapest, and Paris in the battle to get the 2024 Olympics. (Hamburg withdrew in November.) Angelenos won't have any closure until 2017, when the International Olympic Committee chooses a host city.
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