Abandoned Places Thread VOL. Fascinating Scary Interesting

Rexanglorum said:
 
crcballer55 said:
http://www.businessinsider.com/2022...aign=Feed:+businessinsider+(Business+Insider)
 [h1]The Bidding For The 2022 Olympics Is A Disaster Because Everyone Figured Out That Hosting Is A Total Waste[/h1] 
Researchers have known for years that hosting large sporting events like the Olympics always costs more than expected and always yields less revenue and useful long-term infrastructure than estimated. Now voters and politicians in democratically elected countries are starting to realize the same thing.

Potential host cities are dropping out of the bidding process for the 2022 Winter Olympics like crazy.
Deadspin's Barry Petchesky has a breakdown of the cities that have scrapped their campaigns to host the event.
Krakow, Munich, and Davos/St. Moritz all withdrew their bids after the public voted against hosting. Stockholm withdrew after the city's government said that "revenues will likely be lower and costs higher" than estimated.
Oslo's bid is on life support amid mounting public opposition. And Lviv, Ukraine's bid looks to be all but finished in the face of widespread unrest in the country.
Bidding on the Olympics has been justified for years by one big economic lie: investing in hosting Olympic Games will lead to long-term economic growth.
It doesn't.
In a 2006 paper, "Mega-events: The effect of the world's biggest sporting events on local, regional, and national economics," Holy Cross economics professor Victor Matheson took this idea to task:
"Public expenditures on sports infrastructure and event operations necessarily entail reductions in other government services, an expansion of government borrowing, or an increase in taxation, all of which produce a drag on the local economy. At best public expenditures on sports-related construction or operation have zero net impact on the economy as the employment benefits of the project are matched by employment losses associated with higher taxes or spending cuts elsewhere in the system."
Matheson also argues that Olympic economic impact reports often ignore the significant costs for things like security and conflate "general infrastructure" with "sports infrastructure."
The things you need to stage a two-week bobsleigh event are different than the things you need for daily life.
The most obvious representation of this is "white elephants" — costly Olympic stadiums that now sit empty. From Sarajevo to Athens to (some fear) Sochi, former host cities are full of examples of buildings that served a specific purpose for two weeks during the Olympics and then immediately fell out of use.
Countries, at least democracies, are no longer buying the economic benefit argument. As a result, we could be headed into an era where only non-democratic governments will want to host the Olympics.
After dropping out of the bidding, Stockholm's ruling party issued a statement saying they had no use for Olympic infrastructure:
"Arranging a Winter Olympics would mean a big investment in new sports facilities, for example for the bobsleigh and luge."
"There isn't any need for that type of that kind of facility after an Olympics."
The final two bidders for the 2022 Olympics are Almaty, Kazakhstan — who's first and only president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, won 95% of the vote the most recent election, which was roundly criticized by international monitors — and Beijing, China.
The International Olympic Committee will vote for a 2022 host city on July 31, 2015.
 
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Great Article

It seems as if every academic economist agrees that these huge venue building projects have, at best, a neutral economic impact and it looks like the public is starting to agree.

I had no idea just how few bids are out there for the 2022 Olympics. That really is astounding. The article makes a good point that undemocratic states may be hosting the next several Olympic Games. I am still surprised that elected governments of major, First World cities do not put forth any bids. Special interests have special powers and while an NFL Stadium or an Olympic Games may be a net cost to the public, those projects redistribute wealth from the general public and towards a handful of construction magnates, hotel owners, politicians and other local elites.
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Ya, very suprising more major cities don't bid/host the Olympics. Especially ones that have hosted in the past and have some of the same infrastructure already in place. The more I look around, the more I realize that L.A. had a perfect setup for the '84 games. The Colosseum is right on the USC campus and several venues were within walking distance as well. Now with Staples Center, Honda Center, The Forum, & the dozens of other venues, L.A. should be a lock to host another games if it chose to do so. But given the past track record of the IOC, I think we can determine it's much more about the kickbacks than the suitability of the venue.
 
I read that article which is how I stumbled upon the pics of Sarajevo

Olympics need to be held in cities that already have the facilities for the most part; I mean most major colleges could hold the Olympics

I went to Penn State and they could easily host the Olympics with dorms, hotels, training facilities, downtown area, etc
 
JJ Watt said:
What they need do it pick a "official" location to have all these structures built.

Then host the games there while having the a lottery / bidding system of some type for what country to "host" it or earn the profits.

But if your country wants those rights, they have to maintain the structures for the 3 years prior to that Olympics.
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Not a bad idea at all, of course the cities that want to participate have a lot of planning to do (funds,employees,taxes)
 
This thread is awesome. I find this stuff extremely interesting. Like could you imagine these places 50-100 years from now? it's ridiculous. 

But I totally agree on Olympics being held at Universities. I also happen to go to a college with a similar set up as Penn State in terms of facilities, but it would make a lot of sense to do the olympics in a metro area of sorts with multiple major colleges such as Philadelphia, DC, NYC, Boston etc etc.
 
StillIn729 said:
I read that article which is how I stumbled upon the pics of Sarajevo

Olympics need to be held in cities that already have the facilities for the most part; I mean most major colleges could hold the Olympics

I went to Penn State and they could easily host the Olympics with dorms, hotels, training facilities, downtown area, etc
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Did some research on construction/Olympic bids for a class before and basically most of the top 15-20 cities/metro areas in the US have the venues and could host an Olympic games with like a year or 2 of planning ...the only thing holding up even more cities/metros in hosting is the lack of hotel/restaurants but they definitely got the venues to do it
 
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I'm just as interested by China's ghost towns. Has to be erie as hell to have so much infrastructure around and so few people. The reasoning for all this building in the first place is a whole different subject in itself. Cant embd photos right now but highly suggest you look this up if you haven't.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19049254
 
FourtyEight48 said:
Detroit>
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speaking of detroit
[h1]  [/h1][h1]                   $2B needed to wipe out Detroit's blight in 5 years, task force says[/h1]
9:06 PM, May 27, 2014

The task is immense, but the time is now.

That was the message Tuesday as Mayor Mike Duggan joined leaders of the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force to release the most in-depth road map ever to eradicate eyesore houses and trash-strewn lots from the city, a crucial next step in rebuilding bankrupt Detroit.

It will take $850 million to clean up residential neighborhoods and nearby retail strips over the next five years, and about $2 billion total when adding in huge commercial edifices such as the Packard Plant and the Michigan Central Station.

About $456 million in federal money and from other sources has been identified, leaving a gap of about $394 million still needed to clean up the neighborhoods. That money could come from savings from the bankruptcy, officials said.

The task force concluded that Detroit suffers with 84,641 blighted or nearly blighted structures and vacant lots, of which some 40,000 are so bad off they should be demolished and cleaned up immediately. Also, 93% of the tens of thousands of tax-foreclosed Detroit properties held by the city, county and state are in really bad shape and should be knocked down or cleaned up, the report said.

The removal of blight is seen as a first, obvious way to improve the city’s image and spur development once Detroit exits Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, possibly by the fall.

Detroit’s bankruptcy feels for many like a fresh start for a city that for decades has endured relentless image-bashing as a decaying, crime-ridden, irretrievable and once-great urban center. So much of that reputation has been tied to home abandonment and eventual wide-scale blight, which not only breeds crime and other social ills but also just looks bad.

Duggan and other elected officials recognize the positive mood in the air when it comes to rehabilitating the city and want to seize on the opportunity to raise needed money and to make changes to city procedures in dealing with abandoned or tax-foreclosed-upon properties.

Duggan said the report can now be used by the Detroit Land Bank Authority to attack blight on multiple fronts, from suing absentee property owners of blighted structures to deciding which vacant structures to demolish and which to sell to new homeowners for rehabilitation.

“Isn’t this a great day?” Duggan told the audience of at least 200 civic leaders who attended the two-hour release ceremony at Focus: HOPE. “This blight has gone on for years. It’s gotten nothing but worse.”
[h3]Review board suggested[/h3]
The blight report — assembled by a team led by Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert, Detroit Public Schools Foundation President Glenda Price and U-Snap-Bac Director Linda Smith — is packed with fine-grained recommendations for approaching the task.

For example, the report notes that the City Council now approves demolition of vacant properties, but that a new demolition review board should be created to streamline the process. The report also recommended that the number of demolition deferrals a property owner can seek be reduced from three to one.

And in a recommendation sure to generate controversy, Duggan and the other leaders called for an end to that portion of the annual Wayne County Treasurer’s auction of tax-foreclosed properties that allows speculators to buy parcels for just $500 per property. That creates more blight since many of those speculative buyers do nothing to fix up the properties, Smith and others said.

Duggan also said that the city will soon begin a pilot program to determine whether many of the blighted structures in the city can be deconstructed — salvaging their wood and other materials for reuse — rather than just demolished and landfilled. Deconstruction that reuses materials and creates jobs is more desirable than simple demolition alone, Duggan said, although deconstruction may cost more and take more time.

Gilbert, one of three co-chairs of the blight task force, predicted the rest of the money would be found for the neighborhood portion of the plan.

“This is the least of the big challenges,” he said. “This money will come. This money will flow. ... We’re going to find the money and we’re going to get this done.”
[h3]Vast range of findings[/h3]
Carrying the title “Every Neighborhood Has a Future ... And it Doesn’t Include Blight,” the report runs 331 pages and is filled with text, photos, maps and graphics. It outlines a vast range of findings and recommendations on all aspects of the blight problem in Detroit.

The report is based in part of the Motor City Mapping survey completed earlier this year that saw teams of surveyors visit virtually every parcel in the city — more than 377,000 — to detail its condition. Once completed, that survey data were merged with 24 other databases from multiple agencies including the U.S. Postal Service and the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department to create the most complete interactive database on property in Detroit ever assembled.

In a demonstration of the mapping program at Tuesday’s event, Sean Jackson, one of Gilbert’s aides who worked on it, showed how planners can zero in on any part of the city and immediately isolate all the vacant lots or all the fire-damaged houses or all the blighted structures. The database was created primarily by the nonprofit Data Driven Detroit with consulting firm Loveland Technologies.

What Duggan called the “Star Wars” Motor City Mapping database will soon be available to the public. In about 90 days an interactive version will be made available in stages.
[h3]'Blight is a cancer'[/h3]
Gilbert quoted extensively from an introductory letter in the report penned by himself and his co-chairs Price and Smith.

“It is our strong belief that unless and until we eradicate the malignant disease of blight from our city, it will be near impossible to make significant progress in those areas or on any other serious issue that faces our hometown,” he said, quoting the introductory letter in the report.

He continued, “Blight is a cancer. Blight sucks the soul out of anyone who gets near it, let alone those who are unfortunate enough to live with it all around them. Blight is radioactive. It is contagious. Blight serves as a venue that attracts criminals and crime. It is a magnet for arsonists.”

And blight is a symbol, the report’s authors said, “of all that is wrong and all that has gone wrong for too many decades in the once thriving world-class city of Detroit.”

As the event was breaking up, John George, founder of the nonprofit group Motor City Blight Busters that has worked to end blight on Detroit’s west side for 26 years, commented, “From the outhouse to the White House, people understand the importance of a stable and revitalized Detroit. A clean and safe city benefits everyone.”

http://www.freep.com/article/20140527/NEWS01/305270016/detroit-blight-gilbert-orr-duggan
 
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I think Seatlle could pull off hosting, but I don't even want that mess around here. It's overcrowded as it is.
 
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Henryton State Hospital, Carroll County, MD (since demolished)



St. Marys Seminary aka "Hell House" in Ellicott City, MD (since demolished)
 
ronaldcinho said:
 
This thread is awesome. I find this stuff extremely interesting. Like could you imagine these places 50-100 years from now? it's ridiculous. 

But I totally agree on Olympics being held at Universities. I also happen to go to a college with a similar set up as Penn State in terms of facilities, but it would make a lot of sense to do the olympics in a metro area of sorts with multiple major colleges such as Philadelphia, DC, NYC, Boston etc etc.
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It's not just about the dorms though. You need an international airport nearby for the spectators & athletes, and multiple facilities to hold the same events in (specifically the team events). Not sure about Penn State's capabilities, but looking back at the last couple U.S. games, a major international airport nearby seems to be the biggest hurtle since you can't exactly build that overnight.
 
This website is very cool and dedicated to abandoned places (schools, factories, jails, sanitariums) throughout the mostly New Jersey area. It's interesting because, well, I'm from NJ. Always intriguing to see what used to be.
 
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