Tulsa: bidding for Olympic Summer Games 2024.

[Kerry]

They have to spend SOOOO much money to get things ready (unless they've previously hosted) and have no use for the facilities once the games are over, they just lose money out the wazoo..

The only Olympic stuff left in Atlanta is the Olympic Village (now housing for Georgia Tech), a portion of the Olympic Stadium (now Turner Field), a downtown Park, and a parking lot with the Olympic flame in it. It is almost as if the game were never there (except for the bill).

[OKCisOK4me]

If anything, this is a Tulsa vs. OKC ploy. This is their only way of one upping Oklahoma City. Unfortunately this is way out of their league. If they did receive it, it would be an amazing testament but it's not going to happen!

[okclee]

I still think Okc should bid for the winter Olympics.

[Thunder]

I still think Okc should bid for the winter Olympics.

Too late. All the snow was for last year.

[ljbab728]

I still think Okc should bid for the winter Olympics.

Of course. If Dubai can do this, so can we. LOL


http://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...+indoor+skiing

[bombermwc]

We can ski on Mt. Trashmore!!!!

[Jesseda]

wow I just love how oklahomans act out when one of the largest cities in the state is just putting a bid in for the olympics, God forbid anything good happen in this state, and nothing probably will because of oklahomans who complain and whine about everything. If certain okies want to stay in the the past and not try for anything then so be it, I would rather see Tulsa try and Fail (maybe) then to not try at all..

[semisimple]

wow I just love how oklahomans act out when one of the largest cities in the state is just putting a bid in for the olympics, God forbid anything good happen in this state, and nothing probably will because of oklahomans who complain and whine about everything. If certain okies want to stay in the the past and not try for anything then so be it, I would rather see Tulsa try and Fail (maybe) then to not try at all..

Yeah, right, god forbid anything good happen in Oklahoma...it's bring in the Olympics or bust...

Please. There's a difference between wanting to stay in the past and being realistic about progress. Tulsa has practically zero chance of hosting the Olympics, for reasons I pointed out above. I think all of us here (Okies and non-Okies alike) want to see both Tulsa and OKC make progressive strides, but this delusional pursuit might ultimately be counterproductive.

You can only justify this bid through ignorance, and given that you implicitly likened Tulsa (currently) to Atlanta twenty years ago (which was, as I pointed out, very far from reality), it's hardly surprising to see you maintain this position.

[Jesseda]

oh god so you are saying atlanta 20 years ago was a big ticketed city hmmm, wow just wow..let me see you atlanta huge airport which 95% of the people going to that port are just using that city as a change over... So tell me why atlanta metro which takes up a whopping 28 counties,, heck tulsa metro which is what 6 or 7 counties , Atlanta has a big metro population but has over 2,000 more sq miles then tulsa metro.. now how big is the city of atlanta itself..hmmm this is a list of cities and towns atlanta has in its whopping 28 county metro..•Roswell: pop. 87,657
•Sandy Springs: pop. 82,674
•Marietta: pop. 67,562
•Johns Creek: pop. 59,431
•Alpharetta: pop. 49,903
•Smyrna: pop. 49,854
•East Point: pop. 43,418
•North Atlanta (CDP). Includes parts of Brookhaven: pop. 42,302 [4]
•Dunwoody: pop. 39,583 [5]
•Redan (CDP): pop. 37,106 [6]
•Gainesville: pop. 35,668
•Peachtree City: pop. 34,788
•Mableton (CDP): pop. 33,481 [7]
•Kennesaw: pop. 31,628
•Douglasville: pop. 31,035
•Tucker (CDP): pop. 30,107 [8]
•Lawrenceville: pop. 29,258
•Duluth: pop. 26,125
•Griffin: pop. 23,719
•Carrollton: pop. 23,291
•Woodstock: pop. 23,141
•Canton: pop 22,724
•Forest Park: pop. 21,726
•Flowery Branch: pop. 21,394
•Belvedere Park (CDP): pop. 20,773 [9]
•Newnan: pop. 30,474
•Snellville: pop. 20,112
•North Druid Hills (CDP): pop. 20,099 [10]
•College Park: pop. 19,969
•McDonough: pop. 19,768
•Acworth: pop. 19,476
•Cartersville: pop. 19,010
•Decatur: pop. 18,986
•Sugar Hill: pop. 17,204
•Union City: pop. 16,961
•North Decatur (CDP): pop. 16,743 [11]
•Suwanee: pop. 16,277
•Powder Springs: pop. 15,614
•Riverdale: pop. 15,279
•Milton: pop. 15,156
•Fayetteville: pop. 15,136
•Covington: pop. 14,980
•Stockbridge: pop. 14,360
•Winder: pop. 14,064
•Druid Hills (CDP): pop. 13,970 [12]
•Conyers: pop: 13,545
•Monroe: pop. 13,381
•Panthersville (CDP): pop. 12,928 [13]
•Villa Rica: pop. 12,838 [14]
•Vinings (CDP): pop. 12,383
•Lilburn: pop. 11,559
•Buford: pop. 11,378
•Chamblee: 11,202
•Fairburn: pop. 11,024
•Norcross: pop. 10,737
•Candler-McAfee (CDP): pop. 10,580
•Doraville: pop. 10,268
•Thomaston: pop. 9,638
•Irondale (CDP) pop: 8,789 [15]
•Clarkston: pop. 7,836
•Stone Mountain: pop. 7,650
•Auburn (CDP): 7,496
•Centerville (CDP): pop. 7,240
•Austell: pop. 7,062
•Conley (CDP): pop: 7,038 [16]
•Tyrone (CDP): pop. 6,942
•Hapeville: pop. 5,978
•Cumming: pop. 5,710
•Morrow: pop. 5,539
•Hampton: pop. 5,295
•Dacula: pop. 4,662
•Jonesboro: pop. 4,131
•Palmetto: pop. 3,400
•Bonanza (CDP): pop. 3,303 [17]
•Lakeview Estates (CDP): pop. 3,051 [18]
•Lake City: pop. 2,682
•Lovejoy: pop. 2,495
•Loganville: pop. 2,591
•Lithonia: pop. 2,367
•Berkeley Lake: pop. 2,096
•Mountain Park (Gwinnett) (CDP): pop. 11,753


how many towns andd cities does ulsa have in its handful of counties?

[dmoor82]

^^ In NO WAY shape or form is Tulsa even close to The ATL MSA!You'd have to add OKC in with Tulsa then multiply it by two to get even close to Atlanta's MSA,Atlanta has alot of Fortune 500 companies,Tons of hotel rooms,infastructure and One of The biggest airports in The World, while Tulsa,OKC and Atlanta have a comparable city proper populations that still means nothing it's all about The MSA!To even try to compare Tulsa to Atlanta is just plain stupid,it stacks up in NO way shape or form!Atlanta 20 years ago was still larger and more powerful than OKC and Tulsa combined!

[bluedogok]

Atlanta is the commerce center of the southeast, Tulsa isn't even the commerce center of its own state, it and OKC share that and combined aren't up to the level that Atlanta is on its own.

Oklahoma's has four Fortune 500 companies.
209 - Oneok - Tulsa - 11,111.7M
261 - Devon Energy - Oklahoma City - 8,960.0
276 - Williams - Tulsa - 8,255.0
296 - Chesapeake Energy - Oklahoma City - 7,701.9

Georgia has fourteen, Oneok would rank between 7/8 in Georgia, Devon, Williams and Chesapeake would be between 10/11.
29 - Home Depot - Atlanta - 66,176.0
43 - United Parcel Service - Atlanta - 45,297.0
72 - Coca-Cola - Atlanta - 30,990.0
84 - Delta Air Lines - Atlanta - 28,063.0
113 - Coca-Cola Enterprises - Atlanta - 21,645.0
130 - AFLAC - Columbus - 18,254.4
145 - Southern - Atlanta - 15,743.0
224 - SunTrust Banks - Atlanta - 10,420.0
236 - Genuine Parts - Atlanta - 10,057.5
250 - First Data - Atlanta - 9,313.8
337 - AGCO - Duluth - 6,630.4
373 - Newell Rubbermaid - Atlanta - 5,577.6
392 - Mohawk Industries - Calhoun - 5,344.0
451 - NCR - Duluth - 4,612.0

2010 Fortune 500

[Jesseda]

congrats, on georgia.. how many 500 companies 20 yrs ago with there olympics plus may 20 plus years ago when they put a bid in for the olypics.. atlanta probably was close to what tulsa metro is now when atlanta put the bid in for those olypics 30 plus years ago.. plus this is about the olympics not a fortune 500 run off.. atlanta metro in the 80s was around 2 mil.. needless to say, if the state builds what is need to get the olypics, tulsa will change a whole lot just like atlanta did, this is about tulsas chance on getting the olympics, and I started by saying if atlanta back when they where bidding and won olympic city bid if atlanta could do it, why not tulsa..A LOT OF PEOPLE ALSO SAID ATLANTA HAD A LONG SHOT OF GETTING THE OLYMPICS

[semisimple]

congrats, on georgia.. how many 500 companies 20 yrs ago with there olympics plus may 30 plus years ago when they put a bid in for the olypics.. atlanta probably was close to what tulsa metro is now when atlanta put the bid in for those olypics 30 plus years ago.. plus this is about the olympics not a fortune 500 run off

Scroll back to the previous page where you can see the link to the Census Bureau which shows that in 1996, when Atlanta hosted the Olympics, the metro area had 3.6 million people (2.9 million in 1990, and I can't find data before that). In any case, Tulsa has 900,000 now (and wouldn't have but 1.2 million at best by the time it would host the games), which is much less than what Atlanta had when it bid the games. That's just the tip of the iceberg, though, as I pointed out earlier as well.

[semisimple]

plus this is about the olympics not a fortune 500 run off

So it's not a Fortune 500 run off, but it's a population and infrastructure run off. Got it. Thanks for the ground rules.

Now, here's some more data for you to choke on.

http://www.demographia.com/db-atl1960.htm

As you can see, in 1970 (!) the metropolitan area had over 2 million people which is well over twice the size of Tulsa. It's probably quite fair to say that the bidding process was started after then, but that's just to give you some (much-needed) perspective.

[bluedogok]

The Georgia companies that are in the Top 100 were either founded in or have been based in Georgia for a very long time except UPS which moved there in 1991. OKC and Tulsa combined have never been as big as Atlanta (metro areas all) even going back to the turn of the last century (1900) let alone 14 years ago when the Olympics were held.

Home Depot - Our History: The Beginning
The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. Along with investment banker Ken Langone and merchandising guru Pat Farrah, the founders’ vision of one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer came to fruition when they opened the first two Home Depot stores on June 22, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia.

UPS relocated their HQ to Atlanta in 1991 from Greenwich, Connecticut.
Coca-Cola started in Atlanta in 1886, CCE is a spin off of Coca-Cola, the corporate owned bottling company.
Delta Airlines traces its roots to 1924 in Macon, Georgia.

[dmoor82]

This is NOT going to happen,Tulsa is just putting on a pr bit!OKC and Tulsa combined could not pull it off!Atlanta is The Hub of The SouthEast and Tulsa is The Hub of Green Country,One last time so people here or in Tulsa who think this is possible-NO WAY IN HE**!

[dmoor82]

Ohh One last thing! Atlanta's MSA population in 1996 was probably higher than The entire population of The STATE of Oklahoma Now!OK I'm Done!

[semisimple]

if the state builds what is need to get the olypics, tulsa will change a whole lot just like atlanta did ... if atlanta back when they where bidding and won olympic city bid if atlanta could do it, why not tulsa..A LOT OF PEOPLE ALSO SAID ATLANTA HAD A LONG SHOT OF GETTING THE OLYMPICS

Thing is, it doesn't really work like that. States don't just invest many billions of dollars into the infrastructure on a silly whim to lure the Olympics, they do so (in principle) to address the needs of the population. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Atlanta was a rapidly-growing city poised to become a major metropolitan area. The infrastructural investments were done primarily to accommodate a growing population, not to bid for the Olympics (or, in any case, could reasonably be justified to serve a growing population). Building a giant new airport might help Tulsa's bid, but what's the point? There's only demand for 3 million (less?) passengers a year, hardly necessitating a multi-billion dollar investment in a new facility. Tulsa's slow growth and low density mean that other things like urban rail are a long ways away. Hey, maybe the Port of Catoosa will win the committee over?

Then there's things like the corporate presence to consider. As already made quite evident, Tulsa does not have the corporate base now that Atlanta did then. Unfortunately for you, the state cannot simply "build what is need[ed]" here. Major incentives can be provided, but that's not going be enough to entice a company the size of Coca-Cola to pack up and move Tulsa.

[dmoor82]

^^Well said semisimple!could'nt have said it better!

[Spartan]

What is that supposed to mean? Is it anything like how someone from rural Arkansas would be treated in NYC?

Probably not only laughed at behind their back..

[Yahola]

Ahhh OKC people getting the vapors because of an article about Tulsa. Yes this is a big publicity stunt for Tulsa. 99 percent chance it will not happen, however I do find it interesting how some posters on here get bent out of shape that T town is trying to do something outside the box. Relax OKC'ers you have the NBA and all the dough.

[Kerry]

Ahhh OKC people getting the vapors because of an article about Tulsa. Yes this is a big publicity stunt for Tulsa. 99 percent chance it will not happen, however I do find it interesting how some posters on here get bent out of shape that T town is trying to do something outside the box. Relax OKC'ers you have the NBA and all the dough.

I don't think that is the case at all. I fully understand why Tulsa would attempt it, but when people in Tulsa think it might happen - that is where I have to draw the line. There isn't a 99% chance it won't happen. There is a 100% chance it won't. See it for what it is, an attempt by Tulsa to get free national and international exposure and name recognition.

Tampa tried for the 2012 games and got laughed at by the US Olympic committee. They even had Disney on board. Population +3 million, over 100,000 hotels rooms, an airport that can handle international flights (customs), etc....

The Olympics were a no go but what did they get instead - The Republican National Convention.

[metro]

Jesseda, we're all for Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma moving forward, that's NOT the issue. You have to live in reality, as Kerry said there is 100% certainty Tulsa won't even make the initial list for consideration. This is a publicity stunt and nothing more. The entire state of Oklahoma doesn't have the money, infrastructure, population and corporate support to come even remotely close to what the Olympics take. Have you been to Atlanta in the last 20 years, seriously? Atlanta Hatsfield Airport is the busiest in the WORLD. Hartsfield–Jackson held its ranking as the world's busiest airport in 2009, both in terms of passengers and number of flights, by accommodating 88 million passengers and 970,235 flights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartsfi...tional_Airport . 88 MILLION passengers last year, OKC did 3.5 million and Tulsa about 3 million. Atlanta Metro has over 5 million people, 5x the size of OKC or 6x the size of Tulsa which OKC is bigger than Tulsa.

There is a reason they call Atlanta the New York of the south. There are mega Fortune 500 companies that our companies don't even hold a candle too. It's laughable and delusional to think there is any reality to this. In addition to the companies the poster listed below, they also have behemoth's of companies like Campbell's Soup, CNN, Weather Channel, Turner Companies, Georgia Pacific, Georgia Power and on and on and on, not to mention tons of back office operations from huge New York companies.

I actually lived in Atlanta during the Olympics and worked them for 2 weeks. Stayed on the streets of Atlanta most of the time, especially in the 5 points area. I was there first hand. Believe me, I'd LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Oklahoma to have that much wealth, power, urban lifestyle, and pride, but forward progress and reality are two different things. It'd be a stretch for even Dallas to get it.

Want to talk infrastructure, here is just ONE highway intersection IN SUBURBAN ATLANTA, called Spaghetti Junction. We won't talk about the highway system throughout the region, it's a mega city, not a metropolitan area. Some places the highway is 23 LANES WIDE! Bumper to bumper. I sat in traffic for 2 hours sometime and didn't even move. And that wasn't when the Olympics were in town. Tulsa doesn't have subway as well. Atlanta has MARTA.

[NickFiggins]

Uh have you looked at the promoters of the proposal, one of them if i'm not mistaken has a criminal record. Roscoe Turner and friends are not in tune w/ reality. The city is devoid of civic leadership, and this a terrible joke. The city streets are in horrible shape and basic public services (police, fire) are not getting met. Tulsa is on the decline, the suburbs are sucking economic vitality out of the town and TPS is becoming a urban district. When I attended just a few years ago, TPS was already declining now it has accelerated. In the ninetys their were several elementary schools that were top notch, now a just few remain: Grissom, Carnegie, Eliot etc. The city countiues to bleed good jobs Dollar/Thrifty, Alamo/National, Parker Drilling, SemGroup, through acquisition or misfortune. Many civic leaders are just too ready to rest on their laurels to do anything. One elected official remarked to me that OKC is lapping tulsa and if Core to Shore comes to fruition, Tulsa will be a permanent after thought to OKC in Oklahoma.

[metro]

Nick, good points I forgot to mention but was thinking about at lunch. Tulsa is devoid of a cohesive city leadership as they are too busy looking out for their individual best interests. OKC has been blessed to have strong community leadership, thus our Renaissance. Tulsa hasn't been able to pass some really nice improvement packages because of their poor leadership.