If the 2024 Summer Olympics take place in Boston, they must leave lasting improvements in two areas: housing and transportation. That’s according to a report out this morning from three independent groups in Massachusetts. The overarching recommendation of the report if for a state-wide planning commission to coordinate the various and far-flung efforts. The goal: to maximize the positive impact of the games once the Olympics have left.
The triad of policy groups -- The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Mass Smart Growth Alliance and Transportation for Massachusetts -- have banded together to evaluate the Olympic bid from their perspective. They say the Boston 2024 bid is not simply good or bad, it all depends on what happens immediately after the Games end. Marc Draisen is director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council:
“Right now the bid calls for the Athlete’s Village to be built at Columbia Point. It will still cost something to convert that housing into permanent neighborhood housing but it won’t cost as much as if you started from scratch. Housing for a variety of incomes and a variety of family sizes.”
And Draisen wants to see new transportation upgrades well in advance of the Olympics – new red and orange line trains, for example, and expanded Harvard, Park and South Stations.
Read the report:
