Three Things I Learned at The Paris 2024 Olympics:
Paris, as a city, is nailing the Olympics.
It's clean.
It's easy to get around.
It's beautiful.
It's safe.
It is a tough act to follow.
However, there is precedence.
Paris hosted the World's Fair in 1889 and set a bar which seemed unattainable for the following act. The fair set records for attendance and debuted Arthur Eiffel's exquisite Eiffel Tower. It was so successful the bidding cities for the next fair were hesitant and considered waiting for the 1897 fair.
1893's World's Fair ended up being a surprise choice in the "western" city of Chicago, which beat out front runners DC and New York.
Chicago had their work cut out for them.
But a strange thing happened: they delivered.
And they did so by shunning public sentiment that they should take what Paris did and build on it.
Instead, they did something totally different. Totally "west."
"The White City" and the unveiling of George Washington Gale Ferris's new "Wheel" drew a staggering 27 million people to the 1893 World's Fair.
(It also drew a terrifying number of criminals and even a now infamous serial killer who murdered 44 people - mostly women - which is chronicled in the best-selling book "The Devil In The White City" which I very highly recommend reading.)
Here are the Three Things Paris did fantastically well, and what Los Angeles can do to deliver a winning games.
Paris is clean, safe, and easy to get around.
Los Angeles….is not.
I love LA. It has been my home for 27 years.
Our public transportation is horrible. We have buses and metro lines, but they are not safe. There are stabbings on the metro multiple times per week.
Europeans used to walking from one city section to another will be walking into dangerous neighborhoods they really shouldn't be in. If they try to take rail lines, they will be disappointed in the lack of options.
Beach Volleyball in Paris is at the Eiffel Tower. It is beautiful, serene, easy to get to, and safe.Beach Volleyball will be on the north side of the Santa Monica pier in 2028. Santa Monica is not clean. It is not safe - there has been a rash of transients attacking women this summer - and it is not easy to get to. Parking will be impossible. My son plays there all the time.
Most important: Paris is crawling with police. And they are impressive. Young men and women who look like they can actually stop a crime. They're armed, in shape, and on patrol. They are everywhere.
The LAPD/LA Sheriffs? They just fight with our politicians.
And that's not to mention the rampant homeless crisis we have in LA. I know San Francisco famously just "moved" their homeless when the Chinese leaders came to visit- but I can't see LA politicians doing so. They tried in Venice Beach and the pushback was too stern.
Paris flows. The buildings look similar. Get on a metro for 45 minutes and you'll emerge to a neighborhood which looks similar to the one you just left.Los Angeles must embrace that it isn't a natural city combined and woven together, but a series of neighborhoods. It is nothing like Paris.
Downtown has nothing in common with Hollywood, which isn't anything like Santa Monica. Los Angeles needs to embrace the separation, like Phoenix does when it hosts the Super Bowl so well, and offer a totally different experience to its guests.
As for the crime: I have no idea how LA solves that problem. Our current mayor seems more interested in photo shoots.The Paris Backdrops are stunning
The Eiffel Tower.Versailles.
The Palace.
One historical backdrop after another have made for a fantastic experience. Fencing the palace was magical. Beach Volleyball at the Eiffel Tower can't be matched. And Versailles as a venue? My goodness.
In 1893, Chicago set off to try to beat the French by creating a tower even taller than the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel himself made a bid.
Instead, they chose a bid out of Pittsburgh, espousing an amusement wheel that riders could go on. The Ferris Wheel was born.
LA doesn't have the history Paris does in our architecture.
LA needs to highlight the new and supplement with the historic scenery Paris doesn’t have in the beach and the mountains behind the city.Paris is the old-world games.
Los Angeles is the new.
Say what you want about LA, but trends are still set there.
We have a $5 billion dollar football stadium at SoFiA billion-dollar Ballmer Dome opening this year
Crypto.com Arena is the Times Square of the west
The Santa Monica Pier to take the party of beach to the next level - and it is actually a beach.
And the Rose Bowl and Coliseum for a little antique flair with nighttime skylines second to none.
LA doesn't want, or need, to play Paris' game. It's going to be totally different.
If they try to play the history game, they'll lose. Putting the Arc De Triomph against the Rose Bowl is silly.
Paris is the socialist games. Fair access to all citizens led to packed stands, but with very little hospitality built in. Celebrities struggled with access - I myself got texts from two of the biggest athletes on the planet looking for tickets. It was great for Parisians and the French - they got access. Visitors? Not so much. None of them could get tickets.
Los Angeles, like in '84, will be the capitalist games. And that’s not a bad thing. The Arenas are much bigger and have significantly more hospitality. The ticketing tech and re-sale market (more on this later), if allowed, is light years ahead of Europe.
And no city knows how to handle celebrity access better than Los Angeles.Time Zone & Technology
European summer games have historically been enormous for the economy.
Barcelona '92 was a monster.
Athens '04, though too small a venue, did huge ratings
And Paris is setting records
But LA?
LA is in the second best available time zone for the games, trailing only EST. It is the entertainment and distribution capital of the world, where every major tech firm has a significant presence.
In Paris, the games are on French TV.
In the US, there is streaming everywhere. It's more democratic (though more expensive).Paris erred on the side of a socialist game for the people - which is French. The locals got the tickets (much more on this next week - the ticketing was terrible). LA will be a corporate games, much like it was in '84 and following the American way.
The athletes in the Olympic Village in Paris are complaining about terrible accommodations and even worse food. Los Angeles will not have that problem. Entertainment and hospitality are too big a part of our economy.The Paris Olympics are an enormous success. Hat tip to a job phenomenally well done.
The Paris Olympics are an enormous success. Hat tip to a job phenomenally well done.
Los Angeles has a high bar to clear.
When Daniel Burnham first envisioned the White City, the pressure of the world was on his young shoulders. Chicago had to grow up, and fast, as a city to meet the challenge. They did so by being themselves. Rugged. New. West.
LA - we’re up!