2012 Olympics: Weren't they supposed to have been "our" Olympic games?

      If you remember back in the early 2000's Washington and Baltimore made a joint pitch to host the 2012 Olympics.  The pictures above were images of what the venues would have looked like in DC.  The RFK Stadium was supposed to be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies.  They were beaten out by New York for the US bid to the Olympic organization that ultimately chose London for the site.  The original effort was seen as a way to more closely connect the two growing metropolitan areas.  Of course Howard County is where the two areas meet.  While no events were to be held in Howard County you can be sure that you wouldn't have been able to get a hotel room here for the next two weeks.  Homeowners in Columbia might be renting out their entire homes for $7-9,000 for the full 17 days if you look at what Londoners are renting out homes this year.   

   The biggest feature of the DC/Baltimore games, in addition to new venues, was the building of the Maglev train between the two cities which would provide a quick 16 minute running time between the cities at 240 mph.  Talk about living in one city and working in another! Or less than a 10 minute ride from BWI to Union Station in DC. This is a similar technology used with the trains at DisneyWorld for transportation. Maglev is short for magnetic levitation that powers trains using magnets with opposite charges. The trains are literally riding on air so higher speeds than current track trains are possible . Not surprisingly China is developing maglev trains that will go at similar speeds to jets.  Here in Baltimore we are dealing with 19th century water pipes instead of 21st century transportation.
    So as you watch the Olympics for the next couple of weeks we can only image the craziness we would all be dealing with if the DC/Baltimore bid had been successful.  Guess we will all just have to settle for the news with Whole Foods moving into the Rouse Building.

P.S.
In honor of the Brits hosting the Olympics this week's music video from George Harrison about something Londoners hope to see the next two weeks.