Despite Expenses, Athens Enjoys Transit Legacy of 2004 Olympics
The 2004 Olympics in Athens burdened the city with underutilized venues and deep debt. But the event also vastly improved pedestrian and public transportation.
"Yet as urban scholars begin to measure the legacy of Athens' Olympics, if they look only at the costly and visible sports venues, they may miss some more mundane, pedestrian things with more lasting significance. Like pedestrians. And subways.
The Olympics showered money and imposed deadlines on long-languishing projects including new subway lines, a tram and suburban rail. A network of pedestrian-only streets in central Athens included removing autos from several busy arteries to create a broad pedestrian way linking key archaeological sites."
This piece looks at this transit legacy of the games and suggests that the expense of the 2004 games was not all a waste.
Published on Monday, September 13, 2010 in
Topics
- Comparing the Differences in Property Taxes Around the United States
- As Big Box Retailers Fade, New Uses Are Springing Up
- YIMBYs Attacked from the (Far) Left
- Census Data Reveals 2016 Population Winners and Losers
- A Change of Heart by Secretary Chao on California's Oldest Commuter Rail Line
- Dan Savage: Doing Something Real About Gentrification and Displacement
- Back to the Suburbs: Most Metropolitan Are Getting Less Dense
- As a Driverless Future Dawns, Should We Still Build Parking?
- Mapping Chicago's Zoning Code Changes
- The Sky's the Limit for Washington, D.C.-Area High Rises
- David Beckham's Big Idea: A New Soccer Stadium in Miami, With Zero Parking Spaces
- Roanoke Launches a New Bikeshare System
- Seattle Kicks the Tires on the Seattle Center Again
- Residential Developments to Supplement New Detroit Hockey Arena
- Study: Ignorance of the Law Leads to Road Rage Toward Cyclists
- Atlanta Commits to 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2035
- Taller, Denser, but More Affordable Housing Coming to San Francisco
- Why Great Cities Need Great Universities
- Fracking Opponents Charge Gov. Jerry Brown with Environmental Hypocrisy
- Coming Soon to Suburban Dallas: $1 Billion Mixed-Use Development
