2026 Olympics- Calgary votes no- 56%

[Coach]

Originally Posted by troutman

There is a debate and vote on Monday. I can't see them proceeding after the strong message sent.

Darn. I hope it still goes through. I don't live there anymore but a lot of my family does. Would have been cool. Although I'll be almost 40 by then which is weird to think about.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Gah! Mainstreet poll! Run!


I know it's all we have, but with 48 people in the 18-34 age group, I'm having rouble seeing how that's a big enough sample to say anything about it. Only 264 people in total answered. May as well be reading a used piece of toilet paper.

Clearly people overestimate the support for the Olympics.

I know some people are upset and want to blame old people, but seeing the Olympics as a fiscal waste is not solely an older voter issue.

It's because the Olympics are a fiscal waste.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I'm going based on what I saw at my polling place and on the limited anecdotal evidence I've heard from others that the people voting were disproportionately a bunch of fogeys. Not that it matters, it's done, no point in debating about why people voted the way they did.

Originally Posted by troutman

There is a debate and vote on Monday. I can't see them proceeding after the strong message sent.

Nenshi has said he fully expects them to vote to stop all funding and activities related to the bid

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Coach

Darn. I hope it still goes through. I don't live there anymore but a lot of my family does. Would have been cool. Although I'll be almost 40 by then which is weird to think about.

I think there's zero chance at all that the Council is going to go against the vote, especially since it wasn't particularly close at all.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Coach

Darn. I hope it still goes through. I don't live there anymore but a lot of my family does. Would have been cool. Although I'll be almost 40 by then which is weird to think about.

Province specifically tied its funding to passing a plebiscite. So unless the City wants to pony up another $700 million, or the IOC wants to help more, this ends Monday.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by Coach

Darn. I hope it still goes through. I don't live there anymore but a lot of my family does. Would have been cool. Although I'll be almost 40 by then which is weird to think about.

I think the funding was hinging on the ability for BidCo to get a yes vote, now that they've failed on that the funding has been or will be pulled.

[fundmark19]

Looks like the city thought this was a slam dunk and increased property taxes by 3.5% next year. Sneaky guys increased it way more than 25 bucks olympics would have

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Yeah, I call BS. Nobody is going to a city because they have a great entertainment district.

Really? I'll leave out Vegas but Nashville comes to mind in a big way, Also try and get a room at the Silver Cloud or anywhere close to CenturyLink Field during a Seahawks home game weekend. At least 10,000 Canadians alone drive or fly there each game weekend. The nightclub/Saloon district just north of the Stadium is among the busiest I've ever seen

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Really? I'll leave out Vegas but Nashville comes to mind in a big way, Also try and get a room at the Silver Cloud or anywhere close to CenturyLink Field during a Seahawks home game weekend. At least 10,000 Canadians alone drive or fly there each game weekend. The nightclub/Saloon district just north of the Stadium is among the busiest I've ever seen

You just proved the point - they're there for the Seahawks game. most people don't fly down there surrounding bar scene alone.

[stone hands]

my wife and I are 30 and both were staunch no voters

anecdotally the majority of people i saw at the voting station in new brighton was definitely on the younger side and everyone in my social circle that is around my age were pretty hardcore no people as well

i think the yes side needs to take a step back and realize maybe there's more to it then a bunch of old nimbys who want to ruin everyones fun

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Really? I'll leave out Vegas but Nashville comes to mind in a big way, Also try and get a room at the Silver Cloud or anywhere close to CenturyLink Field during a Seahawks home game weekend. At least 10,000 Canadians alone drive or fly there each game weekend. The nightclub/Saloon district just north of the Stadium is among the busiest I've ever seen

People go to Nashville for the live music.

What your describing in Seattle is people going for the games.

Even Vegas, people go for the shows and the gambling.

I think this is where the disconnect comes in. Nashville has a great entertainment scene, and I’m sure the entertainment districts that include a place where a major sports team plays are very very popular when that team is playing.

An entertainment district itself brings in nothing. It simply improves the experience of tourists who arrive for another reason. An entertainment district doesn’t grant you a great local music scene, a legendary party hotspot, or a major sports team.

It’s like a new arena. It doesn’t matter how nice it is, it matters what’s inside of it, and that’s what people go for. Nobody is going to see the new Vegas arena, they’re going to see the Vegas hockey team. They’re going for the big shows.

Nobody is going specifically to check out an entertainment district. So to say it encourages more tourism than a huge event like the Olympics is just not true. It’s definitely a nice to have, and can gives tourists an even better experience, but the tourists still need a reason outside of the district itself to come see it. That was my only point. It’s not a tourism driver by any means.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Looks like the city thought this was a slam dunk and increased property taxes by 3.5% next year. Sneaky guys increased it way more than 25 bucks olympics would have

Do your homework. There’s a huge shortfall in taxes coming from the downtown. Enjoy the continued increases regardless of the Olympics.

It should be interesting justifying grifting money for an arena during continually rate hikes.

[calf]

Originally Posted by stone hands

my wife and I are 30 and both were staunch no voters

anecdotally the majority of people i saw at the voting station in new brighton was definitely on the younger side and everyone in my social circle that is around my age were pretty hardcore no people as well

i think the yes side needs to take a step back and realize maybe there's more to it then a bunch of old nimbys who want to ruin everyones fun

Yeah, my wife and I are mid-30s and voted no. My parents in their early 70's were enthusiastic Yes. There's no one-size fits all stereotype, methinks.

[CPK80]

I know a few people that worked at a few of the polling stations... During the day the vast majority of the people attending were older, but in the evening the crowds were younger... The stations they worked at were steady all day but never really any long lines, the busiest time was right at open, then a small rush just after 5... there stations were really quiet between 7 and 8.

[Boreal]

Double

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You just proved the point - they're there for the Seahawks game. most people don't fly down there surrounding bar scene alone.

It's the chicken or the egg scenario, without the stadium the entertainment district wouldn't exist and without the entertainment district tourism wouldn't be as high for the games.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

Do your homework. There’s a huge shortfall in taxes coming from the downtown. Enjoy the continued increases regardless of the Olympics.

It should be interesting justifying grifting money for an arena during continually rate hikes.

The huge shortfall in taxes from downtown probably won't be resolved for a while. Office towers needs to be converted to residential (to reduce vacancy), and the economy needs to recover which is going to be a long way away.

City of Calgary has been putting a band-aid on the tax drop differential each year, and that gap is widening. It's going to get worse before it gets better. Then on top of that, they have to fund all the normal things they would other need to maintain or upgrade.

Here's hoping the City can be transparent, not sugar coat the truth, and tell voters that dark times and difficult choices are ahead when we choose to reject injections of public funds in times of need.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by calf

Yeah, my wife and I are mid-30s and voted no. My parents in their early 70's were enthusiastic Yes. There's no one-size fits all stereotype, methinks.

Ditto. Slightly younger, but no one in my social group voted Yes. Everyone was no.

Who do I know that voted yes? Aunts and uncles and family friends of that age (55-65) who were here during the 88 Olympics.

[Travis Munroe]

I wonder how much a simple "have you done any homework on the topic" testing question to vote would have changed the outcome. It amazes me how many people both for and against have reasons why they voted the way they did which are so out into left field.

The yes side had a ton of funding behind them.
The no side had the ability to play on peoples fear of taxes as their crutch.

It ended up being a close vote as expected and at the end of the day, the no side won and the yes side will wait for the "countless other things to spend money on that make more sense to help the economy" which I heard being echoed this morning. When those things are announced, I will be just as passionate in moving forward as I was with the games.

Something has to be done and has to be done now. Waiting on the provincial and federal government to sort out the pipeline(s) is not an option. Letting Nenshi continue this lengthy "attracting other business to Calgary" campaign is not working so whatever the next step is, lets hope it's something all of Calgary can get behind to push our city up a notch.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I'm not sure a 13% margin is what I would consider close. The Yes side lost pretty handily, so handily I can't see the Olympics being pursued again for another couple cycles, unless there are significant political changes, especially locally.