Debate: Pro or Anti Olympics?

FOR

I’m sure that there are plenty of arguments to be made against the Olympics coming to London, but personally I believe that there are far more pros than cons.

Now let’s be sensible. Stratford is an area that I’ve been familiar with all my life and the improvements in the area are plain to see. Casting my mind back to the graffiti on bins and bus stops, the littered pavements and the state of some of the aging buildings makes it easy to appreciate the clean streets and refurbished buildings.

Amongst these new buildings are countless blocks of swanky apartments that not only look impressive but also will help the struggling first time rent/buyers that we all read about so often these days.

The tourists that will be drawn to East London aren’t to be forgotten. Everyone knows that where there are tourists, there is money to be made. The influx of people during the games will surely generate a heftier sum than usual for some of the smaller shops and hotels in the area.

If being sensible can’t bring you round to my way of thinking, let’s try being completely and utterly shallow. The new Westfield shopping centre being built will obviously create new jobs (thousands of them, actually) but, hello, who doesn’t want the continent’s largest retail outlet on their doorstep? And if you would really have me believe that the prospect of this alone doesn’t leave you smiling, imagine being able to hop onto the train to Paris any time you like!

If having read this, you’re still not pro-Olympics, I ask you this: wouldn’t it be nice to rub shoulders with gorgeous, toned athletes when you’re out at Morrisons?

AGAINST

The Olympics is a time where thousands of people from all across the world will travel to London. Where massive and marvelous venues will be built for the sports to take place; where billions of pounds are being injected in order to not only please spectators but also regenerate the area.  

These are just a few things the Olympic committee have almost hypnotized society into believing. These games will be a complete waste of both money and time.

The government said that the millennium dome would be a great structure that would hold many events once built – but it was a complete waste. These games could push the economy into an even bigger crisis – are you willing to take that risk?

Another problem is overcrowding and transport. If you look at how packed and stuffy most of our buses and tubes are now imagine how they’ll be like in 2012. There’ll be around 6 million bus journeys, 3 million tube journeys and 1.8 million rail journeys.

The games will cost around 9.4 billion: so where will they be getting all this money? Some will come from sponsors like Adidas and Lloyds TSB, however some money might come from an increase in taxes-which affects us all.

Hundreds of buildings will be demolished for venues that might not even be available for pubic use after the games. Many say that it will ‘regenerate’ the area. Really? So far all the changes are happening in just Stratford, while areas like Plaistow and East Ham aren’t getting anything. These areas need investment to clean up the streets and give young people things to do near where they live.

The Olympics will be a time where people’s lifestyles will be drastically affected. Not everyone will be able to do certain things or go to certain places as much as they would like to. These games will be a mistake and I am against them.