Hog-butcher of the world
Posted October 4, 2009, 10:10 ET
The reaction to the decision to award the Olympic Games to Rio is vastly amusing, in what it says about American provincialism.
In what universe does one live, if one thinks Chicago more attractive than Rio? Imagine a IOC delegate from Prague or Mumbai asking himself “where would I rather visit–Chicago or Rio.” The Loop vs. Ipanema. Not a very close one.
There are a great many undervalued American cities: Pittsburgh, Tucson, Portland, but is there a more overvalued city anywhere than Chicago, a city that boasts of boring cube-like skyscrapers and a subterranean lake? And the weather! I have a friend from Chicago with a second house in Alaska, where it’s warmer than Chicago in the winter and cooler in the summer.
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