NOT winning the Olympic bid has its downside......

The Olympic bid was a devastating loss to Chicago in a variety of ways, but certainly the opportunity for city development tops the list. These efforts would have played a vital role not only in profiling what a great city Chicago is, but the ensueing development would have created jobs, and greatly contributed to the infrastructure of the city.

The Washington Park area in particular, which would have been home to Olympic Stadium (would have hosted track and field events, as well as opening and closing ceremonies) and the Olympic Aquatics Center, certainly could have used the revenue. This area is plagued by abandoned homes and lack of investment, despite being a stone's throw from Barrack Obama's Chicago residence.

The challenge now is to convince investors Washington Park and the surrounding area, has the same potential now that it did when seeking venues for the Olympic games, except now, you can do it for the city and it's people.