Media Contact: Javier Rojas, javier.rojas@csun.edu, (818) 677-2130
Known for its prior success hosting the games in 1932 and 1984, Los Angeles will become the first city to have hosted the Olympics three times, setting the stage for a historic two-week event.
However, questions remain about the city’s readiness amid rising costs, transportation, housing shortages and recent environmental impacts like the wildfires in Southern California, which have caused widespread destruction and billions of dollars in damages.
Despite these challenges, California State University, Northridge geography professor Steven Graves argues that Los Angeles is best positioned to host the games, citing the economic and organizing success of the 1984 Olympics.
“There’s a lot we can learn from the 1984 Olympics and the biggest is how using existing infrastructure can make an event of this size financially responsible and feasible,” Graves said. “While it’s been well documented that previous Olympic host cities built massive facilities, which now sit empty and unused, Los Angeles was different and that was the case in 1984 — becoming clear for organizers that there is a viable and responsible way to host the games.”
When it comes to traffic, there were similar widespread fears of gridlock in the lead-up to the summer of 1984, Graves said.
During the 1984 Olympics, the city was still several years from opening its contemporary rail system, so organizers turned to buses to get everyone to venues, and businesses adopted flexible schedules to have less people on roads — and it largely worked, he said.
“There was a different set of problems in 1984, different resources back then and the public transportation infrastructure was not nearly as good as it is today,” Graves said. “It’s fair to say we’re in a much better position now.”
Graves noted there has been considerable investment into the city’s transportation system, including a light-rail extension that will connect LAX to the city core, potentially relieving congestion during the height of the games. More than 3,000 buses are also expected to be brought into L.A. from across the country to help move fans.
He said he believes that Angelenos will willing make sacrifices to stay off the roads, like 1984.
“For two weeks, I believe people in Los Angeles can change their behavior,” Graves said. “There are lots of opportunities to get cars off the road, offer remote work and get people to buy into our public transportation system. “
The 2028 Olympics may also represent an opportunity to showcase to the world “the beauty and rich diverse culture that is Los Angeles,” Graves said.
“The Olympics can be our triumphant return after the recent fires and represent a rebirth of our city,” Graves said. “It’s also doing a number of other things for us: it gives us an excuse to push forward with some badly needed public transportation infrastructure and gives us an excuse to try new bold things that we might not do otherwise.
“We know there’s a lot of things that we ought to do, and it’s just hard to get people on board with a bunch of these things,” he said. “Leveraging the city’s sense of pride is a way and to get things done and produce a world class event.”
