Although the next Olympics will be in Paris, it won’t be long before all eyes turn to Los Angeles as the city ramps up preparations to host the 2028 Summer Games.
LA28, the organizing committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, hasn’t released an official list of which sporting events will be held at which venues. But there has been talk of bringing some of those events to the San Fernando Valley’s Sepulveda Basin, a 2,000-acre flood-control channel and recreational and wildlife area near the 405 and 101 freeways.
That would be a major shift from the 1984 Games, when no Olympic events were held in the Valley due to strong opposition from local residents and environmentalists worried about traffic, pollution and construction.
But more Valley residents today appear to support playing host to the Olympics.
Last year, Rep. Brad Sherman, whose 32nd Congressional District stretches from the San Fernando Valley to Simi Hills in Ventura County, had his office conduct two surveys. The first, in July, found that out of 342 respondents, about 64% supported having Olympic events in the Valley while 20% opposed. A second survey in September found that of 410 responses, about 47% were agreeable to having events in the Valley while 14% opposed.
On Tuesday, March 26, a Los Angeles Daily News reporter spoke with several people hanging out around Lake Balboa within the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. The overall response was positive when people were asked how they felt about the Games possibly coming to the Valley – though a couple people raised the point about increased traffic to the area.
Lake Balboa resident Sam Afshar said the Olympics is “an exciting event” that should help stimulate the local economy. At the same time, she said, “there’s definitely a bit of hesitation.”
“L.A. is already known for its traffic. I don’t know how that’s going to be affected,” she said, referring to the masses of people coming to town.
If Metro is able to increase its mass transit offerings so that most people coming to the Valley for Olympic events can take public transportation, “that would be amazing,” Afshar said.
But most people the Daily News spoke with shrugged off the extra traffic as a temporary inconvenience that will last a few weeks – while suggesting the memories could last a lifetime.
“I’m thrilled that we get to host the Olympics,” said 85-year-old Mission Hills resident Bobbi Silva. “I know there’s going to be a lot of traffic, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
If it were up to her, Silva would love to see the Valley host volleyball matches.
Northridge resident Gevork Budagyan would love the Valley to host Olympic swim meets. That said, Budagyan admitted, “I’d watch anything.”
Simply being able to take his son, who will be 10 in 2028, to an Olympic event would be an experience worth sharing, he said.
Vanessa Johnson, who lives in Lake Balboa, referred to the Sepulveda Basin as L.A.’s “best kept secret” and saw it as a good thing to give some exposure to the popular open space, bird-watching destination and recreation venue.
She also expressed hope that hosting Olympic events in the Valley would encourage the city to invest in cleaning up or making other improvements to the area, which the community could benefit from after the Games are over.
“(The city is) going to be on the world stage so maybe they’ll do some TLC (tender loving care),” she said.
While public sentiment for bringing Olympic events to the Valley seems to be more favorable today than in 1984, some people remain wary.
Back in 1984, Olympic organizers talked of holding four sports in the Valley, including rowing and track-cycling in the Sepulveda Basin. But a majority of local residents opposed having the Games in the Sepulveda Basin.
Opposition was so strong that Peter Ueberroth, who headed up the Olympic Organizing Committee, believed that someone intentionally poisoned his dogs at his Encino home.
While there have been no reports of such animosity this time around, some people are still on the fence about hosting the Summer Games.
Residents living in or near Van Nuys have complained of constant jet noises from Van Nuys Airport. They’re concerned that traffic – both in the air and on the ground – will only increase with the Olympics in town.
Others are concerned about environmental impacts.
Encino resident Patricia Bates told the Daily News last fall that she’s not opposed to events in the Sepulveda Basin so long as organizers leave the wildlife alone.
“What I would not want to see happen is a bunch of resources thrown doing something cosmetic that’s not going to provide lasting benefit, not just for wildlife, but for people,” she said.
The LA28 committee has yet to release details about venues and the locations of specific sporting events.
A representative for the LA28 committee said in an email this week that they expect to discuss more of their plans with city officials in the next few months.
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