A waiting-to-be-demolished home in Bensenville [1], Ill. Photo by John Crouch [2].
Olympic fever is leading suburban communities known for squabbling with
the city to set aside hostilities and declare their support for the
2016 bid. More than half of the 273 municipalities surrounding Chicago,
147 so far, have passed resolutions in support of Chicago's 2016
Olympic bid, according to the Metropolitan Mayor's Caucus.
This includes even communities like Elk Grove Village, which has been fighting with the mayor over O'Hare [3] expansion for years.
Notably absent from the pile-on?
Bensenville [1], whose Village President John Geils had some choice words for the Tribune:
"Our issues are trying to survive," Geils said. "For us to get out
front and support the Olympics [4], I don't think it would be in our
interest. We're concentrating on how to provide the same quality of
life to our residents. It's very difficult to think about something as
esoteric as the Olympics when we're worried about garbage collection."
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