2016 Olympics in San Diego … and Tijuana

Back in September, when I interviewed John Eger of Envision San Diego, one of the more interesting news items I learned was that a local businessman was pushing for a joint San Diego-Tijuana bid for the 2016 Olympics. Here is what Eger said:

JE: Sure. And this is where the bloggers come in - we need the big idea. What’s the big idea? I mean, there’s nothing that’s impossible. Malin Burnham, who’s 77 years old, I interviewed for the town hall meeting. And I said, “Malin, you know this place, I said, we need big ideas to punch through this thick web of consciousness” and he said; “San Diego and Tijuana ought to go after the 2016 Olympics.” It’s now circulating among the Envision people and they are saying, “Well, that’s ridiculous.”

Well wait a minute, whether we got it or not, the fact that we did joint economic planning, joint land use planning.

Today, the Union-Tribune reports that:

Burnham previewed his plan yesterday in remarks to the Ninth Annual Real Estate Conference held at the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego.

The issue most critical to San Diego’s possible bid is where the International Olympic Committee decides to hold the 2012 Summer Olympics, Burnham said.

If the Games go to New York, which is one of five international cities under consideration, Burnham says it’s unlikely they would be awarded to another U.S. city in 2016.

If New York isn’t selected, Burnham says his organization, which is made up of five members from Mexico and five from the United States, will have looked at critical issues such as funding and logistics and be ready to decide whether to begin developing a bid.