The Olympics Are Coming, the Olympics Are Coming. Where's the Housing? | Opinion

The Olympics will be here just four years from now, and preparations are well underway. The perennial questions are: "Will we be ready? What will Los Angeles present to the world?"

In 1984, Los Angeles dazzled the world when it hosted the Summer Olympics. The dreaded "carmageddon" didn't happen—getting around town was actually a breeze. Angelenos volunteered in droves. The organization was impeccable. The scenery was breathtaking. It would have been hard to imagine a better advertisement for life in Los Angeles. We all took great pride in how we delivered for the Olympics and for our beloved hometown. I fervently want that to happen again. However, the challenges abound.

Not only does LA have to house thousands of athletes and visitors in 2028, but we have to house the homeless living here now. If we don't want the international media to paint LA as the homeless capital of the world, then something must change and change quickly.

We could take the approach of the Chinese Communist Party for Beijing's Winter Olympics in 2022, locking the city down and sweeping everything undesirable out of sight. We could adopt the Gavin Newsom approach from last November, when the California governor similarly swept the homeless out of sight on short notice.

Or we could use the opportunity of the Olympics to make a substantial down payment on improving the quality of life for our poorest neighbors. The choice is ultimately ours, but we need to choose now.

Cities the world over are in the midst of an epochal change. The combination of our information age and the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work forever. The internet has profoundly altered the way we shop, while streaming has revolutionized how we consume entertainment. We are more likely to be nesting in 2028 than hitting the mall or the multiplex. Going to the office is a sometime thing for many, and we frequently have food delivered to our home instead of dining out.

All of this means that there are vast amounts of unused structures across the 4,084 square miles that comprise Los Angeles County that could be converted into housing. Some structures are easier than others to convert. Skinny office buildings are better for housing than square ones. Retail space presents its own challenges. Hotels are the easiest to repurpose. But we need to leave all options on the table.

The Olympics is an event on an epic scale. The logistics are mind-boggling. The preparations are a long time coming, but it is a golden opportunity for LA. If we set our mind to it now, we could be far down the road toward changing the housing landscape of LA for decades to come—long after the Olympics have run their course.

Too often, spending billions of dollars on new arenas that become rotting hulks in short order is the primary outcome of hosting the Olympics. But this time could be different.

We should go big or go home. Why not a $50 billion adaptive reuse bond issue that would transform our city and help those most in need? Why not follow the lead of Calgary, Canada, or our sporting rival Boston, where vacant and underutilized office spaces are finally being turned into residential use through pilot programs?

This could be a historic legacy for our elected officials and the entire state of California to leave. Our state brags about being the fifth largest economy in the world, but we don't live up to that promise in practice. Given that level of wealth, there isn't a valid excuse for not guaranteeing affordable housing as a human right.

We know the alternative—pictures of Skid Row misery or moving our own citizens away from international visitors in the grand tradition of dictators. It isn't too late to take up the charge, but there isn't a moment to waste.

Michael Weinstein serves as president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest global HIV/AIDS organization.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.