誰將代表美國申辦2024奧運會?

4. San Francisco

舊金山

Secretly, and somewhat smugly, San Franciscans love that so many other people love their city. They see their home as one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in the world, too. Validation is nice.

很多外地人都喜歡舊金山，舊金山人暗地里帶著點沾沾自喜。他們覺得自己的家是世界上最美麗、最有意思的城市之一。這樣的信心是好事。

But with all due respect, many in San Francisco would rather you do your fawning from a distance. Traffic is bad enough without the double-decker tourist buses blocking the view atop Lombard Street or clogging the Golden Gate Bridge.

但是恕我直言，舊金山也有很多東西讓外人忍不住皺眉。交通已經夠糟的了，更何況還有雙層旅游巴士總在九曲花街擋住人們視線，或是在金門大橋上阻塞交通。

So it is with some reluctance that the following suggestion is made: San Francisco would be quite a sensible place to hold the Summer Olympics.

所以下面的建議帶一點勉強：舊金山或許是夏季奧林匹克運動會主辦城市的明智之選。

The Bay Area’s bid can promise cool summer weather (with virtually no rain), a decent mass-transit system (not cable cars) and a collection of well-suited venues spread (but not too far) across the landscape.

灣區(qū)的有利條件包括涼爽的夏日氣候(而且?guī)缀醪幌掠?、還不錯的公共交通系統(tǒng)(沒有有軌電車)，以及遍布全城的一系列便利的場館(相距不算遠)。

San Francisco has its cultural critics, but it would show the world a United States that is environmentally friendly, diverse in many ways and technologically advanced. And if we in the Bay Area were the type to brag, we would add that the scenery is incredible.

舊金山文化有其批評者，但它可以向整個世界展示美國是多么環(huán)保、在各個方面都是如此多樣化，擁有先進的技術。反正我們?yōu)硡^(qū)的人有點喜歡自夸，那不妨再加一句，這兒的風景美極了。

But the key lies in the venues. In these post-Athens and Beijing days, no one wants to spend money on new ones, and San Francisco is not looking to use the Olympics as a means to a bigger, urban-renewal end.

但最重要的還是場館。經歷了雅典與北京奧運會，沒有人會再想花大錢蓋新場館，而舊金山也不打算把奧運會當做城市大規(guī)模翻修的機會。

There are lots of colleges and two major universities (Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley) with huge stadiums, arenas and dormitories. There are plenty of places to house athletes and hold smaller events.

這里有很多學院，還有兩所大型綜合性大學(斯坦福大學和加利福尼亞大學伯克利分校)，它們都擁有大型體育場館和宿舍。有很多地方可以供運動員居住并舉辦小型賽事。

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara is hosting the Super Bowl in 2016. A planned waterfront basketball arena for the Warriors should open in a few years. A Major League Soccer stadium is being built in San Jose. If baseball and softball return to the Olympic docket, well, there are plenty of places to play those, too, including two Major League Baseball stadiums.

圣塔克拉拉的李維斯體育場將舉辦2016年的超級碗賽事。一座海濱籃球場將在幾年內開放，作為金州勇士隊的主場。圣何塞正在修建美國足球大聯盟球場。如果棒球和壘球回歸奧林匹克賽事，這兒也有不少場地，包括兩座棒球大聯盟體育場。

San Francisco organizers are not quite sure where to put track and field and the opening and closing ceremonies. One idea is to build a temporary stadium south of shuttered Candlestick Park. That sounds like something Athens would do.

舊金山的組織者們還沒決定在什么地方舉辦田徑賽事和開閉幕式。有人建議在目前已關閉的燭臺公園以南建一座臨時場館。這聽上去有點像雅典干的事。

Until that is figured out, imagine sailing between the Golden Gate and Bay bridges in San Francisco Bay; the same course that was perfect for the summer-long America’s Cup in 2013 is good enough for a couple weeks of Olympics.

在這個問題解決之前，讓我們還是先想想在金門大橋與舊金山海灣的各個橋梁之間揚帆航行的感覺吧，2013年的整個夏天，這里都在舉辦美國杯帆船比賽，過程相當完美，為時兩周的奧運賽事放到這里肯定也不錯。

Picture a hilly marathon tracing up the crooked block of Lombard Street. Or mountain biking in Marin County, the birthplace of the sport. Or the triathlon off Alcatraz, beach volleyball at City Hall, rowing in McCovey Cove. And if the Olympics still insist on golf, there is the Olympic Club or Pebble Beach.

試想在九曲花街蜿蜒起伏的道路上舉行的馬拉松賽事，或者在馬林郡山間舉行的山地自行車賽事——這項運動就是在那里誕生的。還有在阿爾卡特拉斯島周邊舉辦的鐵人三項賽事、在市政廳附近舉辦的沙灘排球賽事、在麥考維灣舉辦的劃艇賽事。另外，如果高爾夫球仍然留在奧運賽事之中，這里有奧林匹克俱樂部高爾夫球場和卵石灘高爾夫球場。

Supporters of Boston, Washington, Los Angeles might combat their disadvantages with snarky comparisons about summers in San Francisco and the coldest winters. Summer is fog season, and daytime temperatures in patches of the city can get stuck in the 50s. That is why armies of entrepreneurs sell cheap San Francisco jackets and sweatshirts to tourists who expected a July trip to Fisherman’s Wharf would include sunshine and warmth.

波士頓、華盛頓和洛杉磯的支持者們?yōu)榱搜陲椬约旱娜秉c，會惡聲惡氣地說舊金山的夏天和最冷的冬天差不多(傳說這句話出自馬克·吐溫之口——譯注)。這里的夏天是多霧的季節(jié)，在有些地方，白天的溫度讓人感覺好像是在50年代。所以舊金山的大批商家可以把便宜的外套和運動衫賣給在7月拜訪漁人碼頭，還指望能享受到陽光和溫暖的游客。