The Globe’s Rick Klein today has an article discussing the sudden shift in message for this summer’s Democratic Convention, from “join the party” to “stay at home”:
Now that the extent of road closings has been made public, an inherent tension is emerging for local convention planners. The desire to make the convention a community celebration is rubbing up against security precautions ordered for the first political convention since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Judging from the grumblings from area bloggers, I gather that the goodwill toward the convention does not run very high at this moment. I tend not to be so distraught as some - did people really not expect some shutting down of the city? - but there’s an unmistakable dynamic at play: city boosters, either bluffing or overly optimistic or both, sell Boston as a first-class city, i.e. one capable of handling big, prestige events. Such events are seen as necessary for further competition in a national market for conventions and tourist dollars. These boosters win out, then everyone realizes that optimistic/inflated expectations don’t apply to a city that’s densely populated and not all that large.
Why is this dynamic unmistakable? Because it’s going on with the South Boston Convention Center as well. Chamber of Commerce types decide that we need a real venue for big-ticket conventions, that these conventions will exert a multiplier effect on the local economy, and Boston will be on the short list of big cities considered for conventions. Now that it’s completed, bookings are under expectation and (the admittedly nay-saying) Pioneer Institute releases report after report demonstrating that too many convention centers may well be chasing fewer and fewer conventions. These doubts just add to long-standing criticisms of the project to begin with.
So what we have is a Second New Boston overreaching, tripping over its own boosterism. But I’m not all that worried about it - at least yet. For one thing, the resistance to these two inititatives, combined with a recessionary economy will likely mean that the boosters will cool it for a while. For another thing, maybe a little overreaching is what we need for the moment. Maybe people worried about a week’s traffic - or those wanting to make the convention center into a Home Depot warehouse - aren’t thinking big enough.
No comments have been added to this post yet.