谁将代表美国申办2024奥运会?

4. San Francisco

旧金山

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.

很多外地人都喜欢旧金山，旧金山人暗地里带着点沾沾自喜。他们觉得自己的家是世界上最美丽、最有意思的城市之一。这样的信心是好事。

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，旧金山也有很多东西让外人忍不住皱眉。交通已经够糟的了，更何况还有双层旅游巴士总在九曲花街挡住人们视线，或是在金门大桥上阻塞交通。

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.

所以下面的建议带一点勉强：旧金山或许是夏季奥林匹克运动会主办城市的明智之选。

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.

湾区的有利条件包括凉爽的夏日气候(而且几乎不下雨)、还不错的公共交通系统(没有有轨电车)，以及遍布全城的一系列便利的场馆(相距不算远)。

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.

旧金山文化有其批评者，但它可以向整个世界展示美国是多么环保、在各个方面都是如此多样化，拥有先进的技术。反正我们湾区的人有点喜欢自夸，那不妨再加一句，这儿的风景美极了。

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.

但最重要的还是场馆。经历了雅典与北京奥运会，没有人会再想花大钱盖新场馆，而旧金山也不打算把奥运会当做城市大规模翻修的机会。

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.

这里有很多学院，还有两所大型综合性大学(斯坦福大学和加利福尼亚大学伯克利分校)，它们都拥有大型体育场馆和宿舍。有很多地方可以供运动员居住并举办小型赛事。

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.

圣塔克拉拉的李维斯体育场将举办2016年的超级碗赛事。一座海滨篮球场将在几年内开放，作为金州勇士队的主场。圣何塞正在修建美国足球大联盟球场。如果棒球和垒球回归奥林匹克赛事，这儿也有不少场地，包括两座棒球大联盟体育场。

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.

旧金山的组织者们还没决定在什么地方举办田径赛事和开闭幕式。有人建议在目前已关闭的烛台公园以南建一座临时场馆。这听上去有点像雅典干的事。

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.

在这个问题解决之前，让我们还是先想想在金门大桥与旧金山海湾的各个桥梁之间扬帆航行的感觉吧，2013年的整个夏天，这里都在举办美国杯帆船比赛，过程相当完美，为时两周的奥运赛事放到这里肯定也不错。

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.

试想在九曲花街蜿蜒起伏的道路上举行的马拉松赛事，或者在马林郡山间举行的山地自行车赛事——这项运动就是在那里诞生的。还有在阿尔卡特拉斯岛周边举办的铁人三项赛事、在市政厅附近举办的沙滩排球赛事、在麦考维湾举办的划艇赛事。另外，如果高尔夫球仍然留在奥运赛事之中，这里有奥林匹克俱乐部高尔夫球场和卵石滩高尔夫球场。

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.

波士顿、华盛顿和洛杉矶的支持者们为了掩饰自己的缺点，会恶声恶气地说旧金山的夏天和最冷的冬天差不多(传说这句话出自马克·吐温之口——译注)。这里的夏天是多雾的季节，在有些地方，白天的温度让人感觉好像是在50年代。所以旧金山的大批商家可以把便宜的外套和运动衫卖给在7月拜访渔人码头，还指望能享受到阳光和温暖的游客。