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Keller @ Large: Keep Taxpayer Money Out Of Boston 2024 Olympic Bid

BOSTON (CBS) - When you grow up in a place, you develop a sense of what it's all about. And while I suppose it's a different experience for others, for me, Boston's distinguishing characteristic has always been that it's down to earth.

While we do have plenty of natural beauty around us, we're far from paradise. Nothing's worse than a Boston winter full of gray days and filthy slush.

We're an expensive place to live, too. And unless you have one of those cushy academic jobs with plenty of perks, no heavy lifting and summers off, life here can be an uphill climb.

It's with all that in mind that we begin seriously considering the prospect of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

I've been open about my disinterest in the games, but clearly plenty of you disagree. And after talking with some of the people promoting the idea, I'm happy to report that they are not evil, but in fact believe the games would be a huge plus for us.

So by all means, let a bid be developed with thorough vetting from the community.

No one should be bulldozed to make way for this.

Besides that, I see one core principle worth fighting for – no taxpayer money going to anything but basic infrastructure that we need to do anyway.

If the organizers can make those promises – and guarantee us that the broken promises from other Olympics won't recur here – then they have a shot at this.

But please, cool it with the fancy talk about making us "world-class."

That means nothing to Bostonians who don't need wealthy foreigners to define that for them.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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