The French capital is abuzz as Paris prepares to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. But many polls show that Parisians feel the Olympics are coming at a bad time, and the city's "often hard-to-please residents appear in no mood for a party yet," said AFP. France is undergoing political turmoil, and Paris made headlines last year for a citywide infestation of bedbugs and pollution in the River Seine.
Despite all of this, Paris is moving full-steam ahead with its plans. Paris has spent at least $9.7 billion on Olympic expenses, $3.25 billion of which is estimated to come from French taxpayers, said The Associated Press.
How much does it cost?
Every city's needs are different, but the cost is generally in the tens of billions of dollars. In 2012, London spent $14.6 billion to host the Summer Olympics, said Investopedia. Rio de Janeiro spent $20 billion in 2016, and Beijing reportedly spent $42 billion in 2008. But the record goes to Sochi, Russia, which spent a massive $50 billion in 2014.
And this is before any additional costs are counted. A city will "commonly add roads, build or enhance airports and construct rail lines to accommodate the large influx of people," making costs skyrocket, said Investopedia. Housing for Olympic athletes and thousands of hotel rooms must also be made available. An Olympic city's infrastructure costs alone may "range from $5 billion to $50 billion."
Do cities benefit economically?
Not as much as you might think. Government studies "often argue that hosting the event will provide a major economic lift by creating jobs, drawing tourists and boosting overall economic output," but these "purported benefits are dubious," the Council on Foreign Relations said. A study of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City found that the games had created 7,000 temporary jobs, "about one-tenth the number promised by officials."
In general, the revenue brought in from the games does not equate to the money spent by the host city. Los Angeles in 1984 remains the only host city that "realized a profit from the games," said Investopedia. But this is largely because the "infrastructure required of them already existed." | 
