Yawn. Londonist is fed up of dour news pieces and negatively-biased research polls foisting bleak forecasts on to the public of an overly expensive and poorly designed 2012 Olympics. Are we heading for the crappest Olympics ever? Is the event going to bankrupt our economy? Who really knows? It’s 4 years away!

In this latest survey, carried out by current affairs programme Inside Out, 6 out of 10 Londoners said there was nothing really in the Games for them. Well, besides the obvious medals, and not directly benefiting from the rejuvenation sites, what is there really in the Games for them? Apart from that is, world-class athletes duelling on their doorstep for the most celebrated prizes in sport? Come on people! Added to this, nearly 3 out of 4 Londoners reckon there will be no noticeable benefit from the Games to their region. But appreciating the East End bias of regeneration, perhaps that’s more an accurate reflection of the event’s legacy than sour grapes?

There’s no doubt London is on bad form with big civic projects at the moment, but surely these surveys are more a reflection of a lack of public awareness of the long-lasting positive impact the Olympics might have on London, rather than what’s-in-it-for-me whingeing? With that in mind, here are Londonist’s Top 5 London 2012 reasons to be cheerful:

1. The creation of the biggest new park London has seen since Victorian times

2. The building of a new Olympic stadium that is a blueprint for sustainable living

3. The 9,000 new homes that the Olympic village and other buildings will supply

4. The DLR, everyone’s favourite railway, will be extended and the Jubilee line increased in capacity. Also, London Overground, not such a popular railway, will be connecting up south-east with west, at last.

5. A new Olympic Park Aquatics Centre, and Olympic and Paralympic sailing facilities in Weymouth

Go Olympics! (But the logo still sucks)

By Noel Titheradge

Image courtesy of Roebot's Flickrstream.