What a lop-sided article. I spend a lot of time in Whistler, and since this rumouring has cropped up, I've made a point of asking locals there what they think.
By and large they are very excited about the Games. There have been some complaints, namely the removal of a landscaped median on one road (which I've yet to find) in order to facilitate more bus flow. The road construction right in Whistler is a pain, but it is always is - and folks have said as much. That hardly qualifies as an "Olympic" gripe. If anything, the locals seem quite excited about the Medals Ceremony Park being constructed in the Village, as it will remain a prominent civic space after the Games ends. I think the writers had to try really hard to find someone to complain about that.
It just seems to me a few people are looking to gripe vocally, and the media are looking for that angle. It's part of the "sky is falling" meme of the times.
I never thought of myself as such an optimist until I started paying attention to stuff like this.
Final thought is I love the folks who say "we like Whistler the way it was." Like when? Whistler didn't even really exist in anything close to its modern conception until the 60s, and wasn't even really an established resort until the 80s and early 90s. So are these folks longing for the simpler times of 2002 or something?
It's not like it is this storied historic mountain village with generations of traditions to uphold. I think the Squamish and Lil'wat First Nations might have a point in saying that, but everyone else is just full of it when it comes to that whine.