The first heat for the Olympics of ... 2012

San Francisco has its international allure. Washington and New York have post-9/11 sentimental draw. And Houston has the art of the big business deal. And all of them want to add Olympic glory to their images.

Tuesday, the United States Olympic Committee narrows from four to two those US cities vying to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. That's 2012 – three Olympiads away – and the competition for that spot on the calendar is fierce. The economic benefits are considerable – $6 billion will be pumped into the chosen community. And the eyes of the world – 4 million visitors and 5 billion TV viewers – focus on the locale for three weeks.

"I don't think it's just about economic development or return of investment," says Mitt Romney, who headed the highly successful Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. "It is a transforming experience for the people of the host city. Our citizens gathered with people from around the world in a way we will never experience again. One comes away with just a great sense of the qualities of the human character and spirit."

Mr. Romney, now the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts, says he'd expected before 9/11 that it would be a long while before the US was hosted the Olympics again. But he thinks there is now worldwide sentiment to bring the games back to the US, and that New York and Washington would be the obvious leaders.

But all four cities, he and others agree, have natural advantages. The USOC will be looking at the receptiveness and hospitality of the host city, the quality of its Olympic venues, and its housing and transportation infrastructure. And security may play an even bigger role now than in the past.

The USOC must think down the road to when the US city chosen competes on the world stage with the likes of Rome, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Buenos Aires. For that reason, many believe San Francisco and Washington have the edge.

Over the past few months, each of the cities have submitted phonebook-sized bid proposals describing the nuts and bolts of their plans. Each has played host to the USOC – showing off their city's strengths.

But by Tuesday, only two will remain in the running. The two finalists will make presentations Nov. 2 and 3 in Colorado Springs, after which the USOC will name the US city to represent the US in international competition.

The International Olympic Committee will choose the city to host the 2012 Summer Olympics in 2005, giving it seven years to raise funds and complete its building.

• Christina Ianzito in Washington and Stella Lee in New York contributed to this report.

The Bay Area's iconic fog fuels the chillingly memorable comment of one anonymous visitor: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Given the high humidity factors for the other three cities in the running, that makes it, hands down, the best summer weather for athletic performance.

The city's charm may be its best draw – the hills, the cable cars, the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. And Tony Bennett – drafted to help lobby for the city's Olympic bid – is still crooning about leaving his heart there.

"The city itself is a collective, high work of art achieved over a 200-year period since the days of the Spanish," says Kevin Starr, California's state historian. "It's the whole panoply of presenting to the rest of the world the high instance of American civilization and civility."

The city already is a highly developed tourist destination with plenty of hotels, restaurants, museums and other cultural draws. In addition, it has an integrated transportation system – the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) and ferries to carry people to the various venues that are spread out from the Bay area to Sacramento's Lake Natoma.

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