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From the point of view of an actual resident I would have to agree. The only 'surprise' here is that Rio was actually able to pull off a successful Olympics at all. True, to very low expectations, so why raise them now? And sorry to say that the Olympics actually led to some infrastructural improvements, for real-life residents. Like new metro stations and especially the new Linha 4 connecting Ipanema with Barra da Tijuca, which previous Rio governments had promised and failed to do for decades, drastically reducing transit time/costs, benefitting commuting workers every day. New highways like the BRT were constructed and are still utilized, as is the tram downtown. Downtown the Museu do Amanha is open for business for tourists and residents alike and the surrounding grounds along the renovated Port a meeting point on weekends. This is not to gloss over many of Rio's well known issues but as Bobbalino put it, it is certainly, at a minimum, no less appealing than before. As for as the stadiums are concerned, I can't speak for the others, but tomorrow at Maracana, closed for 'improvements' (as dubious as they were) for the Games, is Game 2 of the semi-finals of a national soccer tournament, and a classic match-up between two of Rio's major teams. See you there.