Casino Royale!

[MadVlad]

Ok, I'm back from my Vegas trip, and the place has really changed in the 5 years since I last went. I was really impressed with Mandalay Bay (among other places), and, to be truthful, I don't see why something like that couldn't work in Hartford. For those that don't know, most of the casinos in Vegas are anything but; they are destination resorts. You could spend a motnth in Vegas and not gamble, not that anyone would want to. All that being said, I see no reason why something of that sort couldn't work here.

Mandalay Bay is set up nicely, huge hotel, Shark Reef Aquarium type deal, but the best of all is the pool. This isn't Mom-and-Pop's crappy pool in the backyard. This pool has: a wave pool with people bodysurfing and boogieboarding in (sandy beach and all), and this odd circular thing that people can tube-up and basically float around in, which looked like a geat time. It was basically like a stream, except no rocks or rapids, you hop in and it takes in a nice winding track. Yes, I understand we don't live in a desert, but we don't have to. I've been to plenty of places that have indoor/outdoor pools, and this could be the best. Not only would it be a nice hotel, but it could be a great place for people to bring the kids for a weekend, especially in the winter. Throw in some slots, some table games, it's a slam dunk. Don't ask "why", ask "why not"....

[HartfordTycoon]

Ok, I'm back from my Vegas trip, and the place has really changed in the 5 years since I last went. I was really impressed with Mandalay Bay (among other places), and, to be truthful, I don't see why something like that couldn't work in Hartford. For those that don't know, most of the casinos in Vegas are anything but; they are destination resorts. You could spend a motnth in Vegas and not gamble, not that anyone would want to. All that being said, I see no reason why something of that sort couldn't work here.

Mandalay Bay is set up nicely, huge hotel, Shark Reef Aquarium type deal, but the best of all is the pool. This isn't Mom-and-Pop's crappy pool in the backyard. This pool has: a wave pool with people bodysurfing and boogieboarding in (sandy beach and all), and this odd circular thing that people can tube-up and basically float around in, which looked like a geat time. It was basically like a stream, except no rocks or rapids, you hop in and it takes in a nice winding track. Yes, I understand we don't live in a desert, but we don't have to. I've been to plenty of places that have indoor/outdoor pools, and this could be the best. Not only would it be a nice hotel, but it could be a great place for people to bring the kids for a weekend, especially in the winter. Throw in some slots, some table games, it's a slam dunk. Don't ask "why", ask "why not"....

Why not? I've been asking that for years.....

[Luca Brasi]

Ask Lowell Weicker and others like Carrie Saxon Perry why not. They were the ones who opposed Wynn's plan for North Downtown and killed it. I saw his renderings and I believe his development was about 10% casino space. The rest was hotels, apartments, condos, theaters, restaurants, etc...

[TaylorG4444]

Is there a place where you can see these renderings?

[JimSawhill]

Ask Lowell Weicker and others like Carrie Saxon Perry why not. They were the ones who opposed Wynn's plan for North Downtown and killed it. I saw his renderings and I believe his development was about 10% casino space. The rest was hotels, apartments, condos, theaters, restaurants, etc...

L P Weicker is the states worst govenor IMHO and the hat lady (C S Perry) didn't help Hartford. They both opposed Wynn's plan and WACKY Weicker gave the rights to CASINOS only to the TRIBES. Would I visit the casinos? Nope, not unless there were family activities there. (One reason why I'd go to Las Vegas instead of Atlantic City.)

JimS

[drc72]

Is there a place where you can see these renderings?

Yeah I'm curious myself.

[TaylorG4444]

How do a**holes like Lowell Weicker even get into office....why do they even bother if they won't help the state? Other than Rowland has there EVER been a governor that thought about the BIG picture...and then did the little things to get there? I wish we could have him back. I don't give a rats ass what he did. Atleast he ACTED on good ideas. Makes me sick to think of all the lost opportunities Hartford/Connecticut has had, and if we don't get someone in office that is willing to make the decisions we need to to make Hartford/Connecticut great soon....I'm going to go crazy. We should be jumping at opportunities like the one Wynn proposed years back. Anything to make our state better as a whole should be WELCOMED instead of tossed into the "Not suitable for Hartford/Connecticut" bin.

[HartfordTycoon]

L P Weicker is the states worst govenor IMHO and the hat lady (C S Perry) didn't help Hartford. They both opposed Wynn's plan and WACKY Weicker gave the rights to CASINOS only to the TRIBES. Would I visit the casinos? Nope, not unless there were family activities there. (One reason why I'd go to Las Vegas instead of Atlantic City.)

JimS

To be fair, CS Perry was an community activist, not really qualified to lead a major city. She also had zero power over anything. You can pretty much blame Weiker. If he would have bought into the Wynn casino plan, it would have been built. On the bright side, it's never to late for a casino. Casino developers go anywhere they are allowed, and if we were to actually seek one to be developed here, we would have to beat them away with a stick. Plus I'm sure either Foxwoods or Mohegan would love to expand into Hartford.

[beerbeer]

Perry also tried to loot the treasury on her way out the door. Not very classy.

[HartfordTycoon]

Perry also tried to loot the treasury on her way out the door. Not very classy.

I didn't remember that, I was like 8. I remember the hats though. That is pretty bad. How did a weak mayor even have access to treasury funds?

[Luca Brasi]

Carrie Perry was horrible. Even though she didn't have any power, she had the inability to see the big picture and never got behind anything of substance for the city. To her, Hartford began and ended with the North End. Nothing else mattered. I remembered her comments regarding the Whalers leaving. She said let them go because kids in the north end didn't care about hockey anyway. "Let them go. How many kids in the North End go to Whalers games?" she asked the Courant. How shortsighted.

In regards to the casino idea, she staunchly opposed it because she said it would take advantage of Hartford's poor and create crime in the North End. If anyone doesn't believe that people with a gambling habit aren't jumping in their cars and driving 45 mins down the road, they are sadly mistaken. 15 years later, the north end of downbtown is still desolate, undeveloped and off the tax rolls. Oh - and there is still crime in the north end. Just imagine the dollars from outsiude of Hartford and CT that would have rolled in over the last 15 years and think of the development that would have followed Wynn's. Its heartbreaking. I am not a firm believer in building an economy off of gambling, but Hartford already had a sound business infrastructure in place. And augmenting that business with the entertainment industry (not just gambling) would have been a home run for the region.

I think the bill Weicker signed allowing the casinos to have slots killed any chance of Hartford ever getting a casino. In exchange for getting slots, the casinos have to give up a percentage of slot revenues right off the top to the state. In return, no casinos can open off of Indian reservations. This is how he killed Wynn's deal.

Which leads to another question - since Weicker instituted a state income tax, started the Lotto and brokered the deal for slot revenues.... where the hell is all this revenue to the state going that didn't exist before his tenure?

[HartfordTycoon]

Carrie Perry was horrible. Even though she didn't have any power, she had the inability to see the big picture and never got behind anything of substance for the city. To her, Hartford began and ended with the North End. Nothing else mattered. I remembered her comments regarding the Whalers leaving. She said let them go because kids in the north end didn't care about hockey anyway. "Let them go. How many kids in the North End go to Whalers games?" she asked the Courant. How shortsighted.

In regards to the casino idea, she staunchly opposed it because she said it would take advantage of Hartford's poor and create crime in the North End. If anyone doesn't believe that people with a gambling habit aren't jumping in their cars and driving 45 mins down the road, they are sadly mistaken. 15 years later, the north end of downbtown is still desolate, undeveloped and off the tax rolls. Oh - and there is still crime in the north end. Just imagine the dollars from outsiude of Hartford and CT that would have rolled in over the last 15 years and think of the development that would have followed Wynn's. Its heartbreaking. I am not a firm believer in building an economy off of gambling, but Hartford already had a sound business infrastructure in place. And augmenting that business with the entertainment industry (not just gambling) would have been a home run for the region.

I think the bill Weicker signed allowing the casinos to have slots killed any chance of Hartford ever getting a casino. In exchange for getting slots, the casinos have to give up a percentage of slot revenues right off the top to the state. In return, no casinos can open off of Indian reservations. This is how he killed Wynn's deal.

Which leads to another question - since Weicker instituted a state income tax, started the Lotto and brokered the deal for slot revenues.... where the hell is all this revenue to the state going that didn't exist before his tenure?

I don't know. I know the GA Lottery funds in it's enirety their HOPE Scholarship program which sends thousands to college every year. Imagine if we were to use our gaming and lotto revenue for higher education. That would be too logical for CT to ever implement though.

[drc72]

.... where the hell is all this revenue to the state going that didn't exist before his tenure?

The state spends it as quick as it gets it. And even with all this new found revenue, they still have the balls to raise taxes.

[MadVlad]

How do a**holes like Lowell Weicker even get into office....why do they even bother if they won't help the state? Other than Rowland has there EVER been a governor that thought about the BIG picture...and then did the little things to get there? I wish we could have him back. I don't give a rats ass what he did. Atleast he ACTED on good ideas. Makes me sick to think of all the lost opportunities Hartford/Connecticut has had, and if we don't get someone in office that is willing to make the decisions we need to to make Hartford/Connecticut great soon....I'm going to go crazy. We should be jumping at opportunities like the one Wynn proposed years back. Anything to make our state better as a whole should be WELCOMED instead of tossed into the "Not suitable for Hartford/Connecticut" bin.

Let's not start getting on the Rowland bandwagon. Did he do some good, sure. That does not wipe out the bad that he did, like take payoffs, oh, and don;'t forget let our only professional sports franchise bolt because he had the Pats in his back pocket ...

[TaylorG4444]

I'm not on a Rowland bandwagon. I've always liked him and also will because he's always had the vision for a better Hartford/ Connecticut and as far as pay offs....I honestly don't care

[drc72]

I'm not on a Rowland bandwagon. I've always liked him and also will because he's always had the vision for a better Hartford/ Connecticut and as far as pay offs....I honestly don't care

I wasn't crazy about Rowland either, but he did do a lot for Hartford.

[damus]

I think Rowland did more harm than good. I'm not knowledgable at all about governors past Lowell Weicker, so I can't say who turned the state towards the antibusiness climate it's in now. Back in the '60s, the state seems like it was swimming in cash considering all those highway projects that were on the table. What happened?

[HartfordTycoon]

I think that as people left the cities, they also began to leave the urban areas of the northeast altogether. As that population shift began, the businesses started to follow. Plus, labor laws to help workers who were really really being exploited, raises in minimum wage, etc. In my opinion these were all neccessary. I like big business, but you can't less them boss you around. That's why everything is so messed up now and profits are getting bigger and bigger. Big Business runs this country, that's why they can outsource the jobs to the 3rd world, set up off shore headquarters to beat the taxes, etc. And for what? So the CEO can make extravagant amounts of money at the customers' and employees expense. Just my 2 cents. America needs to take back our country from the corporations and restore some sort of balance. You can't make these greedy corporations happy. That's what you need to learn. Taxes are never low enough, guidelines are never free enough for them to be satisfied.

[jcrc]

I think that as people left the cities, they also began to leave the urban areas of the northeast altogether. As that population shift began, the businesses started to follow. Plus, labor laws to help workers who were really really being exploited, raises in minimum wage, etc. In my opinion these were all neccessary. I like big business, but you can't less them boss you around. That's why everything is so messed up now and profits are getting bigger and bigger. Big Business runs this country, that's why they can outsource the jobs to the 3rd world, set up off shore headquarters to beat the taxes, etc. And for what? So the CEO can make extravagant amounts of money at the customers' and employees expense. Just my 2 cents. America needs to take back our country from the corporations and restore some sort of balance. You can't make these greedy corporations happy. That's what you need to learn. Taxes are never low enough, guidelines are never free enough for them to be satisfied.

Even in the same state of CT, Hartford is not competitive and is losing jobs to the suburbs. Whether jobs are out source to overseas, down South or South Windsor, Hartford as a city is worse off. You can't blame business for wanting to a better business climate. Many of them need to reduce cost just to survive. Think about it as you start your new venture, you want to have the best deal you can get. Big business is the same.

[HartfordTycoon]

Even in the same state of CT, Hartford is not competitive and is losing jobs to the suburbs. Whether jobs are out source to overseas, down South or South Windsor, Hartford as a city is worse off. You can't blame business for wanting to a better business climate. Many of them need to reduce cost just to survive. Think about it as you start your new venture, you want to have the best deal you can get. Big business is the same.

I truly understand that and appreciate that. I only said that the government does need to regulate these businesses more. I think the government should have more control over the economy is all. I am not a socialist, but I think US Capitalism is a bit out of control. I see the corporations are not suffering econonically, what is suffering is America's economy at their greedy hands. Look at our society, the average American has a negative net worth. When you look at it like that, some poor people without credit are really worth more than some rich people who are $100k in the red. If you destroy the economy in your biggest market, that's a lose-lose situation. I think Hartford does need to make the cost of doing business way more competitive. I just feel like there are some people who want to do anything to appease the almighty corporate gods and we our sacrificing our society to them in my opinion. I want to build a fortune 500 from scratch, I would also like to improve the lives of people. I don't think those are mutually exclusive, but the way we do business in this country today it seems as if most feel that they are.

[jcrc]

I truly understand that and appreciate that. I only said that the government does need to regulate these businesses more. I think the government should have more control over the economy is all. I am not a socialist, but I think US Capitalism is a bit out of control. I see the corporations are not suffering econonically, what is suffering is America's economy at their greedy hands. Look at our society, the average American has a negative net worth. When you look at it like that, some poor people without credit are really worth more than some rich people who are $100k in the red. If you destroy the economy in your biggest market, that's a lose-lose situation. I think Hartford does need to make the cost of doing business way more competitive. I just feel like there are some people who want to do anything to appease the almighty corporate gods and we our sacrificing our society to them in my opinion. I want to build a fortune 500 from scratch, I would also like to improve the lives of people. I don't think those are mutually exclusive, but the way we do business in this country today it seems as if most feel that they are.

If we can regulate the corperation not just in the US, but in the entire world so that no matter where business move there is no advantage, then I suppose regulation might work. But that is just totally unrealistic. Think about it, if both are equally capable why would you hire an American computer programmer at $50/hr when you can hire an Indian programmer at $15/hr? It just doesn't make economic sense.

[HartfordTycoon]

If we can regulate the corperation not just in the US, but in the entire world so that no matter where business move there is no advantage, then I suppose regulation might work. But that is just totally unrealistic. Think about it, if both are equally capable why would you hire an American computer programmer at $50/hr when you can hire an Indian programmer at $15/hr? It just doesn't make economic sense.

No it doesn't, but you can restrict access and increase taxes on US corporations who do not employ a certain percentage of Americans. You can also provide tax incentives based on complience with this, since it would strengthen our economy anyway. I just feel that these tax breaks for the wealthy are rewarding bad behavior and will only make things worse. I support a measure such as this fully. I know I will be the minority on this board for that, but I feel it's neccessity in order for US society not to end up being 3rd world in like 30 to 50 years. Not saying we should be like China, but we should restrict our market more. Everyone wants US consumers, they would follow the guidelines in order to sell to us.

[beerbeer]

Roland was the most pro-city governor of the last 50 years. The incredible change at UConn also happened on his watch.

He was as corrupt as a Rhode Island politician and lots of folks hated his politics but he was very, very good for Hartford.

[HartfordTycoon]

Roland was the most pro-city governor of the last 50 years. The incredible change at UConn also happened on his watch.

He was as corrupt as a Rhode Island politician and lots of folks hated his politics but he was very, very good for Hartford.

Yeah, I've said that a million times. I think the good he did actually does outweigh the bad. 10 years from now when Hartford is flourishing again, no one will remember about the hot tubs.

[Luca Brasi]

You took the words out of my mouth beerbeer. Rowland did more for Hartford ( a democrat stranglehold) than any democrat has. And he certainly wasn't posturing for votes like most politicians.