A large downtown Casino will revitalize Pittsburgh!

[GRDadof3]

Most casinos are designed so you will not be distracted by anything outside the casino. That includes the passing of time. It is not in the best interest of the casino for you to notice that the sun is rising which may evoke thoughts of how much of your childs college fund you've gambled away.

That was the poster's point, and why I agree. In other words, if it's a standard casino that shuts out the rest of the world, is a time vacuum, and is surrounded by a sea of parking, it has no business being in a vibrant downtown area.

[jazzman]

Not a good idea.

There are several casinos here in Southern California. They're all built a good distance from LA and OC. I live in OC and it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to them. This makes me and many others think twice before taking the trek (like Foxwoods) When I do go, they are very busy. People waiting for an open slot machine or a seat at a table game.

They were considering putting one in Anaheim near Disneyland. That would have been a catastrophe. If it were in the middle of metropolis there would be lines of people waiting to enter a casino, which would be full-to-capacity every night. Nobody would think twice about driving 15 or 20 minutes.

An inner-city casino will also attract a "bad element".

In order to have uncrowded inner-city casinos, there would need to be several of them to thin the crowds. Then you'd have an Atlantic City, Reno, Tahoe or Vegas on your hands.

[bradsp]

UPDATE

The casino will be placed about a mile away near my historic new urban neighborhood. I am devastated. Many red-necks around here who have no concept of how great a new urban neighborhood is and how to protect it.

I don

[TheGerbil]

The location of the casino was chosen by a state-appointed panel. No one in the city really had any say in it, which bothers me. The panel claims to have chosen the best proposal for the city, but how would they really know?

With that said, the casino is going to be located along the river, close to the football stadium and the Science Center. This is something of a touristy area, and therefore I don't think it's too bad of a spot. I don't think there's anywhere in the city where it wouldn't be within a mile of a residential area -- I think the chosen spot is about as good as it could get in that respect.

I am not sure how I feel about it. The casino developer has promised money to help finance a new arena for the city and redevelopment of the old arena site. The state is using some money from this and other casino's to (hopefully) reduce property taxes and finance some programs. So in those respects I think this could be a nice thing. But I don't know exactly how the casino itself will affect the area around it. It's one of those things that nobody wants in their backyard, and I can't say I blame them.