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Can anyone name a city where a casino has "energized" a downtown?


GRDadof3

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I can think of a number of great downtowns without casinos, what about great downtowns where the casino was integral to the downtown? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm interested in seeing examples.

Maybe Shreveport? They have a river in their downtown like GR.

293503171_bb8f60af60_b.jpg

Shreveport%20Skyline%20daytime_jpg.jpg

Betcha can't tell which ones are the casinos:

Shreveport%20night%20skyline_jpg.jpg

It could be our new mantra "When we grow up, we wanna be just like Shreveport (or Manistee or Windsor or Detroit :yahoo: )"

Wow! Look at that parking ramp in those pictures.

Look at this piece of architectural eye-candy:

BIL_CASI-exter-1.jpg

(love the 10 story parking garage as the base BTW)

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Los Vagas and Atlantic City are the only cities that come to my mind. But DT Vagas outside of casino grounds is about pedestrian friendly as the S-curve during morning rush hour. Same goes for Atlantic city with the exception of the boardwalk. So guess that means these cities are not that great once the glizz and glam are striped away.

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The Parking structure for the new Marriott looks to be about as big as the monster you've shown. At least our monster is not going to be as ugly though.

Wow! Look at that parking ramp in those pictures.

Look at this piece of architectural eye-candy:

BIL_CASI-exter-1.jpg

(love the 10 story parking garage as the base BTW)

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Downtown GR is fairly energized right now, I do think a casino might augment what's already there. In terms of crowd draw, I think it would more help with things like conventions and such. I don't however think you'll see a casino in Grand Rapids anytime soon, or later for that matter.

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The answer is:

NONE

I'm the last guy to tell anyone how they should spend thier money... hell, leave it to your kitty cat for all I care, but anyone who thinks bring in a casino is going to result in this

vegascastnv3.jpg

more than this

smokingse1.jpg

obviously hasn't stepped foot in one for a long time...

A really piss poor way to spend public economic developement dollars.

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The answer is:

NONE

I'm the last guy to tell anyone how they should spend thier money... hell, leave it to your kitty cat for all I care, but anyone who thinks bring in a casino is going to result in this

vegascastnv3.jpg

more than this

smokingse1.jpg

obviously hasn't stepped foot in one for a long time...

A really piss poor way to spend public economic developement dollars.

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Some years back I had an interview in Joliet Ill. Was told that the riverboat casino provided abatement on electricity (not sure if it was homeowner's bills or just commercial ones).

I never saw Joliet prior to the riverboat, so can't compare. But I have seen the Indian casino buildings in U.P. places such as Christmas. Really nice new pole barn buildings with lovely corrugated walls.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I hearby submit for your approval the most politically correct statement ever posted on an Internet website:

"Nothing against people with iron lungs or anything, but"

Thanks Dad, you owe me a new keyboard...

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The answer is:

NONE

I'm the last guy to tell anyone how they should spend thier money... hell, leave it to your kitty cat for all I care, but anyone who thinks bring in a casino is going to result in this

more than this

smokingse1.jpg

obviously hasn't stepped foot in one for a long time...

A really piss poor way to spend public economic developement dollars.

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As you alluded to, it might be why they are desperate to try anything (like a casino). We're hardly desperate.

Here's a rundown of cities with casinos and their population growth (losses) from 2000 - 2005:

Detroit: - 65,315

Pittsburgh: -17,845

Atlantic City: -245

Shreveport: -1822

Michigan City: -695

New Orleans: -29,811 (pre Katrina)

So all those jobs created by the casinos haven't kicked in yet?

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In Pittsburgh's defense (casino or not), I've heard it is a pretty cool place. Hard to believe it is bleeding population :dontknow: Maybe the metro area is gaining but the city is losing a bit?

One thing I've always thought interesting about population stats. All urban core's want owner occupied housing, yet if that happened drastically in a city, the population would go down (not that this is the case in Pittsburgh but I always pondered that in the case where a city loses a tiny percentage of the population. Is that actually bad?)

Joe

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Reread GRDad's post. Pittsburgh's metro area is losing population. I'm not entirely sure why you think owner-occupied housing would cause a city's population to decrease either. A house can contain n number of people whether its inhabitants own it not. Unless you're assuming owner-occupied housing tends to have fewer people per unit, which is possible I suppose.

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I generally hate casinos wherever I see them. I know that whenever I go to detroit, I see this largely desolate landscape peppered with these big old casinos that seem to have done nothing to make the surrounding city actually... liveable. I've been to Soaring Eagle in Mt. Pleasant as part of a legislative task force, and I was struck by the jarring difference between what you see in the ads (happy, smiling young couples excited to put a coin into the slots) and what you actually see on the gaming floor (older, sort of dumpy white folks in matching track suits with blank expressions, probably pissing away their kid's inheritance, mindlessly cranking coins out of a plastic cup into the slots). Looking across the Detroit River into Windsor makes me shudder with embarrasment for that city; what a gaudy piece of crap.

Whether or not you like the idea of casino gambling or not, it's always been known as a vice for a reason: in general it's a bad thing. Lotteries and gambling are a tax on stupidity, and to have governmental entities promoting them in order to bring in more revenue is a scandal and a shame as far as I'm concerned. <_<

</rant>

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