Quote:
Originally Posted by mPhilly
I agree as well. For every job these casinos create they create 4 people with horrible — problems, half of whom become that middle-aged drunk who bugs you for money within the 3 block radius of ME and makes suburbanites get off one stop later on the regional rail even if its a longer walk. Not exactly great for developing an area which is already a bit rundown.
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Link to stats? London has casinos on (and all around) Leicester Square--and, if you're not looking for them--you wouldn't even notice they existed. Philadelphians puritanical preconception that a casino=night of the living dead is a bit off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mPhilly
Besides that, these casinos only take money from "out of towners" for so long. NJ is trying to get sports betting and casinos are popping up all over the place. The reality is destination gamblers are going to go to LV, and everybody else isn't going to go to Philadelphia just to — when it's surrounded by casinos. Instead, this would probably just completely destroy Sugar House and thereby detract from both ME and the area around Sugar House.
Finally, if you look at the casino situation as it stands, its a classic bubble-burst scenario. Its illegal in most places, then in search for money laws are relaxed, developers and cities all jump in at once but find that the more casinos that exist, the less each one earns. Furthermore, for most people its a novelty that wears off quickly. I really think its only a matter of time until there isn't a profitable casino on the entire east coast. ME needs to look to long-term growth, not jumping on a dying fad late in the game.
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No one is rightly suggesting Philly will be a destination for casino-goers--it's just an additional entertainment option for Conventioneers and Overnighters. Have you ever done convention travel for business/work? It's effectively a 3-day party--with 1-2 seminars during the day, a little sight-seeing, followed by revelry at night. An entertainment complex here would be a great fit for those crowds.
Naysayers also fail to point out this proposal in particular isn't
just a casino. IT's 5 floors, only 2 of which are devoted to —--the other floors feature performance space, restaurant and retail venues on the ground floor, dance clubs, a rooftop lounge, 12 story hotel--i'd love to see a movie theater as well. I don't know...as a resident, shopping, dining, rooftop lounges, concert hall--sounds like things I can use to me too.
For whatever reason, the economic realities of developing something at the massive parcel at 8th and Market is just not feasible--we've been waiting for something for close to 20 years now--and little to no movement. If some — revenue subsidizes construction on a half a billion dollar investment, the majority of which does not feature —, and whose investment in ME will potentially lead to redevelopment at Strawbridges, spur on PREIT's reno of the Gallery, and the Girard superblock--then, as a local, I'm OK with it.
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), but I strongly believe that Philadelphia needs to devote more resources to developing and promoting its core strengths (historical, cultural, architectural, educational, etc.) in order to entice more potential tourists and conventions to come here from around the country and the world, rather than attempting to be a second- or third-rate one-size-fits-all tourist attraction. If we want Philadlephia to be mentioned in the same breath as New York, D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. when folks plan vacations to the East Coast or the US, we need to be thinking a bit bigger and grander, in my not-so-humble opinion. 
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