Pros & Cons of Economic Development – Casinos
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Economic development is a must in any and every city in my opinion. The question remains, however, what kind of development should be done in each city to have more pros than cons when the weight and measure system comes into play.
I think one casino in Connecticut was a good idea, but in a state that spans all of 2 1/2 hours wide and 2 1/2 hours long (distance from one side to the other…I used to live in Litchfield and Fairfield Counties…miss them terribly), I think that having two casinos and within just 9 miles of one another is absolutely ridiculous. It created some pros and many cons…
Pros: increased revenue to the state; increased job opportunities; offered benefits to many who would have otherwise been uninsured; utilized land that had previously been unoccupied; created new restaurants for locals to patronize; added additional stores to our area
Cons: heavy traffic patterns on all highways and many secluded back roads; increased quantity of intoxicated and sleepy drivers; increased quantity and severity of auto accidents; caused parking lot and parking garage robberies; increased financial assistance needed for residents (many senior and unemployed persons losing their $ within a day or two of collecting); decreased customers at local restaurants, bars and entertainment facilities; increased child abandonment rates and increased young children being left alone at home or in cars for all hours of the day and night, caused many to be forced out of their homes due to eminent domain of Indian owned land
The future of these two entities remains unknown as they continue to drop in revenue, yet, continue to spend millions on expansion trying to increase jobs, patronage and income, yet all the while we will have neighboring states doing the same in order to pull our patrons to their locations.
Our state surely prospered from the inception, but I feel it is increasingly suffering as the casinos try to pay off their mob loans, raise the money to continue their growth spurt and consider opening in other cities in this little state of ours.