Atlantic City sold its soul to gambling and cannot get it back

COLUMN: Atlantic City sold its soul to gambling and cannot get it back
Margaret R. McDowell
A Wealth of Knowledge

“What you have there is priceless. You’re going to lose something that’s pure and pristine and can never be replaced. It’s (casino gambling) glamorous and exciting, but once you make that move, it can never be undone. It destroys the community. It’ll never be the same again.”

— Former Atlantic City, N.J., town official visiting Sandestin.

“Grandpa, everything is changing fast. We call it progress, but I just don’t know.”

— From "Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days)" by The Judds




Joan from Sandestin asks “The prospect of gambling casinos being built here in South Walton is being raised. What kind of economic impact will it have on our community if it’s approved?”

I had dinner at Burnt Pine last week with a gentleman who has lived in the Atlantic City, N.J., area since 1963 and who served in city government there in 1978 when the casinos arrived. We’ll call him “A.C.” We asked A. C. about the impact from casino gambling. Here’s the recap:



Arbor Wealth: Were the casinos good for business in Atlantic City?

A.C.: Only for a very few, selected businesses, like floral display and landscape businesses. A few commercial laundries benefited. A few gas stations. Retail stores did poorly and many went out of business. The casinos are self-contained and provide every amenity possible — restaurants, spas, etc. — to keep people onsite and gambling. Originally the town merchants signed a petition urging people to vote for the casino referendum. They thought that they would get the casino spin-off. They did not. Five or 6 years later they all said they would never vote for it again.

The non-casino hotels suffered. The casino hotels had 500-room minimums and offered “comps” to regular players. So vistors stayed there. Atlantic City was a tourist area — we had always relied on hotels for housing. With the free rooms, the tourist industry dried up. Atlantic City once had swinging nightclubs and a thriving horse track. Frank Sinatra played there. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis paired there initially. Sarah Vaughn and Billy Holiday played there. We lost all that. Grace Kelly’s father helped build the Atlantic City Race Course; a horse track that was open from May to September. Now the track is open only six days a year.



Arbor Wealth: How did it impact the community socially?

A.C.: There was a significant increase in crime. Some violent crime. The parking garages were prime spots that had to be monitored. There were more accidents. A lot of long-time residents left the town and their houses were occupied by casino workers in what became a dilapidated area. You had kids walking to school and seeing prostitutes, being offered drugs. Gangs became more prevalent. With the overcrowding, where it used to take 10 or 15 minutes to drive to work, it soon became 45 minutes.

Some of this was simply part of our social history, but the casinos caused a great deal of this change. The permanent population quadrupled. There was a huge rise in gambling addictions among white collar professionals and an increase in bankruptcies. This is a much larger problem than most people realize.



Arbor Wealth: What about the actual construction?

A.C.: A lot of people lost their homes to eminent domain. Houses and buildings were demolished so that the casinos could be built.



Arbor Wealth: How did it impact infrastructure?

A.C.: This is the hidden cost of casinos. It was an unbelievable strain and drain on police and fire, trash removal, water and sewer, and EMT services. At one point there were 1,000 tour buses a day bringing visitors, tearing up roads, increasing pollution. After 5 or 6 years you could see an orange cloud of smog over the city skyline. Many of the workers — pit bosses, dealers, slot technicians — are not highly compensated, and they rent rather than buy houses. So you get no increase in the property tax base. And they are younger, with young families. So there was a strain on schools with increased enrollment.



Arbor Wealth: Did their arrival mean new jobs?

A.C.: Some, but the job spike was outweighed by the loss of jobs in nearby businesses who suffered in their shadow. And of course the loss of the sense of the town itself.



Margaret R. McDowell is the founder and firm principal of Arbor Wealth Management, LLC, a fee-only Registered Investment Advisory.