Creating a Ghetto on Rohnert Park's West
Side: What the casino will do to Rohnert Park's low-income families and
children.
West Side Story.....
Rohnert Park's poor families will suffer the greatest impact from
the casino proposed by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
Rohnert Park's low-income housing is located primarily on the west side of
Highway 101, and most of that housing is less than 1/4 mile from the casino
site. Five low-income developments now exist near the casino site west of 101 in
Rohnert Park, and more low- to very low-income housing is planned for the West
Side in the next ten years, all of it less than 1/4 mile from the casino.
On the east side of the freeway, Rohnert Park's more affluent
neighborhoods are graced with thirteen beautiful parks, many with swimming pools
and tennis courts. But on the west side of the freeway, it's a different story.
There are no parks, no pools, and no tennis courts for the city's thousands of
low-income residents, and now Rohnert Park's low- income families will have to
bear the brunt of the mega-casino's impacts on traffic, and noise and air
pollution, as well as the increase in crime and prostitution the casino will
surely bring.
But that's not all:
Gambling Addiction and Low-Income and
Minorities: According to a recent study by the University of Buffalo Research
Institute on Addiction, "...individuals who live within ten miles of a casino or
are in a disadvantaged neighborhood are more likely to experience problem
gambling...." - a double whammy for the residents on Rohnert Park's West Side.
Families in Rancho Verde Mobile Home Park, one of several low-income housing
developments on Rohnert Park's West Side, would have the casino literally in
their back yards, and the Park's children will be exposed to the negative
impacts from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria's mega-casino on a daily
basis.
University of Buffalo study (PDF)-Click
Here
Asthma and the Casino:
Did you know that
Rohnert Park has the highest rate of asthma, especially in children, in Sonoma
County? Asthma disproportionately impacts
low-income communities and communities of color. Casino traffic will dump over
4 tons of NOx into the air every single year, as well as soot and other
pollutants. Asthma affects people from all walks of life, but, low-income and
minority populations have much higher fatality rates, hospital admmissions, and
emergency rooms visits due to asthma.
http://www.stopthecasino101.com/id72.html
Creating a Ghetto on Rohnert Park's West
Side: What the casino will do to Rohnert Park's low-income families and
children.
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