Casinos have good points and bad

Letter: Casinos have good points and bad

Posted May. 16, 2015 at 2:01 AM

In the early 1950s, we were having a discussion in a political science class about municipal financing. One of my fellow students was from upstate New York, and he thought that gambling would provide a lot of money. He used as his example the horse races at Saratoga. Our professor agreed that a lot of money came in then, but pointed out that Saratoga just about broke even because of the extra police needed, and also that they had to buy train and bus tickets to get the people who had lost their shirts out of town.

When one considers casinos, some of the same need for extra services applies.

At first, casinos provide large amounts of money, but less as time goes on. Perhaps fewer people are left with money to spare. (Perhaps some have realized that casinos should have a warning sign, saying, "Don't bring more money than you can afford to lose.") There are many more casinos around, all having to share the available number of gamblers.

There will be problems with traffic. We used to have friends who lived near Foxwoods. They complained for years about how traffic "ruined" their nice quiet corner of the world. They eventually moving to Utah.

If New Bedford gets a casino, I can visualize the traffic and parking problems. Hotels and motels would spring up, lots of planning will be needed to make sure they'd be in the right place. But on the other hand, if the traffic problems got bad enough, this area might actually get a railroad connection.

Kenneth S. Peirce Jr.

Fairhaven

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20150516/OPINION/150519558/101230/NEWS0301

Frank Haggerty Guest

 

New Bedford Casino Cradle of Political Corruption & New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal

https://plus.google.com/110428618913389869063/posts/AuTk4fM5Aa4

"New Bedford has embarked on a series of bunco schemes of enormous consequence. The people who value intellectual honesty should not be quietly be fleeced by such mendacity, even from the government or media."

 

 

Frank Haggerty Guest

 

Ken, Building a casino on the waterfront in New Bedford behind a 50 year of hurricane barrier is not a great idea. The news media is aware of the 2014 climate change report for New Bedford harbor and has not written one word about the report. Plesase read the report and ask why the media is keeping this secret --Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning Study for Water Quality Infrastructure in New Bedford, Fairhaven and Acushnet

http://climate.buzzardsbay.org/download/seaplan-climate-vulnerability-new-bedford-area.pdf« less