Casinos in Massachusetts/New England deliberately target Asians

 (There's a reason gaming in Macao has been so successful. And why there are really good Asian restaurants in Las Vegas.)

Traditional lion dancers paraded through a large crowd and a sea of slot machines at the Encore Boston Harbor casino during a Lunar New Year celebration. (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)

A long time ago, when discussing the "Chinese buses" the inter-city buses operated from Chinatown to Chinatown in the Mid-Atlantic--dropping bus ticket prices significantly compared to traditional inter-city buses and Amtrak--a commenter made the point that these services got their start taking Chinese workers and patrons to casinos.

The Boston Globe has a three part series about how casinos there deliberately target Asians.  That as a result the Wynn Encore Casino in Everett across the river from Boston, is the most successful casino in the US outside of two in Las Vegas.

Of course, how these casinos target Asians is but a microcosm of how casinos target market segments with a propensity to gamble. Ever growing lines of credit offered by casinos can drive people to ruin. Others are wealthy and losses are merely the cost of entertainment.  

In terms of urban development, I don't favor casinos, but it's the case of "everybody's doing it" we ought to just to be on an equal playing field.  That's why cities like Chicago and New York are adding casinos--NYC to be able to compete with Atlantic City and tribal casinos and against other cities for conventions; Chicago to compete for conventions.

-- "How casinos in New England are exploiting Asian communities for profit"
-- "Within the confines of Boston’s Chinatown, there are dozens of illegal gambling parlors. What is the city doing about it?"
-- "In Greater Boston’s Asian communities, gambling can build social ties — and fuel addiction. Here’s how residents are fighting back"

Three ways to put additional checks on professional sports facilities after a contract is signed

The arena is pictured towards the bottom right of the photograph, as a round building.

1.  Conditional Use Permit.  Madison Square Garden has a conditional use permit to operate an arena on top of Penn Station.  

The original term was 50 years.  The permit was renewed for 10 years in 2013.  MSG asked for a permanent permit before its expire in 2023.  This obtains from the Zoning Regulations Section 74-41.

Stakeholders want MSG to accede to new developments in and around Penn Station to make it function better as a railroad passenger station.  This would include land transfers and other acts.  MSG hasn't been cooperative.  The station's location on top of multiple railroad and subway lines means that a majority of its patrons use transit to get there.

Because of MSG's recalcitrance about redevelopment, the most recent renewal was only for five years to put pressure on them to participate ("Five-Year Madison Square Garden Permit Inflates Pressure to Play Ball," The City).

In any case, a conditional use permit provides the opportunity to renegotiate elements of the original agreement, in line with current conditions.

Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe.

Annual license.  A provision in the State of Massachusetts code provides that arenas and stadiums are licensed annually for the program they present.  The World Cup is a modification.

The license gives the locality extraordinary opportunity to manage and mitigate elements of the operations of the stadium and its effect on the community.

Much to the chagrin of Kraft Enterprises.  Annual license.  The town of Foxborough, Massachusetts refuses to agree to a license for the soccer World Cup until they receive the money they requested for police and other security measures that would have to be provided by the town ("The $90-a-month Foxborough Select Board members taking on FIFA’s Goliath," Boston Globe).  

Kraft Enterprises pays for security costs for football, concerts, and other large events held at the stadium complex.

Kraft Enterprises and FIFA are up in arms about this ("Boston’s World Cup games still in doubt after funding shortfall proposal rejected," The Athletic).  Foxborough hasn't budged.  From the CBS News story "World Cup security update: Foxboro "shocked and dismayed" by Kraft Group's latest statement on funding":

The town insists that FIFA and Boston 26 pay the $7.8 million security bill upfront ahead of the matches, but the organizations have said that they will reimburse the town, or that the equipment they need for security will be available by June 1.

... “The Town’s public safety team has spent thousands of hours in conjunction with regional, state and federal partners to develop a comprehensive security plan. While the total cost for such services is a microscopic fraction of the revenue that the events will generate, the Town has been met, at every turn, with resistance from the Kraft Group and other event organizers.

“That such entities may have miscalculated the cost of hosting the World Cup is not a reason to compromise on event security. The Town cannot and will not finance the Kraft Group’s losses by sacrificing public safety.”

It turns out that Kraft Enterprises operates Gillette Stadium in part through an annual license wrt the number of events, and other conditions.  It can be modified during the year, e.g. to add a concert to the list of events, etc.  From the license agreement:

In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 140, Section 183A, Chapter 136, Section 4, Chapter 140, $181, and Chapter 229, Section 6 of the Code of the Town ofFoxborough (the “Governing Law") the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Foxborough (the "Board") licenses Kraft Sports and Entertainment LLC and its affiliates (collectively "KSE") to conduct live entertainment and sporting events at the premises controlled by KSE inside Gillette Stadium, including activity in the parking areas and plazas surrounding the Stadium that is incidental to events being held inside it, subject to the following terms.

El Paso claims President Donald Trump's political campaign owes more than half a million dollars for police and public safety services from a February campaign rally. REUTERS/Leah Millis.

An aside: Trump and his rallies.  The license approach is interesting.  

If cities had used such a process for dealing with Trump rallies for his election/re-election, they wouldn't have been stiffed ("Cities seek more than $750K in unpaid bills for Trump campaign events since 2016," NBC, "Why the Trump campaign won’t pay police bills," Center for Public Integrity).  From the CPI:

That depends on who you ask. The cities are adamant Trump should pay up. But in many of these cases, there are no signed contracts between the municipal governments and the Trump campaign. The cities dispatched police officers to secure Trump’s events because they believe public safety required it — and the U.S. Secret Service asked for it.

Transportation demand management plans. In "Framework of characteristics that support successful community development in association with the development of professional sports facilities" (2021) one of the sections is on transportation, with examples.  

Most contracts between a locality and the sports team don't have detailed requirements for transportation planning, and the contracts can't really be changed after the fact.

The Washington Wizards and Capitals have an informal agreement to pay for Metrorail service after the system closes, if games go late.  But this doesn't extend to playoffs.  The Washington Nationals baseball team has no similar agreement, formal or informal.

OTOH, the Chicago Cubs are required to have a transportation demand management plan, and it has been tweaked for improvements over time.  The codified document is difficult to find.  The 2018 Cubs Neighborhood Report describes the traffic measures on pages 1-6, including remote parking, shuttles, bicycle valet services, and a focus on CTA rail transit.

The 161st Street Subway Station is directly across from Yankee Stadium.

The Barclays Arena/Brooklyn Nets have a TDM requirement.  Yankee Stadium has a more informal agreement, with possibilities outlined in the environmental impact statement, but it has no public parking lots or garages, and most people arrive by subway and CitiField (NY Mets).  MTA provides extra express subway railroad trains on game days.

Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey has the Meadowlands District Transportation Plan 2045, but it doesn't always work ("‘Mass-Transit Super Bowl’ Hits Some Rough Patches in Moving Fans," New York Times).

Other arenas that have investments in transit, including free transit fares to and from games and non-sports related concerts include Chase Arena (Golden State Warriors), Climate Change Arena (Seattle Kraken), and Talking Stick Arena (Phoenix Suns).

Other teams have contributed to transit stations and other facilities. Facilities in Australia even include extensive special bus and train services, including for concerts ("Transperth transit (Perth, Western Australia) provides free transit to certain events, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert on 2/12/2023," "Perth traffic: TransPerth offers range of travel options for Ed Sheeran concert attendees," Perth Now).

Some casinos too.  While not a sports team, the Springfield Massachusetts MGM Casino was required to create a TDM plan too, although they call it a Traffic Mitigation Plan.  

They complement public transit ("Despite Low Ridership, Springfield's Casino-Funded Bus Service Keeps Moving," WBUR/NPR) with special shuttle transit services ("MGM Springfield launches new shuttle service to Connecticut," Fox61)..  

Springfield doesn't have the same array of transit services as the casino in Everett (next paragraph) so it makes sense that the primary focus is on vehicular transit.

There is also a TDM plan for the Wynn Casino in Everett, although some complain that it maximizes the benefits to the casino, and doesn't work to extend transportation infrastructure improvements beyond the casino site ("New transit links could transform Everett’s access to Boston," Boston Globe).  A soccer stadium will be constructed proximate to the site as well.

However, the state is interfering with these programs to capture the revenues otherwise diverted from the state budget ("‘It couldn’t come at a worse time’: Legislature strips casino mitigation funds amid municipal budget woes," CommonWealth Beacon).

Elections

 I'm finally learning not to prognosticate too much.  

Virginia.  It's nice to see Democrats pick up the State House in Virginia and keep the Senate.  A Republican won the governorship in 2021 and that was a shock although Ralph Youngkin ran a better campaign than former Governor Terry McAuliffe along with lower Democratic turnout.  In the 2017 and 2019 elections, I thought Democratic wins in Virginia presaged a lot more.  While Biden won in 2020, the rest of the ballot didn't do so well for Democrats.

Youngkin was a big time private equity guy before his election, like Mitt Romney.  Youngkin's "compassionate MAGA" (as opposed to GWB's compassionate conservatism) went over well with pundits and donors--many of whom touted him as a potentially late entrant Republican alternative to Trump.  The election results seem to reduce that likelihood significantly.

Richmond, Virginia.  The casino referendum lost again, even though it had the support of most elected officials and stakeholders like unions and the NAACP ("Richmond voters reject a casino for the second time," NBC12).

While I tend to be against casinos, maybe one in Richmond would be okay, because of Virginia's "weird" separation of cities and counties financially, and Richmond needs a big money push as it has lots of needs, and lacks access to the funds of a county.  Too bad Richmond and Henrico and Chesterfield Counties can't merge.

I haven't been to Baltimore lately, but in a comment on an article I said the area around football stadiums tend to be bad, and someone countered "not Baltimore" with a casino and now additional attractions.  Maybe for secondary cities like Baltimore and Richmond, casinos, in some situations, are acceptable.  But probably better located places, unlike say Springfield, Massachusetts.

Seattle.  Over the past 8 years, Seattle has elected lots of supra progressive politicians.  Two elections ago, business interests pumped in lots of money especially against Kshama Sawant who led the drive to tax big corporations, which eventually was passed, the Socialist Alternative representative, and made little headway, progressives ruled.  Last election after the debacle of CHOP/CHAZ, a more center candidate won as Mayor and a more law and order type as district attorney.  

This year with the continued public safety problems and the slow return of office workers to Seattle's Downtown which has had significant negative impact with lots of retail closures including a signature grocery store, and other retailers leaving the city allegedly because of crime, some of the more progressive councilmembers decamped, and it appears that a bunch of the more progressive candidates will lose--although this isn't assured as late ballots still to be counted tend to run more progressive ("Seattle is the most progressive city no more," Seattle Times).

Pennsylvania.  This year elected lots of Democrats to positions in Philadelphia suburbs and the city--where Working Families Party knocked off a couple of Republicans.  Philadelphia, like DC, reserves a couple of seats for non-Dominant parties.  In Democratic places, that's presumed to be Republicans, although in DCnow it's fake Democrats, Democrats who call themselves independents.  I'd rather it be Working Families.  A Democrat won Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) Executive, although I think Pittsburgh and the County should merge.  And for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court too.

-- "Pennsylvania’s blue wave offers Democrats hope for 2024," Philadelphia Inquirer

Andy Beshear was re-elected Governor in Kentucky, a red state, although Republicans won the Governorship in Mississippi--not really a surprise although he faced some difficulties, and a couple weeks ago in Louisiana.  And the referendum putting abortion as a right in the Ohio Constitution won, which the Republicans opposed.

Transportation.  There were a few initiatives. This year, not just yesterday (just like the Louisiana electtion was not yesterday).  The big push will be next year.

Trump versus Biden poll.  These wins make me feel better about the recent polls that Trump is leading Biden in swing states.  It's a year to the election and apparently a lot of people haven't been paying attention or they are closet authoritarians.  

-- "Republicans closely resemble autocratic parties in Hungary and Turkey – study," Guardian
-- "Study: Republican control of state government is bad for democracy," Vox

Biden and the economy.  OTOH, food prices remain high, as do gas prices, although the latter are starting to drop, and I think that influences people a lot, as well as all the news coverage on Biden's age, and the purported recession that doesn't exist.  

Of course, the Federal Reserve's raising of interest rates has had a huge impact on the real estate market--residential mortgage rates have doubled and housing sales lag significantly.  And the commercial real estate market is tanking because of work from home, but the CRE market likely isn't top of mind the way housing sales are.

Conclusion.  In blue and "mixed" states, governance matters.  In some red states, governance  doesn't matter so much, but women's rights do.

Conflict of laws and jurisdiction in pandemic management: San Diego County and Native American owned casinos

Federally-recognized Native American tribes are considered nations somewhat independent of states and local jurisdictions. 

Of course that includes large and small "reservations," but also casinos ("Casinos Lead to Tribal Sovereignty Woes," AP; "Reconciling the Paradox of Tribal Sovereignity: Three Frameworks for Developing Indian Gaming Law and Policy," Nevada Law Journal [2003]).

San Diego County has no ability to forbid the Kumeyaay Nation from reopening the Sycuan Casino or the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians from reopening the Valley View Casino ("County to call on feds to help block tribal casinos from reopening Monday," San Diego Union-Tribune; "Valley View and Sycuan casinos plan to reopen next week," Riverside Press-Enterprise).

Even though if people become sick from the coronavirus, it is the County, its hospitals and public health agencies, that will have to deal it.

Atlantic City (NJ) Press series on "Reinventing Atlantic City"

In the past, I've written about newspapers doing ongoing series on community revitalization issues, from the "Rethinking Philadelphia" series in the Philadelphia Daily News to special pull-out sections in the Camden (NJ) Courier-Post.  More recently, the Chicago Tribune had a series around planning, calling out the city's planning history and Daniel Burnham.

The Press of Atlantic City is running a similar series called "Reinventing Atlantic City."  This article from the series, "Art is a tool in the fight against blight: How can A.C. see more of it?," includes links to past articles in the left sidebar.

Unfortunately, the running head/link for the series doesn't return a list of articles.

With the decline in the financial viability of newspapers, it's much harder for newspapers to commit to this kind of coverage, so it should always be lauded when it occurs.

Although interestingly, this article in today's paper, "How weather favors Las Vegas vs. Atlantic City," isn't part of the series.

Nor these previous articles, "Atlantic City casinos needs to adopt 'Las Vegas model' to survive" and "Can A Non-Gaming Model Work For Atlantic City Casinos As It Does In Las Vegas."

Yet another example of failures in metropolitan transportation planning: no transportation demand management requirements for casinos in Maryland

Washington Post photo.

The MGM National Harbor Casino will be opening soon in Prince George's County.

According to the Washington Post ("MGM National Harbor could more than double traffic in southern Prince George's"):

Vehicle traffic to National Harbor could more than double when MGM National Harbor opens later this year, according to projections, exacerbating a growing congestion problem in southern Prince George’s County where new development has added thousands of commuters in recent years.

If projections hold true and up to 20,000 daily visitors frequent the gaming resort, there could be backups in the local and regional road network with heavier volumes on Interstate 95 around the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Maryland-Virginia border. ...

As many as 90,000 vehicles enter National Harbor during an average week, according to the developer, and that number could rise to 180,000 when the $1.4 billion gaming resort opens in December, Digby said. Traffic during the weeks following the opening is likely to be especially heavy, officials say. ...

Besides daily commuters, National Harbor, which has become a top entertainment hub, already attracts thousands of visitors every week, and special events there have created miles-long backups. Residents and community leaders fear that the additional casino traffic could overwhelm the road system.

The article also reports that some "bare minimum" road improvements to the tune of $10 million, will be delivered as the project opens.

The Massachusetts counter-example

Traffic study requirements in Springfield.  By comparison, the casino projects in Massachusetts had to submit transportation studies as part of their initial bid, and the winners at each site are required to develop and execute a wide ranging transportation demand management plan.

-- Traffic Impact and Access Study MGM Springfield, City of Springfield

Monies for transit improvements in addition to road improvements in Boston.  For the casino in Everett on Boston Harbor and across the water from Boston, the Wynn Resorts firm has to invest a minimum of $36 million in improvements to Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue, which will be the major entryway across the Mystic River to the casino ("The lowdown on Sullivan Square," Commonwealth Magazine).

This was required because it is expected that 60% of traffic to and from the casino will go through Sullivan Square. Interestingly, the plan also has a penalty per car when the plan's traffic levels are exceeded. From the article:

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is requiring the Las Vegas developer to spend $10.9 million on projects addressing the immediate traffic impact of the casino and to set aside $25 million for long-term improvements. The company also has to pay a fee of $20,000 for every car coming to the casino via Sullivan Square that exceeds agreed-upon levels, with a maximum penalty of $2 million a year.

Boston Globe coverage discusses the commitments to transit improvements.  According to "State transportation officials drop objections to Wynn casino", the casino developers have:

agreed to contribute nearly $7.5 million over 15 years to Orange Line subsidies, to increase the frequency of the trains.

As well as ("Wynn Resorts offer to bolster Orange Line"):

... shuttle buses to pick people up at the Malden Center and Wellington stations and rely on existing MBTA buses to connect with the Sullivan Square station.

There’s also the possibility of a pedestrian bridge over the Mystic [River] linked to the new Assembly Square T stop: Wynn has agreed to spend up to $250,000 to help study the bridge’s feasibility.

The footbridge could be built over the Amelia Earhart dam, alongside a railroad bridge that crosses the Mystic, or as a standalone structure.

Wynn is also proposing to help pay for changes to improve the flow of MBTA buses at the Sullivan Square T stop, but it’s the plan to help pay for operating costs that makes Wynn’s plan so unusual.

Wynn’s operating subsidies would be aimed at mitigating the clog caused by extra passengers on Orange Line trains once the casino opens, and at providing more general late-night service during the week.

Most developers will only do what is required of them by law and regulation.  It's interesting that MGM will do a transportation demand management plan when it is required, and won't when it isn't. It's pretty common for developers to not commit to best practice as a matter of course, not building best practice into their SOP/standard operating project when they build projects, because the SOP is merely to respond to what's required, and only in extraordinary circumstances might they go beyond the bare minimum of what is required.

States should require TDM in their casino licensing RFP response and award process.  The lack of transportation demand management requirements for the National Harbor development has been an ongoing problem ("Transportation demand management requirements for large developments and the MGM National Harbor Casino as an example of why this is absolutely necessary;" "Eight years and one casino later, a bus line from Alexandria to National Harbor," Post). For example, it means that transit service to and from the site is inadequate, and the site developer has little interest in making extranormal investments for transit.

MPOs ought to be on the lookout for casinos.  Although it is incredible that this most basic requirement isn't in the Prince George's County planning and building regulation framework.  Metropolitan transportation planning organizations, in the DC area the Transportation Policy Board, and in Greater Baltimore the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, should have recommended to the state and local jurisdictions that TDM requirements be included in the casino licensing and development process.

Note on the Baltimore City Horseshoe Casino. While I don't think that extranormal transportation planning was required for this casino, it is located near I-95 and a light rail stop, and because it is in the city, it's served by regular MTA bus lines.  But the information on transportation options for the casino on its website is nonexistent.

Transportation demand management requirements for large developments and the MGM National Harbor Casino as an example of why this is absolutely necessary

==================================

Revised slightly with the Bilbao example below, so "reprinted".

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Clearly, TDM requirements aren't taken seriously in Prince George's County, where the under construction MGM Grand Casino is arguing against accommodating public transit bus services on the site ("MGM National Harbor says public buses won't have access to casino site," Washington Post).

According to the US Census, using data from the 2013 American Community Survey (via the Census Reporter website, pictured at right), 17% of Prince George's County residents use transit to get to work--not that employees at the Casino will be exclusively from that County.

The Prince George's County's Master Land Use Plan prioritizes transit as a mobility option and choice.  Land use and transportation decision making should have fealty to this priority.

The article provides details about employee work trips to other destinations on the site.

For example, 10% of employees of the Gaylord National Harbor Resort use transit.

And it quotes transit advocates as saying that MGM is reneging on commitments made during the planning process.

The decision on providing transit access to the National Harbor site shouldn't be exclusively the decision of the developer and tenants of the site.

It is a public policy choice and decision.

MGM National Harbor Casino and the Peterson Companies, developers of the site, are out of line.

But they have been for awhile ("At National Harbor, commuting is a daily trial for service workers," Post) and the siting of such a major destination "shouldn't" have been allowed without significant upgrades to the non-automobile transportation network there.

The real problem is Prince George's County's continued failure to synchronize land use and transportation planning.   The problem is PG County's transportation and land use planning failures, of which National Harbor is but an (albeit prominent) example.

Separately from current "Purple Line planning" the County should have prioritized development of light rail between Suitland Metrorail Station to Alexandria (which is a link as part of a complete Purple Line anyway).

The original full circumferential Purple Line proposal would provide a light rail transit connection for National Harbor.

Once the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened, even though they already had subway service, the City realized they needed to improve surface transit and decided to do so with "a tram" which they built the first leg from time of conceptualization to opening in less than 4 years. (It helps that they have a train car manufacturer in the Basque Country, and some argue it was a form of self-dealing.) The system continues to be expanded and now the Basque Country is building trams in other cities.

-- paper, Return to the Rails: The Motivations for Building a Modern Tramway in Bilbao Spain

PGC could have been gutsy and moved something like that forward, creating an urban renewal district (like what Portland did for the yellow line) to fund and build it and they'd have some high quality transit service now.

The need for a transportation financing and management district for the National Harbor district.  If PGC intends for National Harbor to become an edge city of a type, a kind of new "town center" for Southern PG County, then they have to treat it differently from the standpoint of transit and mobility.

And that shouldn't be solely a financial responsibility of the NH developers and tenants, although they should pay towards it.

It's analogous to what I just wrote, "parking lot district" vs. "transportation management district" on Bethesda.

There needs to be a TMD created for National Harbor and a tax on development there to pay towards it and funding should be supplemented by other county sources, out of the idea that they are building a new activity center for the southern county.

There are transportation demand management plans for casinos in other jurisdictions.  The Institute of Transportation Engineers has various papers on casinos and TDM.  But with the rise of more in-city and in-county casino locations, it would be useful to compile new data for casino settings outside of the major casino agglomerations in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Springfield, Massachusetts.  Ironically,  the master plan proposal for an MGM casino in Springfield, Massachusetts is much more focused on connecting to other revitalization efforts in the Downtown core, where the facility is to be constructed.

See "MGM 1st with Springfield casino details, 1st in Western Massachusetts with $400,000 application fee" from the Springfield Republican.

The transportation plan section of the proposal commits to the creation of a transportation demand management program and the hiring of a transportation coordinator, accommodates public transit, proposes a casino shuttle bus, improvements to bus shelters in the vicinity of the project, employee ride sharing (van pooling, etc.), car sharing, suggests paying for transit home in unexpected circumstances, etc.   

According to the document:

The TC or TMO will be responsible for:
 Posting and distributing announcements
 Holding promotional events to encourage ridesharing, using public transit, bicycling, and walking
 Monitoring the program and assisting in the evaluation
 Providing transit schedules and information about program services
 Coordinating on-site sales of transit passes
 Managing transit subsidy programs for employees
 Coordinating rideshare and carpool programs and coordinating with employees to offer preferential parking for participants
 Coordinating with PVTA and MassRIDES to implement TDM programs and improve transit mode share

The Rivers Casino is the upper left of this photo, immediately adjacent to the Allegheny Light Rail Station in Pittsburgh.  Image from Subchat. 

Pittsburgh.  The Rivers Casino is one of the sponsor-funders of free transit from Downtown to their Northside Pittsburgh location via the light rail system's North Shore Connector.

The casino was required to develop and execute a transportation demand management plan as part of the licensing agreement with the state.

Although the initial plan did not suggest the creation of the North Shore extension to the light rail, which had been discussed for many years, and the extension also serves baseball and football stadiums located there.

Las Vegas.  The Las Vegas Monorail has various financial issues, but does connect various casinos within the city, including the MGM Grand.  The system is supposed to be extended from the last stop, the MGM Grand, to the airport.

Casinos in Maryland are regulated by a state agency and commission: Transit advocates should file a complaint with the agency.  While it doesn't surprise me that Prince George's County didn't protect its interest on this matter--after all, National Harbor has been resistant to providing high quality transit access from the outset, transit advocates should also file complaints on this matter with the regulator of casinos in Maryland:

• Maryland State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency

... with a copy of the complaint to the State of Maryland Department of Planning.  I would think that the failure to accommodate transit could be construed as a violation of state planning requirements concerning "priority funding areas" and smart growth regulations.

I don't track what the agency does in great detail, but they did provide recommendations concerning transportation and the Baltimore casino.

My sense is that MGM could come around, based on their activities in other cities such as Detroit or Springfield, Massachusetts, but they are probably taking their anti-transit cues from the master developer of the site, Peterson Companies.

Revenue from Maryland 's casinos

Not that I am a fan of casino-driven "revitalization,", but recent media coverage ("Maryland casino revenue declines for second month," Baltimore Sun) of a fall off in monthly revenues from Maryland's casinos is too quick to draw big conclusions for my taste, not that there is a long time frame from which to evaluate results.

It's foolish to expect that revenues will increase month after month for a few reasons:

• there is a saturation point/ceiling on revenues because only certain segments of the in-resident and visitor consumer markets are interested in consuming gambling as part of their entertainment expenditures
• rather than expecting a continuous rise in revenues, there are monthly and seasonal fluctuations as a cursory examination of historical data from Nevada demonstrates
• as more casinos open in Maryland, customers will shift their preferences, in part based on proximity and transportation convenience, which will impact individual casinos--most will drop in sales with the addition of new casinos, as has been the case since the Horseshoe Casino opened in Baltimore
• the addition of casinos in neighboring states will reduce the impact of non-resident visitation as a significant share of revenues for Maryland casinos, excepting those locations set up to focus on visitor segments.  

The forthcoming MGM Casino at National Harbor will further shake up the Mid-Atlantic gaming landscape, and likely will lead to revenue reductions at casinos in Baltimore and Anne Arundel County, as Metropolitan Washington customers are likely to shift their patronage to the new and closer casino located in Prince George's County.

The MGM may help National Harbor attract more convention and hotel business, but most people and conventions are still likely to end up in Las Vegas if they want the full gaming experience.  

Las Vegas is a "gaming district" while the other places are merely single site casinos with a limited array of entertainment options which for the most part can't compare to any one Las Vegas casino, let alone the full array.

Lesson

The challenge for local jurisdictions is to figure out how they can benefit maximally from the presence of casinos, by developing and implementing a specific economic benefits plan and program, focused on making direct connections rather than being satisfied with trickle down benefits.

Casinos in Atlantic City may be a losing proposition

Scale & Positioning

I was talking with someone about "The Nook," the e-book created by Barnes & Noble.  We were talking about "scale."  B&N is a big company, with more than 600 bookstores, plus the college division.  They operate at a national scale, albeit circumscribed by their physical footprint.

Amazon.com is an international company, it operates online, at a global scale (yes B&N is online, but not at the same scale as Amazon).  That's a much bigger platform from which to provide their own e-book solution, "Kindle."

So Amazon's Kindle is beating down "The Nook."  B&N took a risk in investing.  Were I in the position to make that decision, I probably would have done the same thing, thinking that the company, with a national footprint, had the right scale to make it work.  But they weren't.

Casinos as destinations: in the USA, how much room is there for more than Las Vegas?

The same goes for casinos and gaming/gambling.  Maybe for the most part there are three segments to the market: (1) people who take "long" vacations to go to gaming places, mostly to Las Vegas, which is the pre-eminent gaming destination in North America; (2) the related group of people who go to conventions in Las Vegas, also staying overnight for multiple days; and (3) people who go to places closer to home, and for the most part, don't stay overnight.

Atlantic City New Jersey has tried to position itself as the East Coast Las Vegas in terms of being an overnight-vacation destination for people who want to gamble.

But maybe there is only enough interest and demand across the United States to sustain only one of those types of destinations, Las Vegas.

And as more and more states in the Mid-Atlantic legalize forms of gaming, Atlantic City's ability to serve as a premiere gaming destination is further diminished and circumscribed.

See the AP story "Atlantic City casino earnings fall nearly 45 percent," the Washington Post story, "Atlantic City's losing streak, as more states compete for gambling revenue and jobs," and this past blog entry, "What to make of casinos as an "urban revitalization" method and detroyer?"

I think it's interesting that New Jersey is trying to use the monies they get from gambling in a concerted way to improve Atlantic City, through the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which is investing in various infrastructure and community improvement ventures.  But maybe, despite everything, it won't be enough.

Especially because of the push to expand casino gambling in New York State ("Casino Referendum Planned by New York Leaders," New York Times) and especially New York City, which now has a casino in Queens, located near Asian-American neighborhoods, and historically, Asians have been big gamblers (the Chinatown bus system on the East Coast was originally created to take Chinese restaurant workers to Atlantic City on their day off; Macau; etc.).

Casino site in Baltimore.  Image: Jack Lambert, Baltimore Business Journal.

Baltimore

We were driving through Baltimore a couple weeks ago, and we saw the location where they are building Baltimore's casino (Horseshoe Baltimore Casino), in a still industrial area off Russell Street ("Maryland gambling revenue rises 27.6% last fiscal year; Lottery sales drop," Baltimore Business Journal).  The other side of the street is gas stations and such (I like the french fries at Royal Farms...).

It's off to the back of the M&T Bank Football Stadium there.

While the casino will generate revenue for the city, it is not in a location that will have significant spillover revitalization benefit for other areas of the city.  It is a classic example of first world enclave development ("Enclave development won't "save" Anacostia," "Can enclave development "save" Prince George's County?").

National Harbor

The impact of a casino at National Harbor in Prince George's County is likely to be significant.  Technically there are competing proposals for other locations in the county but they are not likely to be chosen.  This will help that development, when it is only marginally successful at the present.

And it is on the Beltway, giving it easy access from Northern Virginia especially, but also from DC.

This will impact the success of Maryland's urban casinos, in Anne Arundel especially, which likely gets a lot of customers from the Washington area. 

In any case, it's a matter of shifting economic impact around the state and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Tonight at 9:30 PM EDT: HuffPost Live on casinos as an unsound urban revitalization strategy

Because of the piece I wrote recently, "What to make of casinos as an "urban revitalization" method and detroyer?," I've been asked to appear on a HuffPost Live segment on casinos and urban revitalization featuring Richard Florida.

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Richard Florida wasn't on, but the segment was inspired by a piece he wrote on HuffingtonPost with regard to casino proposals for Toronto, "Casinos ruin cities."
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-- proposal for casinos in Chicago, "Chicago's proposed casino: Tourist gem or drain on locals," Chicago Sun-Times and "Chicago casino bill would give city unprecedented control," Chicago Tribune
-- proposal for casinos in Toronto, "Meeting back on: councillors to vote on downtown casino," CTV News and "Ford vows to take casino debate to the polls if  proposal voted down," Toronto Globe & Mail
-- the casino in Queens, New York, "Resort World Casino beats its own revenue record with $71.2 million in March," New York Daily News

What to make of casinos as an "urban revitalization" method and detroyer?

Post columnist Petula Dvorak has a column today, "For a taste of Maryland's gambling future, try a weekend in Atlantic City," opining about how Atlantic City, New Jersey hasn't been revitalized by their attempt to re-make the Downtown core as Las Vegas East, and how this doesn't bode well for casino developments in Maryland.  Also see "Failed revitalization in Atlantic City and the continued culture of crime" from WHYY-Philadelphia and Newsworks.

I am not a big supporter of casinos as an urban revitalization initiative and I am not gonna do a bunch of research on the topic for this particular entry, but I do think that Dvorak overstates the case.

Casino towers dot the skyline of Atlantic City. (Mary Godleski/AP Photo, file)

The reality is what we might call the decentralization and commodification of gambling as an entertainment option, versus it being a special and concentrated offering and a special event vacation in Las Vegas, and then the additional question of Las Vegas vs. Atlantic City as preferred destinations.

Not to mention the reality that as access to gambling establishments becomes ubiquitous, it ceases to be supra-profitable or a destination differentiator, except in those places with the most population and income.  See "New Jersey Tries Different Gambling Forms as Casinos Falter" from the New York Times.

As much as I don't want to see a casino at Prince George's County's National Harbor development, in large part because that makes it a competitive destination compared to DC, the reality is that a few casinos sprinkled around Maryland aren't likely to be a big deal--except for the people who have gambling addictions.

The casinos in well-populated areas like Baltimore, Anne Arundel County (Maryland Live! is already the most successful Mid-Atlantic casino, with greater revenues than the biggest casinos in  Atlantic City, see this press release "Maryland Live! Casino Slot Revenue Tops Mid-Atlantic Gaming Market for March 2013"), and DC will do well enough.

The casinos in rural and exurban locations will not do all that well comparatively speaking, but will still garner business and contribute to local employment and tax revenue.  For example, Maryland Live! does almost six times more business than the Hollywood Casino in Perryville, Maryland, located off I-95 near enough to markets in Delaware and Pennsylvania (and 50% more business than the casino located outside Philadelphia).

Right: Maryland Live! topping off ceremony featuring various public officials.  Maryland State Government photo.

They won't really generate a lot of development, because gaming as an entertainment attraction has for big segments of the population, become more of a day or weekend trip, rather than a special event vacation.

Maryland economic development officials will have to deal with this though, as casinos in Western Maryland and Perryville aren't likely to live up to expectations in terms of their ability to be augurs of local improvement.

With regard to that "special event vacation," the agglomeration benefits that Las Vegas has as the nation's premier vacation destination for gambling, and how that city continues to strengthen this position makes it very difficult for Atlantic City to develop its own unique and desirable position as a counter-destination to Las Vegas, especially compared to other "East Coast" destinations like the Bahamas (even Bermuda mulls over legalizing gambling for visitors--in the Bahamas, gambling is legal only for visitors, not residents).

Concerning the impact on DC of a casino at National Harbor, the reality is that people visiting the DC region for vacation or business have only so much money and time, and the impact of access to a casino on the border will shift some events (including conferences), rooming nights, etc., but overall is just another element of the competition that DC's tourism planners will have to both consider and respond.

Left: SHFL Entertainment photo of a gaming area at Maryland Live!