johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
Login to Send PM
There are a number of reasons why I can see not supporting a casino, but I'm interested to hear why people think placing it in the Arena District would "harm a successful entertainment district."
I would think a casino could attract more people to the district, people who might go to dinner or a sporting event in addition to the casino. Perhaps once inside though, people cannot escape from casinos to patronize other area businesses?
joev
Merion Village
Login to Send PM
johnwirtz wrote >>
There are a number of reasons why I can see not supporting a casino, but I'm interested to hear why people think placing it in the Arena District would "harm a successful entertainment district."
I would think a casino could attract more people to the district, people who might go to dinner or a sporting event in addition to the casino. Perhaps once inside though, people cannot escape from casinos to patronize other area businesses?
Columbus and the Arena District have a very family-friendly appeal. I could see a family prefering to spend a day out in an area without a nearby casino. And what you said is true: casinos are not in the business of circulating customers around neighborhoods. They're in the business of creating lures to keep people inside to spend their money.
Analogue Kid
5th by West-Northwest
Login to Send PM
johnwirtz wrote >>
There are a number of reasons why I can see not supporting a casino, but I'm interested to hear why people think placing it in the Arena District would "harm a successful entertainment district."
Well there is always the worry that it will take money away from an already hurting hockey team.
Another concern is the city and the mayor have worked so hard to create a downtown neighborhood with actual residents. Luring people from suburbs into an urban area is difficult. Having people who made the jump get burned by an eyesore and nusiance going up next door is going to make further downtown residential development nearly impossible. Those people who might have been on the fence about moving are going to "play it safe" by staying away after this episode. Nobody wants to live with bookies roaming outside their front door 24/7.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
Login to Send PM
colinpperkins wrote >>
I think it sucks that Franklin county doesn't want a casino and is getting one. But Ohio does want casinos - so shouldn't that take precedent?
I don't think it always has to.
There are plenty of laws that are set at a higher level of government that have clauses for localized rule making alterations or exceptions. The larger governing body doesn't always have to take precedent.
jackoh
The Village
Login to Send PM
joev wrote <a
Columbus and the Arena District have a very family-friendly appeal. I could see a family prefering to spend a day out in an area without a nearby casino. And what you said is true: casinos are not in the business of circulating customers around neighborhoods. They're in the business of creating lures to keep people inside to spend their money.
A casino is certainly not a "family-friendly" venue. But the fact that a hockey game is considered to be "family-friendly" doesn't say much for our idea of family values!
gramarye
In Exile
Login to Send PM
joev wrote >>
johnwirtz wrote >>
There are a number of reasons why I can see not supporting a casino, but I'm interested to hear why people think placing it in the Arena District would "harm a successful entertainment district."
I would think a casino could attract more people to the district, people who might go to dinner or a sporting event in addition to the casino. Perhaps once inside though, people cannot escape from casinos to patronize other area businesses?Columbus and the Arena District have a very family-friendly appeal. I could see a family prefering to spend a day out in an area without a nearby casino. And what you said is true: casinos are not in the business of circulating customers around neighborhoods. They're in the business of creating lures to keep people inside to spend their money.
I wonder if this could be addressed by zoning or similar municipal-level measures, however. It's a given at this point that a city cannot overrule the constitution; Penn National has been given the authority, by the people of the state, to build a casino in the Arena District. However, it could be possible to regulate such things as aesthetics or layout, to try to prevent it from using some of the more obvious tactics that casinos use to make it easy to enter and hard to leave. Even something as simple as requiring windows (to remind patrons that there's a city just outside, if they can pry themselves away from the slot machines), and making sure that the sidewalk from the casino to the rest of the district is well-maintained and well-lit. (Sure, this would facilitate traffic in both directions, not just away from the casino, but I think it would be a net positive.)
I would caution casino backers against pushing the "family friendly" angle of the Arena District too far, though. Sure, dad taking son to baseball game is an iconic American image. The Arena District also hosts the UFC, monster truck rallies, Rob Zombie, Hannah Montana, and other child-inappropriate material.
RoundTowner
Miranova
Login to Send PM
I have relatives in Pittsburg, who are sorta in the know on this subject (well, at least they think they are) they claim that a Casino will NOT be built in Columbus. Only Cleveland and Cincy are on the radar map. The developers really want to leave out Toledo, Columbus and other Ohio cities that they claim are not capable of supporting them. So, Columbus may not have to deal with Casinos after all.
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
Login to Send PM
I see the logic in leaving Toldeo out, but Columbus makes a hell of a lot more since than CLeveland or Cinci. Cleveland is in such close proximity to Detroit and Cinci to Indiana riverboat casinos that Columbus has the best chance of creating more new addic...er customers.
Bear
The woods
Login to Send PM
gramarye wrote >>
I wonder if this could be addressed by zoning or similar municipal-level measures, however. It's a given at this point that a city cannot overrule the constitution; Penn National has been given the authority, by the people of the state, to build a casino in the Arena District. However, it could be possible to regulate such things as aesthetics or layout, to try to prevent it from using some of the more obvious tactics that casinos use to make it easy to enter and hard to leave.
I was kind of thinking we could benefit from the passage of Issue 2 by directing some of the additional runoff from upstate CAFOs past the casino site....
joev
Merion Village
Login to Send PM
Tigertree wrote >>
I see the logic in leaving Toldeo out, but Columbus makes a hell of a lot more since than CLeveland or Cinci. Cleveland is in such close proximity to Detroit and Cinci to Indiana riverboat casinos that Columbus has the best chance of creating more new addic...er customers.
Cleveland is about 2.5 hours from Detroit. Not all that close. Columbus is actually closer to those Cincy area casinos in Indiana and Mountaineer in West Virginia that Cleveland is to Detroit.
somertimeoh
Harrison West
Login to Send PM
jackoh wrote >>
joev wrote <a
Columbus and the Arena District have a very family-friendly appeal. I could see a family prefering to spend a day out in an area without a nearby casino. And what you said is true: casinos are not in the business of circulating customers around neighborhoods. They're in the business of creating lures to keep people inside to spend their money.A casino is certainly not a "family-friendly" venue. But the fact that a hockey game is considered to be "family-friendly" doesn't say much for our idea of family values!
Neither are the countless bars and sororitutes and Ed Hardy douchebags that frequent the Arena District most evenings. Rarely are there shows at the LC/Basement/A&R Place that I would call "family friendly." If you want to call the AD family friendly on Saturday and Sundays until 8pm OK, but that isn't what this is about.
PLEASE DON'T TURN THIS IN TO A FAMILY VALUES ISSUE!!! That will turn me off so fast I won't be willing to support the casino free campaign if that stance gets any legs.
joev
Merion Village
Login to Send PM
It's not a family values issue - it's a business issue. Those douchebag bars and shows at the LC may not be family friendly, but they are only full of people at night. A casino would be allowed to operate 24-hours a day.
I can really see families deciding against attending a game at Huntington Park because there is a casino next door. Worse, I can see families choosing not to LIVE in the Arena District because there is a casino next door.
jackoh
The Village
Login to Send PM
joev wrote >>
It's not a family values issue - it's a business issue. Those douchebag bars and shows at the LC may not be family friendly, but they are only full of people at night. A casino would be allowed to operate 24-hours a day.
I can really see families deciding against attending a game at Huntington Park because there is a casino next door. Worse, I can see families choosing not to LIVE in the Arena District because there is a casino next door.
All who are in favor of modeling the arena district after Disneyland please raise your hands.
jackoh
The Village
Login to Send PM
joev wrote >>
jackoh wrote >>
All who are in favor of modeling the arena district after Disneyland please raise your hands.You know that family friendly is not the same as Disneyland, right?
Actually, Disneyland is the template of a family-friendly venue. It's a controlled environment from which all of the messiness and struggles, tragic and otherwise, of day to day existence in the real world is carefully excluded. There's a whiff of this in the movement to stop the casino and to preserve that part of the town from what some seem to consider ugliness.
Mercurius
First Avenue
Login to Send PM
somertimeoh wrote >>
jackoh wrote >>
joev wrote <a
Columbus and the Arena District have a very family-friendly appeal. I could see a family prefering to spend a day out in an area without a nearby casino. And what you said is true: casinos are not in the business of circulating customers around neighborhoods. They're in the business of creating lures to keep people inside to spend their money.A casino is certainly not a "family-friendly" venue. But the fact that a hockey game is considered to be "family-friendly" doesn't say much for our idea of family values!
PLEASE DON'T TURN THIS IN TO A FAMILY VALUES ISSUE!!! That will turn me off so fast I won't be willing to support the casino free campaign if that stance gets any legs.
For me, part of Columbus' brand isn't family values but rather being a good place to raise a family, regardless of your values. While we are focusing on improving other parts of our image, this is not something to discount. So I don't see a casino as much as a problem of curtailing development in the Arena District but rather discouraging possible future residents to our region?
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
Login to Send PM
joev wrote >>
johnwirtz wrote >>
There are a number of reasons why I can see not supporting a casino, but I'm interested to hear why people think placing it in the Arena District would "harm a successful entertainment district."
I would think a casino could attract more people to the district, people who might go to dinner or a sporting event in addition to the casino. Perhaps once inside though, people cannot escape from casinos to patronize other area businesses?Columbus and the Arena District have a very family-friendly appeal. I could see a family prefering to spend a day out in an area without a nearby casino. And what you said is true: casinos are not in the business of circulating customers around neighborhoods. They're in the business of creating lures to keep people inside to spend their money.
Agreed on the "lures" focus. I've spent quite a bit of time out in Vegas and I've never seen this "casino tide" that proponents claim will lift all business boats. Most of the retail even just one block off the strip is pretty desolate. Casinos typically operate as self-contained environments catering to the customer's every need, there's a financial disincentive not to.
For example, my brother-in-law (who this amendment supposedly targets), goes down the riverboat to gamble every so often on blackjack. Never does he mention doing anything other than spending a number of hours at the blackjack tables, and subsequently maybe eating a meal or two before coming back (whether he wins or loses). He does the same thing when he visits vegas, though you could argue the retail experience is much better there. And I don't think he's necessarily atypical of the average vegas visitor.
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
Login to Send PM
Coley wrote >>
I find it interesting that yet again the West Side is the #1 choice for dumping on the undesirables despite being ignored and discounted most of the time. Much work is being done in regards to revitilzation efforts, please don't contribute to undermining them along with the politicians and their bureaucracies.
Too bad more people didn't bother discussing this aspect of it.
You must log in to post.
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus. Click here to visit TheMetropreneur.com.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
