Arresting Development: The Casinos, the Activists and a Tale of Two Cities
by Thomas J. Walsh
November 1, 2009
Contrary to popular belief and endless snide remarks from national sports commentators, Philadelphians are not, for the most part, rude. But they also won’t back away from a fight very easily, and despite some long-sought movement on the building of two slots halls here, a three-year-old anti-casino movement has been growing – and seems to be gaining some staying power.
Known as a “city of neighborhoods” with individual pride of place and rivalries, Philadelphia can be as NIMBY as the next town. However, dozens of groups – started by of a handful of people initially opposed to specific casino locations – have now banded together, forming the “No Casino in the Heart of the City Coalition.” They’ve even rented out a storefront on Market Street, a block from Independence Hall.
On September 29, 14 members of one of the first groups, Casino Free Philadelphia, staged their first serious act of nonviolent civil disobedience, camping arm-in-arm on the sidewalk at the front entrance to the SugarHouse Casino, which was undergoing the first stages of construction after years of delay.
Click here for part 1 of the 5-page article.
Click here for part 2 of the 5-page article.
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The Unions Play Their Hand
by Thomas J. Walsh
June 1, 2009
The terms “casino” and “union” are becoming increasingly, inextricably intertwined
As strong labor organizations that have long represented auto workers, truck and transport workers and other blue-collar occupations migrate toward the service economy, the terms “casino” and “union” are becoming increasingly, inextricably intertwined.
FULL COVER STORY HERE (pdf): Unions Casino Journal 6.1.09
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Back to Basics
by Thomas J. Walsh
February 2, 2009
Recession-proof no more, the casino industry is having to adjust … cutting costs, in most cases, but in others, looking to spend
If gambling is entertainment, where does it fall in the pecking order of consumer priorities? Is it before or after a new flat-screen TV? In tough times, where do cashstrapped managers — or, these days, CFOs — target their marketing? What if the decision comes down to a few dozen of the latest slots versus a refurbished buffet?
As casino executives wade through what looks to be a sustained and ravaging recession, most are faced with an environment they have never lived through. High-end Las Vegas Strip properties are nervously dealing with mounting vacancy rates and slashed room rates. Once-a-week customers at smaller, locals-based gaming halls are becoming once-a-month visitors. The rivers of cash flowing through tribal casinos across the United States have slowed to stream levels.
From card rooms to small slots houses to megaresorts, from California to Connecticut, the gaming industry, once thought to be “recession-proof,” is showing itself to be what it has long sought to be — on an even playing field with the rest of the American economy.
FULL COVER STORY HERE (pdf): IGWB 2.2.09
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Town Without Pity
by Thomas J. Walsh
September 2, 2008
Philadelphia was off on its grand experiment in urban casinos— until it all went terribly sour
Though Atlantic City has had plenty to worry about since a handful of Pennsylvania slots parlors opened, the two resort-scale casinos planned for Philadelphia, which promise to be the seaside resort’s biggest competitors, still exist only in blueprints, and it looks like they will stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Major experiments in urban casinos are rare in the Unites States, and the City of Brotherly Tough Love has this one tied up in regulatory knots. Proposals for the two gaming halls on the Delaware River are battling persistent anti-casino residents and a new mayor who is calling for a relocation of both sites.
FULL COVER STORY HERE (pdf): Town Without Pity – Cover Story – 9.2.08
