Dan on the Street: The Casino Development Proposals Part III
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In the final installment of this three-part series, I asked the business owners for their take on the Seneca Nation's proposed Casino that would be on Fulton and Perry. The reaction was mixed; some of our interviewees were reluctant to lend their full support to the project. A few cited social-cost concerns, others felt that different kinds of business would be more beneficial to the Buffalo economy. Those in support felt that the Casino would be a boost for the surrounding businesses, and would give future developers the confidence to build in the downtown area.
What Others Have To Say
What Do You Think?
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SLEEPL8
There are priveleged few who benefit from big ventrues by the Seneca Nation while the rest of their people live in poverty. I feel it would be best for both our country and the Native Americans if they would assimilate and become citizens with ownership of their lands. I feel that sovereignty has hindered the ability of the citizens to improve their quility of life while a handful of their priveleged "leaders" prosper. It is unfair that their lands were taken from them however I feel that they could do much better for themselves and their families as US citizens. If the casino goes through only a select few Native Americans will benefit from it and that is unfortunate. I feel the impact on the city economy will be minimal but won't hurt. Good luck ever reaching compromise on this issue.
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Quinnyarch
I am disgusted with Buffalo Rising.
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Deneuve01
They ARE assimilating to being US citizens and business owners - resistance is futile, lol. The US is a capitalist nation and they are not only capitalizing but bringing entertainment to this area. Any improvement in the life on a reservation is better than none at all. There are also plenty of white personnel hired at these casinos as well. How are you benefited by Exxon ? One could say the exact same thing about the corporations in the US and who is really benefited from those. The US should improve their quality of life and not let a handful of their privileged "leaders" prosper. "Ownership of their lands" ? Great - someone will be right over to collect the back-rent and help you pack. The disparity in who is sharing the riches perhaps looks bigger because you are looking at a microcosm. Who is anyone to tell a sovereign nation what they should do ? That is the epitome of being an American I suppose. Their only fault is being born a poor minority in a capitalist nation. My mom always said - if the other kids are picking on you , it's because they are jealous of what you have ...hmmmm. The compromise was already reached - living on a small parcel of land, stripped of culture by being forced into boarding schools,forced to speak English, "saved" by Christianity , forced from homelands, losing entire tribes to genocide. Now .. they simply want to move out of the shadows, stepping out of their given place in line to take a little piece of the pie ...and are beat down, yet again. They have survived for thousands of years and guess what ...they are patient.
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rdominguez
In the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Gazel (1998) has an article entitled "The Economic Impacts of Casino Gambling at the State and Local Levels." One of his most important findings has direct relevance to this debate:
"Many state and local economies in the United States have... experienced net monetary losses due to casino gambling in their jurisdictions. One of the major reasons for such negative impacts is the strategy of the monopolistic or oligopolistic market structure chosen by the new jurisdictions. These market structures resulted in low ratios of nonlocal to total visitors and high ratios of casino profits to total revenues. Policymakers and other citizens in jurisdictions considering casinos as a future economic activity must be careful in choosing the type of market structure they adopt. It is better to concentrate casinos in one specific area, creating competition between them (forcing them to attract outside gamblers), than to establish several local monopolies. Politicians should also examine the negative side associated with casino gambling and not focus only on the positive side of job creation and increased tax revenues. Negative externalities are a reality even if precise estimates of their monetary costs are not yet available" (p. 83).
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BuffaloSoldier
Although I wish their people well I do not believe that it is the obligation of this community to provide welfare to the Seneca Nation, especially when it comes at the expense of this community. A casino is an instant loser. Casinos only benefit themsleves while drawing prosperity away from (not toward) their surrounding community. The Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino is barely at the fringe of downtown. As a result, nothing downtown will benefit from it in terms of location. The casino is its own self contained island. Instead we willl see business drawn away from other downtown establishments as people spend generousily at the slots and gaming tables. The casino will also have a concert hall, bars, restaurants, hotels, and stores - all of which will not be at a competitive level with comparable existing downtown establishments as (given it is a tax free empire) they will be underpriced. No one will gamble at the casino and eat and drink in the Chippewa District wihen the casino has its own restaurants. No one will stay at a downtown hotel on Main Street when the casino has its own hotel. No one will attend a performance in the Theater District when the casino has its own concert venue. This community must understand that any development is not always good development.
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jjrentboy
Interesting post in regards to the academic article, but any academic knows how to bend statistics to make an argument. What would be more interesting would be how to find out if people in the community who hare hired end up off public assistance and pumping the money they earn into the economy. Given the dreadful state of fiscal affairs for the city of Buffalo, at this point, a Casino makes a lot more sense than any of the other ideas floating around. IT seems that the voices opposed to this are largely white middle class folks from the Elmwood Avenue Area. They seem so outraged that gambling might occur in Buffalo. Is ok, to allow unemployment rates to surpass the national level? I guess so as long as it is not in Elmwodd or Allentown. Perhaps their outrage should be directed that Buffalo has declined so much in the past quarter century that local economy resembles Appalachia much more than it does another mid sized city in the US. Is Gambling the solution? No, but at this point, it will help out. Let's think of the opportunities missed, UB in downtown Buffalo, the so called subway that killed main street, tax breaks to pro sports, let's try this gabmling out folks and see if it works. Unless of course this whole idea of jumpstarting a waterfront economy with a bass pro outlet works, and then let's be honest, people are just clamoring to come to Buffalo for fishing supplies. Soon Buffalo will be the fishing supply capital of the world, money will grow on trees, the Bills will win a superbowl, Bethlehem Steell will move back, the schools will be wondeful, Jimmy Griffin will be mayor, the snow fall will diminish, and we will all live happily ever after. Let's join the 21st Century Buffalo. You missed out on the 20th, time to catch up.
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rdominguez
jjrentboy,
I guess I don't quite understand how you can dismiss the quote about the negative impact of monopolistic gambling structures because "any academic knows how to bend statistics to make an argument" and then call for a statistical analysis of changes to public assistance attributable to a new casino in a community. If the findings didn't support your belief that a casino might be good for Buffalo, couldn't you simply dismiss them as "bent" too?
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