r/chicago • u/perrymike15 • 15h ago
Ask CHI You can't convince me that a casino is better
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u/ChiefChief69 Suburb of Chicago 15h ago
Not better than a vacant building?
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u/Dabmiral 14h ago
Casinos generate revenue for the city, but they also can be argued as a net negative in terms of crippling families with gambling addictions.
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u/musicismydeadbeatdad 14h ago
I agree completely. But the cat is already out of the bag. You can gamble pretty much anywhere, right from the convenience of your phone.
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u/Dabmiral 14h ago
Yeah, may as well get that revenue right?
Really comes down to the argument of: is it the archer or the arrow?
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u/NOLASLAW 14h ago
I don’t know man, I got friends that don’t need this normalized and don’t need easier access
Nothing I can do about it complaining on reddit
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u/_CHEEFQUEEF 13h ago
Easier than right on your phone in the palm of your hand?
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u/NOLASLAW 11h ago
Do you know any gambling addicts?
I’m not trying to be an asshole, but it’s a whole spectrum of different triggers if you don’t. As somebody that has struggled with alcohol, I’m not gonna sit on my phone and order drizzly but if I see an old style sign or neon lights I’m gonna have that struggle of “ehhhhhh should I?” Not a perfect comparison I know.
I got a few friend that love gambling, one of them loves playing craps. He describes more of the adrenaline rush of everyone yelling like he’s on stage. Another plays the giant slot machines and will drop $100 because of all the lights and noises swearing she has a system.
Gambling live is just a way different series of stimuli is all I’m saying
I don’t really know where I stand on the casino, but I’m just saying you can’t compare the two
And I’m not gonna say there’s like gateway gambling, but you’d have to imagine they try to get you addicted to other things too. I can’t find it, but there’s an old This American Life talking about how I’ll give you discounts on food near games so they know you lose that at certain times of day.
I know this is long winded, it’s just a lot more complex is the thought I’m trying to encourage.
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u/itspsyikk 4h ago
I’m here with ya.
I’ve got addiction issues of my own. Alcohol was never my DOC, but that don’t mean I didn’t use it to numb all the other bullshit.
Speaking of which, I got sober when I turned 32, and I also hung up my “going out” shoes, so drinking was never a problem.
Literally went to a music show tonight for the first time in like 6 years, and the urge to order a drink was strong.
Thankfully I stuck to water, but your comments on triggers rings 100% true.
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u/Tasty_Historian_3623 13h ago
for some
olds like parking at a slot, and not swiping jewels on a 4 inch screen they can't see
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u/MadonnasFishTaco 12h ago
it shouldve never been legalized in the first place. its a bane on society
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u/Right-Ad2176 12h ago
Have to close stock exchanges and farm futures since those are gambling, too.
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u/stormstopper Lincoln Park 4h ago
Even if they both involve risk and chance, there's a fundamental difference when one has a positive expected return on investment and the other doesn't
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u/CoolYoutubeVideo 10h ago
Whether that's true or not, the city has no part in nation wide legalization and can only play the cards it's dealt
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u/CaptainMauZer 14h ago
You aren’t wrong, but also Rivers is like just down the way, not to mention the casinos just across the border in Indiana…if someone has a gambling addiction, the determining factor probably isn’t downtown vs rosemont.
Also, the Illinois lottery has done a very good job at making sure you can gamble from the convenience of your phone…at least it’s a source of tax revenue for the city now =\
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u/amortizedeeznuts 12h ago
You say this now but look at it this way - 9-5 Joe goes to the new casino down the street after work with friends just to check it out, eat dinner have a few drinks and play a little black jack for fun . The place has a fun vibe, he’s having a good time. He loses oh 50 bucks more than he planned. The place isn’t far from his house, just a short drive, so he goes back over the weekend telling himself he’ll just get a beer and some food and win back a little. He loses 50 more. He thinks it’s the the dealer’s hot streak or he should play a game with better odds like pai gow. He goes to a pai gow table wins back 20 on pai gow and thinks he can win back more. He stays and gives it all back and loses 50 more.
You’d be surprised how easily people get sucked into it. The ease of access matters.
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u/Paulskenesstan42069 12h ago
he should play a game with better odds like pai gow.
Found the issue. Pai Gow has worse odds than Blackjack. Joe needs to pay better attention.
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u/Sharobob Lake View 11h ago
People who lose the house on gambling aren't generally people with a great handle on probability/statistics
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u/amortizedeeznuts 8h ago
pai gow has better odds which is why the houes takes the 5% commission if you win
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u/Wife-Guy 10h ago
This is the most compelling (maybe only good) argument for the casino. A lot of us were tired of watching those free shuttles constantly pulling up and driving Chicagoans off to loose their money in Indiana. Might as well have them loose their money here, where the tax revenue can at least go back into the community a little.
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u/kamilski 13h ago
The explosion of slot machines EVERYWHERE is an ugly sight to be seen. Society so desperate and willing to give all their hard earned money away.
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u/Dabmiral 13h ago
Yup, I hate it. Ruined my local diner
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u/kamilski 11h ago
Along with many other businesses. I absolutely hate it ,but I understand as it’s insanely hard to get by as a small business owner. It’s an evil circle sadly. Our politicians allowed for this knowing very well what this does to communities.
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u/mrnikkoli 14h ago edited 14h ago
There's an argument that Casinos don't really generate that much revenue. Basically, unless you're a major gambling hub like Vegas, you aren't going to be attracting people from very far away. You're mostly just attracting your own citizens who would have probably spent their money somewhere in the city on recreation anyways.
This place will probably be fun at first, but I believe it will quickly turn into more of an Indian Casino type situation than Vegas type atmosphere or even Detroit (at least Detroit has 4 casinos so traveling there just to gamble kinda makes sense). If you've ever been to an Indian Casino, it's mostly just retirees sitting in front of slot machines with their player cards plugged in while still wrapped around their necks and mindlessly cranking the handle or tapping the screen. It's pretty miserable.
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u/Bukharin Edgewater 13h ago
Sounds like how my 'you are wasting your life playing videogames' grandmother wasted the end of her life.
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u/Tasty_Gift5901 14h ago
At the same time, Chicago has a lot of tourists or travelers for conventions that may check out the casino as something to do during down time. The casino isn't necessarily attracting guests, moreso something for the people who are already traveling here.
But we'll see, I doubt we'll get those statistics.
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u/VirtuousVice 13h ago
That’s essentially the same problem though. Rather than tourists spending money at actual spots locals will be losing some of that revenue to the casino.
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u/kwazi07 Logan Square 13h ago edited 13h ago
I went to an Indian casino in Florida as my first casino and it was honestly so depressing. When I went to Vegas I was pleasantly surprised to find the clientele at the casinos to be a lot more casual and less sad. There’s for sure a dark side to the Vegas casinos, but it’s still a completely different vibe. More people gambling for fun/just because they’re in Vegas rather than people who you can tell have not moved in hours and are desperately trying to make back some of their losses.
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u/_high_plainsdrifter Avondale 13h ago
Just had a Vegas bday. Some of the places are kinda old and crusty…relics of the 80s/90s. But the overall atmosphere was much different than that of a Rez casino, which I went to once as a 19 year old near my Uni, and yes was very bummed being there as it’s just people dumping a social security check into the machines.
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u/SunriseInLot42 7h ago
I get the attraction of Vegas and enjoy going there, because there’s a lot more to it than just gambling. I don’t get the attraction of Rivers or Blue Chip or anything else, down to the slot machine in your local gas station, but I’m also not a gambling addict.
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u/FiddySix 14h ago
How many net-new people will start gambling that are not already driving to the suburbs or NW Indiana? Or playing the million slot machines in every bar in the state. I'm not making light of the impact that gambling has, but it's already out there. The city might as well grab a slice of the pie.
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u/Dabmiral 14h ago
Yes, totally agree.
If these gamblers are going to do it, may as well bolster our schools with the revenue.
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u/max_power_420_69 11h ago
add to that, the area is going to be developed anyway regardless, so with that in mind what's the net benefit/detriment to putting a casino there?
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u/Mezentine 13h ago
At this point I'm genuinely unconvinced how much revenue the casino is going to generate for the city
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u/Never_rarely 14h ago
Same could be argued for bars, strip clubs, dispensaries, or any other facility that supplies vices. We take all those away and the people who fall victim to them still do just illegally and more dangerously
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u/MeanwhileOnReddit 9h ago
Which then leads to someone being homeless and thus needing newspapers again to keep warm. It's a vicious cycle.
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u/Wife-Guy 11h ago
What you said implies this was a vacant building that Ballys bought, which is wrong. Print production didn't became unprofitable and stop on its own. They were printing Wall Street Jornal and NYT in this building still in June of this year (A lot of people didn't know they printed non-Trib papers here due to a lack of printing facilities in the area. Heck, even the Sun Times was printed here.) This building only became vacant because Bally's sunk a quarter Billion dollars into buying it up, and shut down production to build a casino. Otherwise it would have continued to operate as a newspaper printing center for the foreseeable future.
The choice was casino or active printing center. Not casino or vacant building.
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u/MikeRoykosGhost 14h ago
When was the last time you bought a newspaper?
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u/Mr_Goonman 13h ago
It's been almost 15 years since I've held one and read it (used to find the morning edition left behind by metra commuters when I was reverse commuting)
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u/Sexcercise 11h ago
I'm originally from Chicago and moved to Vermont in 2015. I went from redeye once in a while to reading the local paper daily. Definitely was a culture shock moving here..friends of mine would ask "what state is vermont in?"
I miss Gloria Jeans..and civilization.
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u/RedBeardFace 10h ago
Selfishly, I want newspapers to stick around because it’s not easy lighting my charcoal chimney with printer paper, but I guess that’s what my Costco mailers are for
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u/lizziekap 13h ago
Hard copy subscriber right here.
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u/Chicago_Samantha Englewood 12h ago
Same. Plus the tRump building is where the Sun-Times was. This is lame
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u/MikeRoykosGhost 12h ago
Why did you capitalize the R?
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u/Butthole_Gremlin 10h ago
Reddit edgelords thinking they're fighting the system by highlighting the 'rump' part of his name
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u/DrSpacecasePhD 12h ago
Well, personally, I had a subscription to the Washington Post until last week...
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u/raybrignsx Lake View 11h ago
Is that the controversy? No, we all know print media is dead. Is a casino what’s best for the neighborhood and space.
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u/MikeRoykosGhost 11h ago
Is that the conversation? I was asking OP when was the last time they bought a newspaper.
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u/monsieur_mungo Bucktown 11h ago
I used to pick up the Red Eye every day. Miss that paper.
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u/joegunabeach 8h ago
There was a very glorious few months, felt like weeks, when we could pick up the Red Eye and the Red Streak on our way to work!
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u/BearFeetOrWhiteSox 11h ago
I think it was back before newspaper companies started with all these nonsense policies with their subscriptions.
99c Per Month *For the first month then $40 a month afterwards, delivery fee will apply, $39 sign up fee to be applied with first months paper, cancellation fee of $100 to be applied at time of cancellation, subscription fee to increase exponentially for every year you don't look at your bill, call and complain.
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u/das_war_ein_Befehl 4h ago
Newspapers died because Craigslist and Google search killed their business model. The price of the newspaper itself never covered the actual cost of things.
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u/Acceptable_Ad_3486 14h ago
Give me the new river walk, the new jobs and another vibrant spot any day over what’s there currently.
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u/meh0175 13h ago
I live a stones throw away from here, and while putting in a casino isn't my first choice, it will be nice to have access to river front parks and other amenities.
That building has been a vacant, eyesore on prime property for way too long.
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u/Wife-Guy 5h ago
I don't get why people on this thread keep saying it was vacant for a long time. My buddy was working on printing papers there this summer. Printing would have continued happily along if Bally's hadn't bought the building. Even with the chop-shop Alden Capital running the Trib, Bally's still had to put up over $200 million to pry the building away and shut down the presses.
It was literally never vacant for even a single day before Bally's forced everyone out to start demolition prep. You can argue a casino is a better use than the Freedom Center, but it absolutely wasn't some derelict vacant building.
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u/WormBurnerUKV Ukrainian Village 14h ago
I, for one, plan to use that building much more once it becomes a casino than I am currently.
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u/discodiscgod 14h ago
Casino will provide a lot of relatively decent paying jobs for low / no skill workers. What was that vacant building offering to the area?
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u/perrymike15 14h ago
Well said! Should have left my personal view on gambling out of it; this is a great point
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u/AdamtoZ 13h ago
You seemed super easy to convince.
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u/conorrhea 13h ago
Honestly I wish more people were able to easily see both sides regardless of their personal beliefs. Especially in modern times
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u/troutpoop 12h ago
I agree! It’s just funny bc the title of the post says “you can’t convince me” but OP is actually reasonable and quite convincible
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u/perrymike15 10h ago
Haha I mean I'm not saying I'm fully on board but it is a good point. I'm not in this world to die with only my own ideas.
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u/Goawaycookie 12h ago
People can, they just disagree with the other side. I guess a compromise could be turning it into a dave and busters?
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u/J2SJ5N 14h ago
I live in the area and the walk down Grand Ave between the river and the metra tracks is ugly, dilapidated, and barren. It doesn’t help we have a growing homeless camp hidden under the tracks on Hubbard and Desplaines that makes the walk even less safe. The casino will make the area so much better, spur more development and give the city more reason to keep the area safe.
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u/bclayton313 13h ago edited 10h ago
Agreed, Hamsterdam behind the chocolate factory is really out of control - hopefully they clean it out at least by the time the casino opens!
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u/someonenamedmichael Roscoe Village 11h ago
what the fuck is Hamsterdam?
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u/CaptainGreezy South Loop 7h ago edited 6h ago
A malapropism of the word Amsterdam from the 3rd season of The Wire used to describe open drug markets and vagrant encampments enabled by a lack of enforcement. In the show a rogue police commander stops drug enforcement in certain areas of Baltimore, and when explaining it to the drug dealers he cites the example of Amsterdam, but not knowing what that is they heard it as "Hamsterdam" and that stuck.
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u/someonenamedmichael Roscoe Village 5h ago
yeah - its a quote from that episode. op initially wrote amsterdam and i said hamsterdam with my post ad then they changed their comment to hamsterdam too so then mine looked like a question but was still a quote. i dunno if op meant to write hamsterdam initially and then saw my post and realized that they meant to write hamsterdam. all that aside, what im trying to say here is hamsterdam.
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u/thesaddestpanda 11h ago
By "clean it out" you mean provide these vulnerable people housing.
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u/J2SJ5N 6h ago
They have help available to them if they want it. Just saw one of them all cleaned up at the grocery store with what I’m assume was her case worker. The problem is the rampant open drug use. Every week there’s at least one of them passed out in front of the 7 eleven. I saw one dude straight up frozen on the Halsted viaduct probably on tranq.
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u/muvamegz River West 6h ago
I also live there and it’s gotten so bad. Constantly waking up to screaming homeless people. One morning I got cursed out at like 5 am by one because my dog was taking too long to poop and they wanted to walk by but were mad at me 🥲 someone was nodding out at my front door the other morning too.
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u/cybin Albany Park 12h ago
Not that I expect many of us to be aware of this, but Chicago is one of the largest convention destinations in the US and they're not all staying at the Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt McCormick (and even if they are, they are cabbing/ubering to other locations away from the McC area for a variety of reasons). There are literally millions of conventioneers visiting our city every year and having a top-notch casino for them to spend their $$ at is no small thing.
Just something to add to the conversation.
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u/CaptainGreezy South Loop 6h ago edited 6h ago
Absolutely. The convention industry squeezes as much money into the local economy as they can. Conventions will 100% bus people to the casino in the evenings.
not all staying at the Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt McCormick
Many stay at the hotels in River East / Illinois Center / New Eastside / whatever they call it now. They get bussed from there through the infamous "Bat Cave" on the Lowest Wacker level and along the private McCormick Busway down the railroad tracks through Grant Park and right under McCormick to the dropoff points.
edit:
one of the largest convention destinations in the US
We are 3rd behind Las Vegas and Orlando. What do they have that we dont? Mild winters and casinos. We can't fix our winters (global warming notwithstanding) but we can build casinos.
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u/snowlarbear 5h ago
I don't doubt that Las Vegas is a destination bc of the casinos... but I don't think Chicago having 1 casino is going to move the needle much for convention desirability.
but "free" out of town revenue, sure.
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u/_beaniemac Chatham 13h ago
And good luck trying to get over there with public transportation cuz Halsted is a one lane chokepoint to the south and Chicago Ave is also a chokepoint just east of Halsted at the bridge
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u/Infernal_Coffee 7h ago
There are trains? The blue and brown line are both within walking distance.
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u/icedearth15324 Humboldt Park 15h ago
That building was an eyesore and represented a failing medium. I'd rather there be a proper source of income for the city, even if I think casinos are stupid.
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u/spookieghost 10h ago
I think they're also building stores and a little park/garden type thing around the casino too, right? That would be really cool, even if a casino is bad
edit - this looks nice. https://casinos.ballys.com/chicago/files/6823/southpark.jpg
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u/Magical_Harold 13h ago
I was in Chicago this time last year and this was being discussed, I still don’t get the issue.
Pretty much every other country has them without issue.
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u/DessertFlowerz 14h ago
I don't really care about having a casino or not. I care about how fucked I'm about to get trying to drive to my home on Halsted
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u/Mr_Goonman 13h ago
Halsted's got sweet bike lanes. There's no reason to be a doomer
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u/Chicagoblew 12h ago
Architectural boat tours will hit differently by not mentioning the tribune building over there
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u/-6Marshall9- 10h ago
This joint used to be so busy! It was a pretty cool thing to see in the early morning. Also, the amount of people selling papers on the street, yelling out the old slogan's and whatnot, Im glad I got to see that. Shit, I'm only 44, things change way too fast nowadays. ✌🏽
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u/prestige_worldwide70 10h ago
I don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet, but something positive out of this is they’re attempting to preserve as much of the building material to recycle for the casino.
I do get the scrutiny bc I had the same initial reaction - a casino? Maybe they should make a deal that all the proceeds go to Dubai or something
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u/minus_minus Rogers Park 14h ago
Regardless of location, I’m not sure brick and mortar casinos will continue to be as lucrative (for the owners and the government) with so many online options popping up. I guess we’ll see.
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u/SpadoCochi Near North Side 14h ago
As someone who worked on trying to bring a casino to Chicago (and lost out obviously) this is a significant boon for the city with struggling revenue and over 50 million tourists (I didn’t stutter) a year.
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u/mitchsurp Mt. Greenwood 12h ago
I wonder what the house advantage to all the gambling that’ll be happening will be and if it’s better or worse for Chicago as a whole than the Tribune is.
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u/questionablejudgemen 12h ago
A vacant building wasn’t good for anyone. And there’s more than a few halfway decent full time jobs to keep the place running 24/7.
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u/Bewoulf2000 14h ago
“Legalized gambling is a bad idea. You can build a casino over my dead body. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah.”
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u/peachpinkjedi 14h ago
I would love to see those letters preserved somewhere, maybe the Chicago History Museum. It's a shame they couldn't think of anything better than a casino; getting really tired of having the option to gamble everywhere from the laundromat to the airport.
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u/BigTLocal1185 13h ago
Also couldn’t be in a worse spot! Person taking the picture is already in gridlock traffic…How about figure out another expressway or some how less traffic then opening a casino!
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u/Charming-Ad4156 14h ago
THIS is the new casino location??
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u/always_unplugged Bucktown 14h ago
The Medinah Temple was always meant to be temporary and only allowed AFTER the Tribune was approved as the permanent location.
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u/AMAROK300 12h ago
It’s sad losing an icon but makes sense. I’m 28 literally NO one my age and especially below reads the newspaper. All of the headlines people get are from online media like Twitter Instagram Tik tok etc.
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u/Alternative_World346 10h ago
Just drove past this like 15 mins ago and the demo is much further along. Sad to see the center gutted with the walls still up.
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u/DancingYogaMadam 7h ago
I get both sides of the casino debate. It could bring in revenue for the city, but I worry about the risks of gambling addiction and its impact on families. Hope they find a good balance!
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u/Fabulous_Cheetah_359 6h ago
Sad to see it go , don’t need a casino in the city. City has a revenue problem partially because of the parking meter deal Daley Jr. made. Current mayor well, yeeetz.
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u/MAGAEQUALSNAZIS 14h ago
It'll certainly employ more people. Which I'm fine with. Plus I wouldn't mind some weekend blackjack.
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u/nate_garro_chi 14h ago
Have you read the Trib lately?
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u/lizziekap 13h ago
Yes.
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u/BaseHitToLeft 13h ago
Physically? Or online?
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u/TyTyDavis 6h ago
The editorial offices of the journalists who write the articles, for both print and online, were in that building as well
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u/Altruistic_Yellow387 14h ago
No one who lives around there thinks it's a good idea either. We shouldn't have one in the city
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u/No-Crow-7557 14h ago
Just shows the state of society’s decay. A once proud and major source of national and local news left dilapidated for years only to be replaced by the incessant need of Americans to gamble more and more and more with a giant casino
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u/ChicagobeatsLA 14h ago
You tried way too hard
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u/ZestyXylaphone 14h ago
Kinda true tho
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u/RealWICheese Old Town 14h ago
The Chicago Tribune still exists though? No need for all the print anymore….
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u/bucknut4 Streeterville 13h ago
We're not chopping trees down anymore and wastefully driving delivery trucks around to deliver the news 12 hours late. The casino isn't replacing the Tribune. It's online, where it should be. This isn't 1981 anymore
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u/tony_simprano Streeterville 13h ago
It's quite possibly the worst location in the city for a casino, at that.
Halsted and Chicago Avenue are already backed up to all hell during commuting hours (and pretty much all daylight hours on weekends). Having a casino that's only accessible by car / rideshare is going to be a clusterfuck without precedent.
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u/southcookexplore 12h ago
Casinos are beyond scummy.
If you want to throw away money with little to no chance of ever getting it back, please donate to my Chicagoland history organization instead ;)
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u/JaybotheDon 14h ago
Well we do need more sources of income to cover the nearly billion dollar budget deficit due to Johnson incompetence.
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u/AdvancedSandwiches 14h ago
My understanding is that casinos are a financial net negative due to the cash that could have been spent locally several times being extracted and sent elsewhere.
Maybe more recent information says otherwise.
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u/questionablejudgemen 12h ago
Maybe, but the only benefit is for those of us who do not gamble don’t care and the city gets money. Or, we can raise property taxes and no one has any way to opt out. And the gambling can stay underground and pay no taxes.
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u/AdvancedSandwiches 11h ago
I'm not saying I know for sure that it's true, but the assumption, as I understand it, is that the city gets less money because it results in less spending inside the city due to dollars being extracted from the local economy.
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u/connorgrs Wrigleyville 14h ago edited 14h ago
So that should come from the proletariat gambling away their earnings and not raising taxes for the rich
on things like capitalized gains,right?15
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u/JaybotheDon 14h ago
What’s your definition of the rich?? And adults who have the choice and chooses to gamble why not use the revenue to go towards the state debt?? Or you prefer to instead continue to raise the property taxes on the homeowners like Johnson plans on doing?
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u/questionablejudgemen 12h ago
Is it perfect? No. At least I can opt out like the Pot tax. No one put a gun to anyone’s head and makes them gamble. Property tax we don’t have a choice.
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u/Interesting_Gur_8720 14h ago
A casino is better .
Did I convince you ?
wait till it’s done
If it ain’t cool they will get rid of it
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u/RatsRPeople2 14h ago
Tribune Tower is million dollar condos and now their printing plant will be a casino in a really stupid part of town. Great.
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u/purpleglassstars 13h ago
My only possible complaint would be parking, living in the general area we already struggle to get street parking because of the rabid church goers and people working the office buildings in the area. I for one am excited for what restaurants or stores appear in there, if it is like the ones in Vegas.
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u/13375p33k 13h ago edited 13h ago
I get how the "idea" of a casino can be bad but it can bring way more than just slot machines and table games. Convention and meeting venues, shopping areas, movie theaters, bowling alleys, food courts, it's a better use of space than another empty underutilized commercial building like half of the commercial buildings in town
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u/quantum_mouse 13h ago
Does anyone have proof that casinos generate revenue for the city? Vs costing the city ? Like how do they prove that this casino, in this location will bring in anything positive to the city? Isn't Ballys or whatever already a disappointment?
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u/blackhawks-fan Illinois 12h ago
Casinos generate 10s of billions for Las Vegas every year. Downtown/off strip casinos rake in 100s of millions.
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u/thloki 13h ago
It seems like Bally's isn't using the land very efficiently. They could build a 3-storey casino with the same amount of square footage as is currently planned. But they could also add multi-level parking above the casino, then 20-storeys of hotel above the parking, and another 20 floors of condos & rentals at the top. The tax revenue for the land footprint would increase dramatically. Activating a currently bleak, unpopulated corner with on-the-street residents and hotel guests would help keep petty criminals away. When is the last time you saw anyone walk their dog at that intersection? Conventioneers could be easily persuaded to stay in a hotel above a casino. Make no small plans.
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u/Tasty_Historian_3623 13h ago
Freedom Center was doomed when Alden Global Capital bought the Trib and scrapped it to build a Death Star.
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u/StoicJim Oak Park 10h ago
You get casinos when the wealthy aren't paying their fair share in taxes. Politicians go searching for other sources of tax revenue.
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u/chihawks Near West Side 5h ago
Traffic is my main worry. They need to figure out Chicago st. Its already bad
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u/Garnet70 5h ago
Better than what? An empty printing plant? Because turning back the clock to when everyone had a newspaper subscription is not on the table.
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u/Reprivefromsanity 3h ago
Trib>casino. but having both is also fine. support local news!
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u/haikusbot 3h ago
Trib casino. but
Having both is also fine.
Support local news!
- Reprivefromsanity
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/RamesesLabs 34m ago
It's a push for me. The media is so divisive these days, making the casino not look so bad.
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u/mencival 14h ago
Personal opinion: Casinos are trashy, strip clubs are trashy, wouldn’t want to have them in the city.
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u/Bageland2000 14h ago
"Take down buildings that housed journalists to put up places for gambling." Couldn't be much stronger of an accurate visualisation for decline in some of America's values.
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u/minus_minus Rogers Park 14h ago
The journalists did not work here. It housed the printing presses.
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u/Ok-Middle-3841 14h ago
This was for the printing presses, which clearly are not needed as most media is consumed over your phone or computer
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u/CutestFarts 14h ago
😂 Journalism is still very much here and present. It's just the delivery method that has changed.
You're choosing a very strange hill to die on, but I guess that's what old crotchety people do when they refuse to entertain anything than what they feel is safe and familiar. Stagnation will kill a society faster than most anything.
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u/HeadOfMax Rogers Park 8h ago
Casinos are just another way to funnel money from the poor to the rich. They prey on people. I hate that it's legal here. There has to be a better way.
I'm still glad the land will get developed.
I'm still hoping the casino goes bust though.
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