Encore Boston Harbor Casino | 1 Broadway | Everett

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I love this picture because it reminds me of playing Sim City 2000

The Casino brings in tax revenue but tons of crime, so you build it next to your coal factory, dump, and industrial zone. The windmill is a remnant of your very first power plant when you started the map.
 
The dog in the foreground is waiting for Popeye to arrive. Hah!!
 
Do Casinos really bring tons of crime? I keep hearing this said here, but never see any linked studies or statistics.. Im curious to see if theres truth to this perception.
 
Based on reading a couple abstracts, no...but its mixed:

- "Increased casino activity reduces crime rates except for burglary, where crime rates rise after a lag" (Reece 2009: Casinos, Hotels, and Crime)

- "The analysis yielded few consistent findings across the test and control
communities. Crime rates increased significantly in some casino communities, some remained relatively stable, and others decreased. The authors conclude that crime does not inevitably increase with the introduction of a casino into a community, but that the effects of casinos on crime appear to be related to a variety of variables which are only poorly understood" (Stitt et al. 2003: Does the Presence of Casinos Increase Crime?).

But there's also this from WaPo:
"But the casinos also lead to a plethora of social ills, including increased substance abuse, mental illness and suicide, violent crime, auto theft and larceny, and bankruptcy. The latter three all increased by 10 percent in communities that allowed gambling.
Other work backs up the crime finding. The Baylor's Earl Grinols, University of Georgia's David Mustard, and the University of Illinois' Cynthia Dilley found that 8 percent of crime in counties with casinos was attributable to their presence, a crime increase that cost residents, on average, $65 a year" (Matthews 2012)

I suspect an initial (probably small) increase in crime may occur, but probably level off and decrease after a period of time. The findings overall are so mixed, so it will be a good opportunity to see before/after effects of crime.
 
I would guess that there is a correlation with the type of the casino. A high end (i.e. Encore casino) is less likely to come with the negative effects of a low end venue.
 
stick n move said:
Do Casinos really bring tons of crime? I keep hearing this said here, but never see any linked studies or statistics.. Im curious to see if theres truth to this perception.
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chmeeee said:
I would guess that there is a correlation with the type of the casino. A high end (i.e. Encore casino) is less likely to come with the negative effects of a low end venue.
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Agreed with chmeeee. It's important to also take into consideration the casino's role in the overall economy and industrial diversification landscape.

By most metrics, Greater Boston's economy as a whole is booming. The growth is apparent across high-skill industries like education, healthcare, life sciences, technology, government, and legal/financial administration. And these highly-paid, highly-educated workers bring a lot to the region, which is a good thing.

The reality is that a large share of the existing population do not have skills for these different industries. And a lot of them are never going to go back to school... and that's totally okay. These people, however, are most vulnerable to social ills like poverty, crime, and lack of access to goods/services than more upwardly mobile residents. As a result, it is an economic imperative that Greater Boston continue to present job opportunities that don't require a college degree and are entry level.

The 5,000+ jobs Encore Boston Harbor will infuse for entry-level workers is regionally significant in a positive way. As a region recognized for having one of the highest levels of dispensable income per capita on the globe, the resort demonstrates a savvy opportunity for dollars that would otherwise go to Vegas or Macau to instead be reinvested locally/regionally. And when buying power can be more equitably shared across the region (i.e. putting earned dollars into the wallets of entry-level or new-to-the-labor-force workers), I think that will have a meaningful impact on reducing crime.
 
My guess also would be that it would depend a whole lot on location. Im sure Casinos like Foxwoods being out in the middle of the woods of Connecticut, where there was probably no crime at all before, Im sure will see more just due to the fact that huge numbers of people are passing through now, where before it was just a small town.

I think somewhere like Everett/Boston where millions of people from all walks of life already pass through anyways, Im sure it wont be much different. Plus the community, police, businesses etc are all more prepared and used to dealing with low level crime, by virtue of being in the city, as compared to some of these other places that casinos pop up.

Id be surprised to see if in the city theres really a change at all, because millions of all different people already pass through anyways, and for the most part the people who attend casinos are regular people, theyre not “casino people”. Id bet it has more to do with the amount of people now passing through these small towns, than the fact that its a casino.
 
Well according to our friend Rifleman, Encore will mean only the highest quality of hookers that money can buy.
 
This casino is going to be wildly successful. It is the only Vegas styled and scaled casino in the country outside Las Vegas, or in a city that you would like to visit, that is. The Encore is 10 minutes from Logan, 10 minutes from downtown, and 15 minutes from the Seaport District, where all the super rich Chinese are focusing now from their new big pharma Chinese satellite offices. They love gambling, as I've seen half the Venetian in Vegas occupied by Chinese.
 
I think so too. You dont see another city with something similar, where a top Vegas casino has been plucked from off the strip and dropped 10 minutes away from one of the major American cities. Im not a gambler, but just the addition of more “night life” to Boston is great. The Wynn is one of the premier resort casinos in Vegas, so to be able to get that experience without having to go all the way to Vegas should be a huge draw.
 
Reserving my opinion on casinos in general or this one in particular, but there is an MGM in National Harbor and it has more of a landscraper form but it does have actual entertainment venues like the kind we've been stiffed here. It's brand new and shiny and does all the things you're talking about, if that's your sort of thing. It's a little farther from the downtown core but right across from Old Town Alexandria. Why do we do this weird thing where we say "Boston is the ONLY place you're gonna get this"?
 
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stick n move said:
Do Casinos really bring tons of crime? I keep hearing this said here, but never see any linked studies or statistics.. Im curious to see if theres truth to this perception.
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I was just referring to Sim City 2000, where it does.
 
stick n move said:
Id be surprised to see if in the city theres really a change at all, because millions of all different people already pass through anyways, and for the most part the people who attend casinos are regular people, theyre not “casino people”.
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The preferred nomenclature for 'casino people' is 'compulsive gamblers'.

And they often commit crimes to finance their gambling. And yes, much of that crime happens 'somewhere else'.

Full disclosure: I know whereof i speak...
 
cca said:
All my urban design education was done through all the version of Simcity. Formative.

cca
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The good news is, the 9-9-9 tax policy you learn on there might get you a seat at the federal bank!
 
WHEN THE CASINO OPENS
We have learned that casino officials believe as many as 50,000 people will attend a series of opening ceremonies and parties when the casino finally opens. The 50,000 figure may be low.

The opening crowds could number as many as a 100,000 people.

Mind you, that does not mean it is 50K-100K people all at once, but rather, over three days.
Those are big numbers that stretch the imagination.
Many residents wonder if the city can survive such an onslaught of crowds with Wards 1 and 2 and the Lynde being inundated with traffic to the point of saturation, to over saturation, to literally drowning in traffic and hordes of people?

We know the city will survive. The question is, what becomes of the place if those type huge crowds materialize?

Traffic will stop. Traffic will be backed up. All the parking lots will be full and the crowds arriving will part of an overflow.

What to do?

We won’t know the answer to that until the opening. Failure is not an option.

Success is what the opening should be all about.

Just how big a success it will be is the ultimate question.

How the city deals with the crowds- well, this is a matter to be dealt with as it occurs.

A casino without crowds in this city will be like a casino without people.

We are predicting huge crowds, temporary parking and traffic issues of a great magnitude.

In the end, everything will be worked out.
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https://everettleader.com/2019/04/11/when-the-casino-opens/#more-5354

Wow!!! They are talking 100,000 people just for the casino opener.
 
That might be the worst-written thing I've ever seen linked here, do they have kids from the Parlin covering the development beat?
 
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