MA Casino Developments

We need casino revenue to support the culture of corruption we are now importing the slew of new Chicago carpetbaggers inbound.

I say we locate the new Casino in Wellesley and a centralized gambling addiction treatment center in Weston. All the warm and fuzzy caring do-good preachy know it alls should enjoy being close the little people.
 
Hey, maybe we'll create a new casino mogul who can try his luck at buying the next presidential election. Adelson came up snakeyes.
 
Breaking: Holyoke Mayor Alex "Flippity Flop" Morse just changed his mind again; no casino in Holyoke.
 
Seems like it would be pretty easy to avoid putting the building on that sliver of land, and have that just be landscaping, or parking, or whatever.
 
Ron Newman said:
Seems like it would be pretty easy to avoid putting the building on that sliver of land, and have that just be landscaping, or parking, or whatever.
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This.

It is silly to think that this little detail would break the project...



Also, I thought the property the MWRA pump and windmill were on was the only property on that side of the Mystic which was Boston... weird.
 
The casino should go in that super wide median section of 128 where I think there's a prison now. Has that been proposed already? That or attached to the convention center are the only places in the Boston area I think a casino could go. I think in terms of transportation and having minimal inpact on a neighborhood, those are the best places.
 
aaaaaa said:
I've been traveling to Everett for work recently, so I asked a couple locals what they thought of the project. They were for it for all the reasons you would expect such as an increase in tax revenue. What was most interesting was that they expressed a sentiment of being left behind. They mentioned new investment and development in Somerville, Chelsea, and Medford as examples of neighboring communities improving while Everett stagnates. They believe, perhaps incorrectly, that a casino will help make Everett thrive again, and bring desirable retail to their city.

Obviously this in no way a representative sample (it's anecdotal; n=2). Does anyone else have a better feeling of how Everett residents are, well, feeling about this project?

P.S. Comparing Boston to Singapore is ridiculous. We're much more akin to an American city with a casino than an authoritarian capitalist country where you can be arrested for jaywalking, littering, or spitting.
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Everett being left behind? Everett should have more money than Somerville, Medford and chelsea combined with the amount of industry that is the focal point in Everett.

Mellon Bank
Majority of Produce Corporations
Boston Edison (I think this is Everett)
Oil Storage Tankers
Teddy Peanut Butter
Boston Coach
Cumar Marble Corp

GE & Monsanto, Duncan Industries, used to be located in Everett.

Lots of Drugs running out of Everett. The problem with Everett is TRAFFIC. There is no easy access around the city without a bus or car. Wellington Circle Orange Line is the main destination for Everett which makes it more difficult to get in and out of the main district because the line is not centralized into the center. (like Malden)

I actually believe Malden Center will advance faster than Everett in the future because of Malden station.

But overall Everett has more corporations than Chelsea, Medford, Somerville, Malden.

Maybe they should look into why their city finances are so poorly mismanged. I think Muni-Pensions are starting to catch up with reality.

The real reason Somerville & Medford have changed to become a very desirable location is because of the colleges.

Chelsea, Everett, Malden continue to struggle, I'm not sure what-happens in the future. Malden Downtown might be the one to bet on over all of them because of the orange line centralization
 
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^I think transit is the main point you make and with which I agree. The area around mass transit will only improve, and I think this is the reason for Somerville's success, not the colleges. While the colleges add something to the vibe of the area, the fact that porter and davis are of of the first major residential areas after the Harvard- Kendall is what is propelling them now. There are a lot of labs going up in Kendall means you have a lot of relatively young, well paid people that want to live close to work and urban amenities. That's why i moved there.
 
And even when the Orange Line ran to 'Everett' before 1975, it really didn't -- it ended in the nowheresville around Mike's Donuts.
 
aaaaaa said:
I've been traveling to Everett for work recently, so I asked a couple locals what they thought of the project. They were for it for all the reasons you would expect such as an increase in tax revenue. What was most interesting was that they expressed a sentiment of being left behind. They mentioned new investment and development in Somerville, Chelsea, and Medford as examples of neighboring communities improving while Everett stagnates. They believe, perhaps incorrectly, that a casino will help make Everett thrive again, and bring desirable retail to their city.
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It should surprise no one that these sentiments are also prevalent in East Boston, Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop. Business-owners believe they'll profit, home-owners imagine lower taxes, and higher property values, despite empirical evidence to the contrary in other communities that have chosen to accept a casino as a new neighbor. I'll share a peer-reviewed article on negative impacts to a small business owner, and they'll insist with all the fervency that a devout Catholic would have in the infallibility of the Pope that "it'll be different here."

This is the game. These beliefs come from someplace. They come from glossy marketing materials and the not-so-silent advocacy of elected officials.
 
choo said:
^I think transit is the main point you make and with which I agree. The area around mass transit will only improve, and I think this is the reason for Somerville's success, not the colleges. While the colleges add something to the vibe of the area, the fact that porter and davis are of of the first major residential areas after the Harvard- Kendall is what is propelling them now. There are a lot of labs going up in Kendall means you have a lot of relatively young, well paid people that want to live close to work and urban amenities. That's why i moved there.
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If Transit was the key to 100% Somerville Success than Malden Station & Quincy center should be booming. The reality is the Colleges are the key for Somerville and Medford which is in a similar transit situation as Everett. I have mixed feelings about Medford but overall its a desirable location to live.


aaaaaa said:
^^ Rifleman: Your points are well taken, but your post does not really answer, or even attempt to answer my question. I think we can all agree that human sentiment is not necessarily driven by logic, or facts. Also, Wellington Station is not in Everett so of course it's not well situated in the city center.
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My point is Everett had a ton of investments they actually have more industry than the cities you posted about missing out on investment opportunities that is my logic of my post. Everett is gone down socially over the past 15 years. The parks look like shit and the entire area looks depressing. Everett has two things going for it.

#1 Everett High School Football Team
#2 Still only 15mins from Boston

A casino in Everett will destroy whats left of the community.

Everett is a perfect example of Muni-Pensions sucking the life out of city resources.
 
I think Quincy and Malden will see their time come. I will give you that Somerville has gone first with the growth of Kendall and Harvard over the past 15 years by virtue of proximity. For that same reason, Southie has boomed. Just now you are starting to see it fan even further out towards quincy center.

So yes, the colleges have helped greatly, and they have enormous positive externalities throughout the region. But you always cite that as a bad thing. Like without them we would be Detroit. But fortunately, Massachusetts has a long standing history of education and because of that we are blessed to have the smartest minds in the world pass through at some point in their lives.
 
Everett is gone down socially over the past 15 years
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I'm wondering if what you really mean is: Everett has become an immigration destination. (And not for the first time, either.)
 
Ron Newman said:
I'm wondering if what you really mean is: Everett has become an immigration destination. (And not for the first time, either.)
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#1 A couple of factors play into Everett. Part of the issue is an immigration destination which is not a bad thing. But for some reason the immigrants going into Everett doesn't seem to have the community presence as its past immigrants that located to this part of the city. The real problem is the illegal immigrants coming to the city which also bleed the city resources between school care and healthcare.

#2 Alot of Crime & Drugs are coming out of Everett. Lots of single mothers, A ton of Transplants that just live in Everett for a couple of years for school or cheap rent. Lots of absentee Landords that could care-less about their mult-unit homes.

#3 Nothing desirable will keep you in Everett unless you are looking for cheap rent to substitute the surroundings areas like Somerville, Medford, Malden.

I'm not sure what happens to Everett in the future. If you think a casino is the answer after what i just posted, The transformation of Everett will make Shirley Ave look like Disney Land. (for the people that don't know Shirely Ave in Revere pretty dangerous place back in the day.)
 
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Riff,
Agreed that a Casino could be bad news for Everett, but I'm sure there are a lot of reasons why Everett finds itself in the state that it is in now. Perhaps Muni-Pensions, colleges and transit alone do not account for the differences in the current conditions of places like Medford and Everett. I certainly wouldn't have considered Everett and Medford a perfect comparison 15 years ago, and I don't think they've each simply moved in opposite directions since then.

As for this abundance of industry that you site, perhaps it doesn't have the positive impact you're suggesting it should. More industry may mean more taxes for the city, but there are other consequences that these industries bring. Consider Chelsea. Live there for a couple of years and they'll reimburse your taxes just to provide incentive for you to stay. You could take these corporate tax dollars and pave the streets in gold, but you still might not want to raise kids here. Live there or in East Boston and the tolls are ~10% of what everyone else pays. Why? I assume it's the pay-off for having to breathe jet fuel and the giant tail pipe that is the Tobin tolls. Not to mention a power plant, massive salt pile and all of the other heavy industries that bring toxic fumes and an endless parade of box trucks and 16 wheelers. Perhaps immigrants don't bring these neighborhoods down as much as these neighborhoods are down already, and that's how immigrants can afford to live there.

Lastly, if Everett were to have a renaissance of sorts, it would have to do so completely internally and independently. It’s not like it’s going to benefit from a neighboring community the way Somerville has benefited from the success of Cambridge. In Medford’s case, where it is seen as being most desirable to many, it shares borders with Arlington, Winchester and the Fells Conservation. Everett on the other hand is sandwiched in between Chelsea, Malden, Revere and Sullivan Square. It is inundated and surrounded by locations many people just don't want to be near.
 
Nico,

Great response, I think immigrants are the solution and I really believe overtime E.Boston, Malden, Revere have shots to come around I'm not sure about Everett or Chelsea. I think your right about internally. The leadership and community aspects need to come back and look for the best interests of the taxpayers.

Somerville, Cambridge, parts of Medford seemed to have changed as more of out of towners,4 year or grad student live in these areas. So I would say the community is changed in those areas. I would these communities are less family at this point, 4 years in 4 years out.

I figured out why a casino really posts a serious problem for a working class inner city. the reality of a casino is false hope to the community. The majority of the children that grow up in these areas will only focus their energy on the casino instead of following their dreams or going for more continuing education. (like college) A casino just leads a community down a hole of false hope with humanity real dark traits like drugs and prostituion can follow. This is why surrounding areas go to shit. I'm not saying a casino is evil, I'm saying that when your trying to bring up a family in a inner city gambling is probably one of the worst problems a teenager can get themselves in. A casino defintely is setting failure off the start to our children. They will lose and that will lead to more negativity in their lives like a domino affect, drugs or anyway other desperate way to make money.

This is my opinion.
 
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I have to say, the Big E Fairgrounds does kinda make sense for a casino... Far enough away to not have to deal with the problems of an urban casino, but at an area where alot of people go each year. Plus it will give the fairgrounds more of a purpose during the rest of the year.
 
but would that mean the end of the Big E event, or having to build a new fairgrounds somewhere else?
 
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