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Philly Chinatown to Casinos: Take a Hike

It seems like only yesterday that communities across the United States were clamoring for casinos, anxious for the boost in employment and tax revenue that they seemed to promise. Today, it's a different story. In the latest case of NIMBY (not in my backyard), state and city officials are pushing for a 3,000-slot-machine casino to be built at the edge of Philadelphia's small but vibrant Chinatown area, a move that has many residents hopping mad. The developers of Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia say that the project would revitalize a long-neglected area a half block south of Chinatown, helping rather than hurting local businesses. Opponents of the casino, however, fear that having a gambling den so close to home would exacerbate the problem of compulsive gambling, which has caused great damage in the Asian-American community in recent years. The Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, for example, estimated that nearly a third of its 40,000 daily customers were Asian, a far higher ratio than seen in the general population. We're not opposed to casinos on moral grounds - people are free to do dumb things with their money if they like - but we do feel like they put up a bit of a false front. Take any casino in Atlantic City, for example. Based on the advertisements, you'd expect to see James Bond wearing a tuxedo and playing baccarat. What you get instead are obese guys wearing sweatpants and oxygen tank-toting grannies on Rascal scooters feeding quarters into slot machines until their eyes glaze over. It's not a pretty picture. But things aren't looking good for Chinatown, as the City Council recently dedicated the area an entertainment district, paving the way for construction to begin. Until it's built, though, residents can always gamble away their life savings in the stock market.

[Photo: gamblingplanet.org]

Related Stories:
· Philadelphia's Chinatown Seeks to Keep Out Casino [AP/Yahoo! News]
· Philly Chinatown [semi-official site]
· Rascal Scooters [official site]
· Casino Coverage [Jaunted]