Large casinos will be coming to Philadelphia in the next two years, but will they be good for the city?
A panel led by Management professor Bernard Anderson and Center City District Director Paul Levy, two of the chairs of the Philadelphia Gaming Advisory Taskforce, attempted to answer this question in front of about 20 students and Philadelphia residents on Tuesday.
Philadelphia Mayor John Street formed the task force to provide advice on the development of casinos in the city.
Levy began the discussion by explaining the context of gambling in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania government recently approved plans for slots-only gaming facilities around the state, two of which will be built in Philadelphia. These facilities will hold between 3,000 and 5,000 slot machines. By comparison, Foxwoods Resort Casino, the largest resort casino in the world, has 7,400 slot machines.
Levy discussed why the state government mandated such large facilities.
"The state law was built around tax-revenue maximization," Levy said.
Tax revenue from the casinos will be used to reduce property taxes around Pennsylvania and the wage tax in Philadelphia.
But such large, slots-only casinos may not be the best format for the city.
Although he says the facilities will generate revenue and promote economic development, Levy would have preferred to see smaller slot venues integrated into downtown entertainment facilities.
"Everyone wants the benefits of casinos, but no one wants them in their backyard," Levy said, adding that there will be significant community opposition to most proposed sites.
He proposed the alternative of integrating "500 slots in a hotel," which would be a "very interesting strategy for Center City."
Hilary Langer, who lives in North Philadelphia near a proposed gaming site, agreed with Levy.
"It would be a great thing to have smaller [casinos] buried in mixed-use developments," Langer said.
"Four thousand cars driving into a neighborhood every day" means that "there will be tremendous community opposition to the traffic."
Levy is also worried that the slots-only casinos will draw too many people from the area and not enough travelers.
"I'd rather have people from Kansas losing their money here," he said.
According to a study conducted by a consulting firm, only about 5.5 percent of visits will be overnight stays, meaning most of the business will come from the surrounding area. Some attendees voiced concern that the slots would simply take money away from other forms of gaming, such as the lottery.
Anderson primarily discussed the potential economic impact of gaming in Philadelphia, from the creation of jobs and the positive effect of casinos on surrounding restaurants, bars and retail outlets to wage-tax relief and the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Casinos are the "single-most important factor to affect Philadelphia's economy in the past half-century," he said. "It's just that important."
