Is a casino in the city a good or bad thing?
We read in the local evening paper last night that a firm is seeking planning permission to open a casino in the east end of the city. This announcement is bound to cause controversy, and everyone is already examining the pros and cons.
My grandmother, who lives in that part of the city, is very much against having a casino there. She says that it will have a deleterious effect on the neighbourhood. That area of the city is quite a quiet area and my grandmother says that people going to the casino will make a great deal of noise and disturb the local residents. She points out that gambling establishments are open late at night and that they usually supply alcohol to the clients.
My grandmother is also concerned that clients of the casino will bring their cars to the area. Not only will these cars cause a lot of noise when they leave in the early hours of the morning, but they will add greatly to the already difficult parking problem. The casino will not provide private parking for its clients.
We live on the other side of the city, but my mother is also protesting against the casino, although her reasons are very different from those of my grandmother. My mother’s concern is that the casino will encourage gambling addiction.
My mother has personal experience of what can happen to someone who becomes addicted to gambling. One of her best friends from her student days, Jack, became a gambling addict a few years after leaving university. He had started in a very small way, placing the odd bet on a horse and taking part in a few poker games. Gradually, however, his love of gambling took over his life.
Despite going for counselling, he failed to give up his addiction. He was spending a great deal of money on his addiction and he was declared a bankrupt. His wife could not put up with his addiction anymore and left the city to go and live with her family at the other side of the country. Jack became depressed and took his own life.
This is a particularly tragic case, but my mother says that the effects of gambling addiction on families are much greater than people realize. She feels that the last thing society should be doing is making gambling more accessible and more attractive.
Both my mother and my grandmother intend to join the protest movement against the casino, but several people whom I know are in favour of it. Some of them feel that a casino will make that area of the city livelier. It used to be an area with good restaurants and shops, but in recent years, a great many of these have closed down, partly because of the closure of a large factory and office complex.
The hopes of the supporters of the casino scheme are that the presence of the casino will help to regenerate the area. They hope that clients of the casino will want to use restaurants and shops near to the casino, and that restaurateurs and shop owners will respond to this need.
Other supporters of the casino point out that it will create new jobs. It is likely to be a substantial gambling establishment, and will employ a range of people as well as croupiers, including catering, administrative and security staff.
It will be some time before we know if the casino will be given planning permission. Meanwhile, it remains a very controversial issue in the city.
