New AC casino on the way?
- Thread starter Percy
- Start date
kewljason
Well-Known Member
I just don't see it happening that way. The fact is that AC's piece of the pie is much smaller than it was an will continue to shrink as even a few more locations within a days drive, like Ohio and Maryland prepare to add gambling. AC is not a destination type place like Vegas, that folks want to go for a week. Beside gambling it has little to offer. The beaches are dirty and almost not existent. At all but the lowest tide, the water comes nearly up to the boardwalk. The boardwalk is in a state of disrepair. Needs a complete overhaul. The stores on the boardwalk are very low end basically dollar stores, massage parlors and pizza joints. The homeless are running rampant and if you venture anywhere off the casino strip, you are in trouble. The only thing they have done a decent job with is the outlet stores shopping district. That is pretty nice, but really, does anyone get on a plane and fly hundreds of miles to go to outlets stores? :laugh:Percy said:
The way I see it if a high end place, like Revel is supposed to be, is completed, it will just suck customers away from the existing higher end places in AC like Borg, Taj and Caesars.
ArcticInferno
Well-Known Member
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
We're in deep recession and everyone needs jobs.
I hope Revel gets completed very soon, so I’ll have yet another playing field. LOL!
I hope they build another casino in Philadelphia to compete with Sugarhouse.
If Yonkers Raceway can offer table games, I would be one happy camper.
The more the merrier.
We're in deep recession and everyone needs jobs.
I hope Revel gets completed very soon, so I’ll have yet another playing field. LOL!
I hope they build another casino in Philadelphia to compete with Sugarhouse.
If Yonkers Raceway can offer table games, I would be one happy camper.
The more the merrier.
aslan
Well-Known Member
You nailed it. AC is not a vacation destination. I would not want my family lounging on the beach in it's present condition and proximity to certain dangers. Until they clean up the city, and that means, creating a totally safe environment that spreads a few blocks in every direction of the casinos, and clean up the beaches, it will go nowhere.kewljason said:
In addition, AC is not a "real" city like Las Vegas. It's small. It does not have a culture away from the casinos that visitors can enjoy-- restaurants, shopping centers, local industries (Ethel M comes to mind), sights, golfing, amusement parks, theaters, museums, etc.
Like you said, it did the outlet section well. When I bring my wife, she spends the day there. After that, she is bored to tears and wants to return home. OTOH, in Las Vegas, she is always disappointed that our 10-day vacation is over. They are like night and day.
Whoever builds the first Las Vegas on the east coast will have a goldmine. I'm thinking Florida would be ideal, both weather-wise, and it's proximity to already established vacation attractions. But Florida does not seem to be moving in that direction, or am I wrong?
Automatic Monkey
Banned
Unfortunately I'm not aware of many casino venues that are really safe, are you? It's not obvious on its surface but Las Vegas is as dangerous as hell. Biloxi is bad, Reno is bad, the only major venues I've been to that I would consider safe neighborhoods would be Laughlin and Wendover.aslan said:
Overall I'd rate Atlantic City as average, for destinations with casinos. Check out Shreveport sometime, you'll wish you were back in AC! The beach could be worse, the accommodations and food are acceptable, there is shopping, there are legitimate acts at the casinos.
What would be nice to see is the states getting away from that silly "riverboat" business and put casinos in pleasant destinations like Memphis or Asheville. Or perhaps send the Orioles down to San Juan and replace them with casinos in Baltimore.
aslan
Well-Known Member
You're judging from your own above-average experience, not the public's general perception. Few people probably ever get far from the strip in Vegas, and when they do it is by car, in buses, or in large groups. The general perception by travelers to Vegas is that it is a great vacation destination, with lots of fun things to do, and a safe enough environment. When they walk between casinos it is with a throng of other vacationers. That is not the public's general perception of AC. If you stay at the finest in AC, which my ploppy friends unanimously declare is the Borgata, you are pretty much confined to the premises. You are isolated from the beachfront casinos where walking is the preferred mode of transportation. It is definitely not a family place, although not bad for a couple for a night or two, although my wife, not being a night-clubber, is bored by day two.Automatic Monkey said:
The boardwalk casinos are much more appealing to the family, only the beach is not so hot, and off the boardwalk, the surrounding environment does not "feel" as safe as walking across the street on the Vegas strip-- of course there, both sides of the street are filled with casinos, fun shops (like M&M), any-priced foods, and amusements, amidst elbow-to-elbow crowds of people. AC just doesn't get there, and they have not tried that hard to make it get there. Ideally, the casinos should own both sides of the street, but they don't. The buffer zone afforded by the casino properties themselves in Las Vegas is an important feature. The only feel-safe walking areas in AC are the outlet area and the boardwalk when there are crowds of people.
The real case for Las Vegas is that people continue to flock there for vacations (and conventions), singles, couples, groups, and families. They do not flock to AC with the same enthusiasm and for the same week and two-week vacations.
One last thing. Nearly everyone knows someone who lives in Vegas. Las Vegas is similar in most features to other middle-sized cities throughout the US. If you drive away from the strip, there are many, many neighborhoods where you would feel right at home. The same is not true of AC. Vegas has it's bad parts; AC seems to have only bad parts.
No other US casino spot that I have visited comes even close to Vegas. It's the only place I can take my wife and leave her to her own devices. From shopping to friends, to various things to do, she loves her Vegas vacation, while I peacefully visit the tables at any number of fine casinos.
I truly wish AC had the vision of what it could be, but it seems fragmented and disjointed, unable to put its best foot forward. The city seems too poor itself to contribute much to the overall dynamic. Just cleaning up the beach and rezoning the surrounding area would go a long way. AC needs a large buffer zone, more so than even Vegas, between the casinos and the rest of the city. Maybe Newark, New Jersey, can provide some guidelines-- businessmen can move safely around the city via connections between buildings. The streets are dangerous (has that changed since the 1980's?), but no one has to set foot on them.
Tarzan
Banned
Ac
Aslan and Jason are right about Atlantic City... there are nooks and crannies of this place that you DON'T want to accidentally wander into. The number of riff-raff wandering about up to no good are damn near as plentiful as the casino patrons! I've talked about this at length before. Be there everyday and you can see some amazing things with regard to all that. It's hard to go onto the boardwalk without getting panhandled, approached by various scammers and hustlers, etc. but that's nothing compared to actual organized teams of the local "housing project critters" looking for various crimes of opportunity that are roaming about. It's a real zoo that draws not only gamblers with money on them but an array of others that will prey upon them every bit as much as the casinos will, maybe more so.
Aslan and Jason are right about Atlantic City... there are nooks and crannies of this place that you DON'T want to accidentally wander into. The number of riff-raff wandering about up to no good are damn near as plentiful as the casino patrons! I've talked about this at length before. Be there everyday and you can see some amazing things with regard to all that. It's hard to go onto the boardwalk without getting panhandled, approached by various scammers and hustlers, etc. but that's nothing compared to actual organized teams of the local "housing project critters" looking for various crimes of opportunity that are roaming about. It's a real zoo that draws not only gamblers with money on them but an array of others that will prey upon them every bit as much as the casinos will, maybe more so.
Automatic Monkey
Banned
Straight burglars are nothing like robbers. A burglar doesn't have a weapon and avoids confrontation at all costs (or else he is a home invader, the worst of the worst.) Someone who is willing to do violent crime against a person to feed his habit is desperate, probably demented and has to be considered extremely dangerous.aslan said:
A few years ago when the adulterated heroin was going around in AC you could see people walking around the streets with neurological symptoms, like zombies. Detroit had the same problem and I'm sure a lot of other cities. These are people for whom death would be a relief, and they don't respond to fear or pain like a normal person would so any contact with them at all is going to end up badly for one or both of you.
Tarzan
Banned
State funding
I heard something about the state of New Jersey funding this casino project! This is pretty darn amazing since the state of NJ, having the highest cost of living anywhere, the highest taxes, etc., doesn't have the funds to pay pensions of state employees that retired 20 years ago and is flat broke or in the hole for a bundle has "plenty-o-cash" to pour into a casino project! Simply gouge the already over-burdened taxpayers a bit more and BINGO! Blank check sky is the limit because someone else is paying for this other than me attitude prevails! This is the beauty of a completely irresponsible and corrupt state Government... we can have a new casino!!!!
I heard something about the state of New Jersey funding this casino project! This is pretty darn amazing since the state of NJ, having the highest cost of living anywhere, the highest taxes, etc., doesn't have the funds to pay pensions of state employees that retired 20 years ago and is flat broke or in the hole for a bundle has "plenty-o-cash" to pour into a casino project! Simply gouge the already over-burdened taxpayers a bit more and BINGO! Blank check sky is the limit because someone else is paying for this other than me attitude prevails! This is the beauty of a completely irresponsible and corrupt state Government... we can have a new casino!!!!
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Bojack.......luck...?????? Naw....just a finely honed skill of the trade.... My safety is a number one concern for me and others under my responsibility... AC was horrible a dozen years ago and still is....Bojack1 said:
I took my wife there many moons ago......First thing i told her on the boardwalk was....NO EYE CONTACT.....lol.....she did and well you know what happened...
I had to briskly walk her away and read her the riot act......From then on no more eye contact from her ...lol....
Machinist
aslan
Well-Known Member
One of my first trips to the Bronx back in the early 80's, I was walking down the street when the fellow walking toward me suddenly just stopped and stood there in the middle of the busy sidewalk with his eyes closed.Automatic Monkey said:
Being a suburbanite most of my life I thought he might me ill, epileptic or something. He just stood there; minutes passed. Then someone assured me that he was just nodding off from heroin.