Baltimore's Urbanite Magazine takes a look at the casino issue and how they have helped and hindered development in Detroit.
Excerpt:
Financially, the move has paid off handsomely. With an $800 million MGM
Grand Hotel and Casino and a new MotorCity Casino (built in a former
Wonder Bread plant) both opening recently, Detroit’s take from the
tables is growing: Last year, the three casinos brought in $1.3
billion, with $160 million in taxes going to the city and the state
each. Things look even brighter this year.
“We’ve been able to pour $42.5 million into a small business
development fund, so that we can get things moving in other parts of
the city, through gambling revenue,” says James Canning, deputy press
secretary to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Casino money has been used
to seed a “micro-enterprise loan fund” and to supplement basic city
services, including paying for more public safety efforts in a city
that surpassed even Baltimore with its 2006 murder rate. Canning adds
that the liquid nature of the city’s casino cut—the city receives its
share daily at 3 p.m.—makes it especially attractive. “It’s regular as
rain,” he says.
Read the entire article
here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.