My ex-daughter in law worked in one in Iowa and the working class people there were thrilled with the casinos in their area. She made very good money, had union representation, and everyone I met out there felt the casinos had changed the economic situation for the better. I know the old argument about sin and addiction and all, but in a state that sells booze and taxes cigarettes to pay for schools, it seems a bit odd to target gambling as an evil we can't have in our community..

It's an issue of convenience for out of town conventioneers, especially for a downtown location. I go to about 6-10 conferences a year, and if it's downtown, I usually cab it from the airport and stay at the "convention" hotel. Cheaper, easier, no parking hassle, and I get to explore the downtown .

So, if my hotel is, say, the Hilton, two blocks away, and I have to lug my laptop, papers, and cross six lanes of Henley street at 8:40 am, that's a major downside. The staff planning a convention/conference might pick another city with a safer/better location, or a hotel more connected to the convention center.

Aside from the Henley crossing, the Hilton location really isn't bad. A second pedestrian bridge at Church Ave, and working more closely with the Hilton people might have been a cheaper alternative. Yes, there is the existing walkway, but us conventioneers are pretty clueless when out of our element, and tend to take the shortest path between two points.

I will also add that I can't remember the Hilton hotel's capacity in relation to an ideal out-of-town convention size for the CC. It might very well be that the issue is not enough rooms at the Hilton. I seem to remember having read that somewhere.

Working with the Hilton to bribe potential planners with shuttle service to the Old City/Market Square would be a good thing, too.

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Fighting for Reform and Representation, Fourth District
Steve Drevik, Commission Seat 4-B
http://www.reform4.com

There's gotta be a loophole somewhere we're not seeing.

How about special tax breaks for infinity?

Maybe you and Brian were joking. (I hope)?

Yes, I was joking, I think. You look at casinos elsewhere, though, and there is a lot of outside money coming into the area. But I assume it's mostly a black-hole type development--with the lion's share going to the casino owners.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

There were NO jobs outside of burger-flipping for local less educated workers. They just didn't exist. My ex-daughter-in-law was, as I said, "thrilled" to have a job that she knew would be steady and had strong benefits. All the people I talked to while visiting her expressed a great appreciation for and stroing pride in their jobs. A couple of them said they had started out as maids or waitresses, but had worked up to supervisor positions which paid more than the $8.00 starting pay. The people visiting the casinos came from all over and stayed for days. They spent a lot of money in the community as tourists. The only downside I could see was the gaudy appearance of the casinos and the large need to create huge parking lots, but the ones I saw were located in areas with low density for this reason.

To oppose casinos on moral grounds is ridiculous in a state that sells liquor, the most proven addictive drug of choice for most Americans, in every grocery store. It's also possible to zip over the mountains to Cherokee to leave your money in that community if you want. Banning gambling in Tennessee is to me backward thinking.

I was dead serious when I said I thought a casino here would be great.

"There are places that have casinos. Let people go there, Good riddance to them and their dollars that could be providing more low wage, no skill jobs here."

I know you didn't mean it that way, but that doesn't make Knoxville sound like a place full of love to me...it makes it sound very judgemental and cold.

I've been to casinos in many different states and in a few different countries. I enjoy them. I have also been in the neighborhoods surrounding them. Some are nice others aren't. I've also seen slummy areas close to urban downtowns. That doesn't make me think office complexes invite blight. The premise that gambling casinos turn nice areas into disgusting slums full of vice and crime is a fallacy. Many neighborhoods around casino locations weren't so fancy and pretty in the first place.

While it is nice to hold out for the dream of high paying jobs that never come, it sure would be a relief to the many people who have neither the skill nor the education to get a high paying job to at least get one that is union organized and promotes from within. The only jobs I see here for many people with lower job skills are at Wendy's, the Dollar Stores, and the grocery stores. Would you ban these workers and stores too?

Haven't you noticed all the unemployed, often homeless people wandering around Knoxville? Some are veterans even. I find that sad.

While you would wish them away, I would like to support an industry that could give them a chance to work.

We already have poverty areas. We already have poor people circling through downtown and in the historic district like hungry fish. Why not give these people jobs? Welfare to work programs often force women into housekeeping jobs. Should these programs be stopped because they are not offering high paying wages?

In spite of all the professed concern for poor people, morality really is the main reason people oppose casinos. That's fine with me. But let's not argue that it is somehow fair for influential others to determine for poor people what kind of jobs their community should offer.

When I was young and unskilled and hungry I didn't much give a darn about preserving someone else's "standards of civilized society". I just prayed there would be a lot of jobs to choose from when I opened the morning paper, even low paying ones.