What Are the Pros and Cons of Living Near a Casino?

New avenues of taxation make governments happy.

Today, governments show little restraint in awarding licenses to gambling establishments in places you wouldn’t have imagined a few decades ago, including residential neighborhoods.

As such, you can’t rule out the possibility of a casino coming up somewhere in your neighborhood.

But, What Are the Pros and Cons of Living Near a Casino?

Firstly, if you are a gambler, it reduces your distance and transport expenses. A well-performing casino can improve property prices and even boost the growth of local businesses. However, you don’t want your kids to grow up too close to everything gambling is known for.

Let’s get to the bottom of all these:

Pros Of A Casino Neighborhood

1. Low Or Zero Travel Costs

For gambling enthusiasts, a nearby casino removes the travel costs often associated with far-flung gaming establishments.

Think about it – would you rather travel from New Jersey to Las Vegas every week or find a permanent home in the sin city instead?

The second option would be more affordable for you.

2. Enriched Entertainment Offerings

Aside from the few small facilities that usually supply a dozen slot machines, casinos can bring several new entertainment options to your doorstep.

Once a casino has established itself at a place, it is more likely to include other entertainment amenities including horse racing, comedy clubs, theaters, concert halls, sports bars, plus a range of eateries.

3. Boosts Local Businesses

Casinos are known to improve the local business environment by creating jobs and spurring the growth of related businesses around them.

You can be part of the beneficiaries by starting a related business now that your area of interest is closer to home.

Gambling establishments attract armies of visitors from beyond loaded with cash to splash on local businesses.

Tourists, for example, won’t blow all their cash in the casino alone – you will find them in local saunas, eateries, and local hotels.

It is a domino effect you could benefit from.

4. It’s Good For Your Health If You Are A Senior

Here’s a benefit they don’t mention often.

According to the findings of researchers at Yale, recreational gambling actually promotes good well-being in senior gamblers.

Rani Desai, the lead researcher and psychiatry associate professor at Yale Medicine School, hypothesizes that partaking in gambling brings forth “increased activity, cognitive stimulation, and socialization.”

The finding is “in line with the normal aging process, which shows that cognitively and socially active elders are healthier, generally.

5. A Close-Knit Community Of Fellow Gamblers

How you relate to your fellow distant casino goers in distant casinos is different from how you would if they were your neighbors.

The presence of a casino in or close to your neighborhood allows you to form a local close-knit community of casino goers.

Your fellow enthusiasts in far-flung areas may not have a lot of time to talk over your latest exploits in the game and similar conversations.

Conversely, if you are neighbors and the casino is nearby, you can form a tighter bond, meet often, and feel a sense of belonging to a larger community of players.

6. High Property Values

Property value in gambling cities like Las Vegas is almost always up and rising.

Before the 2007/2008 crisis, everyone wanted to have a slice of Las Vega’s booming property market. Those who bought homes around the city before the crisis made money afterward.

Even in places like Gibraltar and Malta where most casino businesses have moved their activities on the internet, property prices are still on the rise because these cities quickly assumed the role of a regulator, attracting lots of expats.

Having a casino in the neighborhood is highly beneficial as some of the players who will come to play and work will want to stay.

The more people come in, the more the demand for properties, and the higher the value gets.

If you buy a property in the neighborhood early enough, you can be assured of making a killing on it in a few years.

7. Sponsoring Local Sports

Casinos, especially sporting casinos, are known to heavily depend on sports sponsorship for advertising.

And over the recent past, sports sponsorship has been successful for casinos and other betting firms to a point that they are starting to compete to put their names on the shirts of sports teams.

A thriving casino in your neighborhood can have a positive impact on your local sporting activities as well.

While some groups of people may object to the idea of allowing a gambling establishment to sponsor sporting activities in schools, it is not uncommon for betting firms to be involved in cultivating local talents.

8. A Safer Atmosphere For Gambling

Having a legal casino nearby creates a safe environment for gambling.

A well-established legal casino in the community gives all dodgy and illicit gambling parlors a run for their money, making it hard for them to operate at a profit, leave alone existing.

With a licensed casino nearby, chances are very slim you will fall to scams and other con games associated with illegal gambling dens.

9. You Could Win

Now that the casino is nearby, you can dedicate more time to the game and focus on bigger wins.

While small wins may not be regular or substantial enough to sustain a living, people do win large jackpots once in a while and you could be one of them.

The Four Cons Of Living Near A Casino

Oftentimes, gambling establishments are talked about for the wrong reasons. Here’s why you should live far away from them:

1. Could Bring Out The Pathological Gambler In You

Living close to a casino can lead you to gambling addiction.

Now that you can pop in at any time you want, you might find yourself gambling to cope with stress.

The exact way you’d drink more to drown your sorrows if you’re always in the pub, you are likely to sink deeper into gambling the more you hang around the casino.

2. Crime And Similar Social Evils Are Near Unavoidable

Gambling almost always goes together with drugs, cheating, and prostitution.

Money launderers and crooks are attracted to gambling parlors like moths to a lantern.

So having a casino in your neighborhood, especially one that isn’t properly regulated, is a way of bringing some repugnant social habits closer home.

You certainly don’t want your kids anywhere close to this stuff.

3. Makes Parenting A Little Difficult

The same way you wouldn’t want a prostitution den near your home, you’d also be hesitant to start a family close to a casino because of the bad picture it presents to kids.

The presence of gambling activities in the neighborhood can send a false image to young folks that anyone can make a living through gambling.

Every responsible parent out there wants to raise their kids in a positive and nurturing environment that represents all that’s nice in society.

4. Lost Productivity And Human Traffic

Firstly, the community may end up with betting-dependent folks who barely pursue anything productive in life.

That’s not good for society. Then there’s the potential problem of human traffic.

The larger and more popular the casino gets the more people it attracts to the neighborhood.

With time, the community infrastructure and social services could be chocked under with increasing visitors and deprive the locals.

Conclusion

Casinos are a mix of fortunes when allowed to operate in residential areas.

If you are a gambler, it reduces your distance and transport expenses.

A well-performing casino can improve property prices and even boost the growth of local businesses.

However, you don’t want your kids to grow up too close to everything gambling is known for.

The same way you wouldn’t want a prostitution den near your home, you’d also be hesitant to start a family close to a casino because of the bad picture it presents to kids.

References

Recreational Gambling Appears to be Associated with Good Health in Older Adults 

Benefits of a Local Casino Venue 

Casinos and Cities: Can They Live Together?