In the past, those in charge of planning the location of casinos have chosen to put them far from the traditional central businesses districts, or the downtown area. These planners and government

officials have decided to locate the casinos far from the central business and entertainment areas of a town, finding casinos and other types of entertainment to be incompatible. This strategy of placing casinos far from downtown areas ignores a major factor. Casinos can stimulate other commercial enterprise.

Casinos can spur significant business, drawing in thousands of visitors daily from all around Illinois and surrounding states. With these large amounts of daily visitors, casinos can drive high volumes of foot traffic into the surrounding areas. This added downtown foot traffic is why placing the new casino downtown makes sense.

 

The downtown area is already teeming with new life – businesses and venues that would appeal to the tourist and locals alike – and an already established walkable street grid. The combination of the walkable area and eager downtown businesses with a casino creates a mutually beneficial ecosystem, sparkling with possibility.

 

 

 


(Source: Klebanow, Andrew M., Casinos and the City: A White Paper on the History of Casino Development in Cities, Past and Current Trends, and Recommendations for Future Development, Global Market Advisors LLC)

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