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A casino is a way for coward politicians to avoid doing the right but unpopular thing of handling their responsibilities in a responsible way. A new casino allows a beautocratic coward like this Aaron Freeman to make a community worse over generations for some short term tax revenue and the dubious claim that the low income jobs it creates outweighs the generational problems it causes.
+1
When downtown crime increases around the casino (look at all the other downtown casinos in the Midwest), just remember that Freeman will take none of the blame for the crime increases.
It’s the same with SB 1 last year. The legislature forces cities to make significant budget cuts and can then blame the democratic mayors of those cities for their problems – crime, streets and schools.
Could you cite sources? I’ve been to the Jack casino in downtown Cleveland twice and it was clean and comfortable. I stayed about three blocks away, walked there, and saw nothing untoward in the vicinity the entire time I was there.
Detroit’s three casinos are among the four most crime-ridden spots in the city, records show, but the link between gambling and crime is debated.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2025/10/08/detroits-highest-crime-areas-near-mgm-motorcity-hollywood-greektown-casinos-records-show/86247159007/
Also, I’ve been forced to stay near the downtown St. Louis casino on numerous occasions the past decade. It’s a wasteland.
It is well known that casinos increase local rates of bankruptcy. Bankruptcy affects generations of a household and their community. Children in these households are less likely to get an education, families are more likely to need financial assistance, the parents are more likely to need support when they are older. Economic distress is highly correlated with increases in crime particularly property crime.
Build Eastside at Washington Square Mall. Legalize pot, fentanyl and prostitution while you’re at it.
Almost a smart move, if you didn’t throw in fentanyl and prostitution.
Legal pot would raise about the same money as the casino only it would benefit all 92 counties at once.
If Washington Sq was the location, the Blue Line investment on Washington St would actually make sense.
Put it where they tried to build Eleven Park. Downtown yet isolated. I’d like for Visit Indy to weigh in on whether their conventions see this as a positive or negative.
Regardless what happens I can say I hate Hoosier politics. It’s like we wanna say we’re a growing city that attracts and retain talent yet lack simple amenities larger cities or even our peers offer. If the study says it makes more financial sense to build a casino downtown Indy, what’s all the brainstorming for? Indy waste a lot of time talking a good game but doing nothing. Look at the Eleven Park project and The Old City Hall projects>>> Neither of these highly antisipated projects have broken ground. We won’t start with the embarriising announcement by the Mayor on a bid for MLS. Should of just supported Keystone group and Ozdemir’s vision of Eleven Park.
Gee wiz wouldn’t City Market make a great casino? You can repurpose the city building across the street into holding pen, law offices, judges, law enforcement and rehab and have a flow of clients! Everything else has failed.
A casino in Indianapolis is an awful idea. Please contact your council members and other elected officials to say NO.