This week should be an interesting one for those with a deep interest in the question of whether two Philadelphia slots parlors should be built
First of all, the state Supreme Court is about to end its term, and it has pending before it a request from the Foxwoods casino. Foxwoods (the one near Pennsport) wants the court to force the city to issue building permits. A decision could come very soon, perhaps today.
Second, on Tuesday, Foxwoods has a hearing before the city planning commission on whether the city should allow construction to proceed. Specifically, as the Inquirer reported last week, whether the city should accept Foxwoods' development plan and whether it should create a special zoning district for the slots parlor. SugarHouse has already been approved by the planning commission.
Excellent information about Foxwoods and its plans are on the PlanPhilly site, here.
This follows the amusing escapade of Vince Fumo on Friday, who put a bill in to require a 1,500-foot buffer between casinos and homes, schools, churches, playgrounds and other public areas -- and then spend an astonishing number of words in a press release saying the bill had no shot at all.
In short, these looming decisions are another key battle in the to-casino-or-not-to-casino fight. By the end of this week, we'll know a lot more about Philadelphia's gaming future.
Comments (15)
lets issue those permits and lets go.im a s.philly resident and the time is right to get in on the fun.i feel both projects will bring good paying jobs to the community and get some people working for a good wage.lets go already!
Posted by kevharv98 | July 16, 2007 11:00 PM
I'm in no hurry for a casino in Philly, or better yet, never. Changing the city into a greed drive panacea for flushing mostly poor peoples' money down the toilet is not the answer. I don't want to live in Hill Valley, circa Back to the Future 2.
Posted by Philly4Lifer | July 17, 2007 9:28 AM
yeah lets base our entire future on a movie from the 80's. We have to go beyond the personal feelings of a few people for the greater good. Casino Free Philly's argument is that the casino people don't live here...
Guess what...neither do most of the big businesses in the area...do you really think most of the people of Wacovia or Lincoln Financial live here?
They are waving big bags of legitimate money at us and a few squeaky wheels are slowing the process down because they don't want more traffic to stop them from getting to the store to purchase lottery tickets.
Posted by bobzilla | July 17, 2007 12:38 PM
I don't think its few squeaky wheels, its the future population of South Philadelphia, young educated professionals who care about the community. As property values rise and the natives can no longer afford to pay their property taxes (much less gamble) they are going to have no choice but move to south jersey or Delaware. South Philadelphia is changing folks, better get used to it.
Posted by Jeff | July 17, 2007 2:07 PM
Jeff,
Some great condescending remarks there. One of the reasons we locals you would love to see driven out of here love you new people so much. Nice that you know what's best for us. Yes, Jeff, property values have risen. We really get a kick out of watching you guys paying $300k+ for a 1100 sq ft rowhouse that 5 years ago was selling for $60k at best. Let's see if you're still clinging to your urban fantasy life when your kids reach school age. Oh that's right, the almighty Nutter will have cured all of the school district's woes by then and your child will be able to obtain a first rate education in an urban public school and experience some Philly-style "diversity".
Oh, and about the old-timers being driven out by higher property taxes: don't count on it. You obviously aren't aware that NJ has the highest property taxes in the nation. The reassessment recommendations by the BRT have been hanging in political limbo for the past 5 years. Do you really think Nutter will do anything about it? Really? You see he has to work with this group called City Council. This group is beholden to (among others) their constituents, many of whom are poor and less educated than you, but guess what: they vote. In large numbers. And guess what else: they really don't like the newbies coming into the neighborhoods in which they've spent their entire lives and telling them what's wrong with it. This is particularly true in South Philly which has one of the strongest identities not only in the city but in the region.
I also love your assumption that we're too poor to gamble. Yeah, we're just poor white trash struggling from paycheck to paycheck. You really need to watch the blanket assumptions. That poor grandmom throwing her money away at a slot machine probably has more money buried in her basement than you'll ever see in your life.
So, before you arrogantly declare that we better get used to you just keep in mind that there are many families in South Philly that have been here for generations and have no intent of leaving--ever. There are still a lot more of "us" (I'm a college grad and white collar professional, by the way- sorry to bust your stereotype) than there are of you. Many of us would like to see a casino as opposed to the trash-strewn, rat-infested mess we've looked at for decades.
Enjoy your lesson in politics PA-style. Go ahead and believe in the "sincerity" of DiCicco & Fumo wanting to protect the neighbors from the big, bad casinos. You obviously haven't seen this movie yet. We have. Many times. Wanna know how it ends? It's a done deal and the casinos are coming.
Better get used to it.
Posted by shopsteward24 | July 17, 2007 4:42 PM
Your attitude about the status quo in Philadelphia speaks volumes. Why someone would become threatened by talk of improved public schools, clean streets, and a better quality of life in general is beyond me. Go ahead and be proud of the trash, run down schools and corrupt goverment. It looks like soon you will have two beautiful casinos to be proud of too.
Posted by Jeff | July 17, 2007 10:16 PM
Don't worry Jeff -this is just a Johnny Doc underling ranting on with a beer high! Ask the Local 98 thugs just how they are going to light the casino -with candles? They play both ends against the middle and soon they will fall by the wayside via law enforcement- it's a comin'...
Jeff -believe in this city and remember that you and everyone else is welcomed. The property values have risen becasue the new residents have demonstrated their concern and care for the values of our communities. Bravo!!!
Posted by Philadelphia for welcomes everyone | July 17, 2007 10:55 PM
And the "everyone is welcome" is soon to include well-to-do Chinese from Mainland China, if any of you saw this article that appeared in the business section of the Philadelphia Inquirer for Tuesday, July 17, 2007:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070717_Gateway_to_China_moves_closer.html
And don't confuse these with the nice, quiet, down-to-earth Chinese-Philadelphians now living in Philadelphia's Chinatown. This is a whole different breed of people we're speaking about here, monsters who've made their fortunes by ruthlessly exploiting their fellow Chinese back in Mainland China through human trafficking and slavery, child labor, organ harvesting, environmental devastation, you name it. And rest assured they're not going to be very nice people, particularly given the high degree of diplomatic immunity they'll be granted -- thanks to the sell-us-down-the-river politicians we have governing Philadelphia now. And with the two big casinos to come to be riding that new market, or at least that seems to be the primary goal, I'd like to be able to say the two proposed Philly casinos for Philadelphia can be stoppable in the face of that, but, I can't say it with any sort of truth backing it up. In any event, I'll let you all take it from there...
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