A casino opening in your area will have a huge impact on many things. The environment if once quiet will be filled with crowds and many bright lights. Towns can improve immensely because of the presence of a casino as it can bring in a lot of money for the local economy. There are some setbacks that do come with a casino in a town and some can be vast problems. The housing market is one of these things that does see positive and negative impacts.
Residential Properties Suffer
Many people tend to look for a place that does not have much noise or foot traffic. The older demographic will look elsewhere for housing rather than be near the loud casino and the tourists that come with it. Many of the areas that are close to the casino will be bought out and turned into businesses. While commercial real estate prices will rise, the residential property values could diminish greatly. If a city’s appeal was it being a quiet and small town then a town with a large casino is not for you. Housing prices with the construction of a casino can see a sharp drop almost immediately. The building of a casino can drop a home’s value by a couple percent costing the owner thousands of dollars if they were to sell. The factors that cause the housing prices to drop are the noise, traffic, and foot traffic that comes with the building of something as busy as a casino.
Commercial Real Estate Thrives
Casinos bring in a lot of business into towns and in areas where people would not have spent in the region without the casino. Commercial real estate will thrive as businesses will spring up in the vicinity of the casino. The foot traffic and proximity of the businesses to the casino make for a great location for many businesses. Commercial real estate prices will go up and will sharply go up in the areas around the casino. Many businesses will by residential properties and tear them down in order to build mass housing. Developers generally will put median price range housing around the casino as many people will work at or around the cash cow that is the casino.
City Taxes Can Go Down
Casinos bring in billions of tax dollars each year. The local economy in towns improves mightily when a casino is built. The taxes on homes and other city instated taxes take a dip as the money brought in by the casino helps local government immensely. Not only does the casino generate money through gambling losses but local businesses improve as well. People who would not have spent money in the region come and stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants. Employment rates go up as many casinos are the leading employer in many areas. Local businesses will also have more openings for jobs as the city will have more people and foot traffic in many of the local businesses. The only drawback can be the people who fall into a gambling addiction from being at the casino too often. Gambling addiction impacts an entire family and many casinos have resources to show an addict where to find treatment as they recognize gambling can bankrupt an entire family with just one addict.
Casinos can impact many things in cities that they are built in. The economy can improve immensely with the building of a casino but it also has some drawbacks. Housing prices can increase in the area of the casino while residential property owned by citizens can see a sharp drop in price. A casino city is not for everyone but can prove a great place to move if looking for a job especially in the service industry. If there is a casino in your town, play responsibly and look for the different impacts that it has on the local community and economy.
