What are some possible downtown sites for this? It sounds great.

Detroit doesn't have a functional transit system, Chicago does. There's no reason a Chicago casino needs to have that much parking, even if you believe some fraction of visitors will insist on driving no matter what.

Also, Greektown's huge parking garage is pretty clearly a play to get sports fans to park there and maybe gamble a bit before/after. The casino itself doesn't need as much parking as it has, and they probably would have built less if there weren't two major stadiums just blocks away.

I wish to agree on that. But I’m not convinced very many people will be taking public transit to the casino, especially being a 24 hour operation, it’s really less hassle to drive with free parking. Tourists will probably Uber. As far as the Bulls and Blackhawks, only they know the exact numbers since fans are surveyed. But I’d guess less than 5% are taking the CTA. Though that could be improved with direct connections.

Of the hundreds of visitors I know that have visited Chicago over the years, I can't think of one that has driven their car around to go to a play, a meeting or get dinner. And when I visit Vegas, I have taken transit there to go from casino to casino. My family has two nice cars and I live in the city and driving to the Loop is the last option for me just about every trip, though once in a while it makes sense when I need to make multiple stops where transit isn't available or multiple Ubers or taxis would be impractical.

I personally use the park and ride garages since its no longer feasible to dump my car off in the West loop somewhere.

What about the cutting edge and ever reliable People Mover? :D

Absolutely people visit the casino to validate their parking. And people would park at a chicago casino to access transit and validate their parking. I don't hate that business model but would prefer any such parking situation be tucked behind or beneath active uses.

Big players are backing out

This is worrisome



https://www.google.com/amp/s/chicago...dustry-players

75% tax rate on all revenue generated? sign me up!

Where do you get 75% from? The article mentions that it was recently cut to 40% from 72%.

The latest article from the Chicago team mentions the 78

Clearly I got the 75% from before the reduction.

Clearly, but not totally since thats a pretty large gap to be rounding;)

Good to see they reduced it by a lot though. 72% is just stupid

I hosted nearly a thousand individuals across about 600 bookings in my home via Airbnb. About 5% drove into Chicago from other cities, the rest didn't have a car while here. Most used transit or walked for most things, but many would spring for a cab/Uber if going to a show or something nice.

as much as I would love to see this whole casino thing happen, on a level like the new Wynn property in Boston, this is going to go over like our food truck ordinance did.

If the casino doesn't come to fruition, would the city reconsider its ban on gaming machines in bars? It would be a very nice revenue stream for the city budget. Although, putting in controls to prevent "gaming parlors" from proliferating like they have in the suburbs would be a smart idea... although the city's limited liquor licensing might be control enough to keep them from cropping up in excessive numbers.

I geuninely don't understand why we're all okay with the "gaming parlor" trend (always with some 1950's-esque woman's name: Dottie's, Flo's, Mabel's, etc???)

There is literally no appeal to visiting a gaming parlor for normal people. There's no entertainment, food/beverage options are worse than an airport bar, and it's not a fun once-a-year activity like a real casino. It's just a way to prey on gambling addicts.

I gotta say, I'm not optimistic about the chances for downtown casino given this week's news. As usual, our state has managed to take something that could be a huge boon to the economy and the budget, and bungled it massively. At least the rollout of rec cannabis has gone fairly well.

You do realize it's still federally illegal and therefore illegal to ship between states, right? There's a very good and simple explanation for this and as far as I'm aware, every state does it this way.

How is the state supposed to import cannabis when it is a Federal crime to transport across state lines? Not to mention that none of the surrounding states have legalized it, so that seems like a perfect opportunity for border checks and other nonsense.

Also, the state has expanded the number of licenses (I think two times now), dedicated revenue to investing in communities ravaged by the War on Drugs, expunged criminal records of marijuana convictions, etc. On a local level, most of the municipalities that blocked dispensaries at first are now moving to allow them.

It would be great if more licenses went to minority owners but I think that is just as much about creditworthiness as it is about the state cannabis law (access to credit is a whole different problem which was affecting minority applicants long before legal cannabis).

Now, back to the topic of gambling...

Got in the legality explanation before you in a previous point (yes, it's illegal to transport between states)... but just furthering the point I bring up here at times that people from a lot of places always think their state/city is either the worst or best at various things without ever actually realizing the reality everywhere else outside of their little bubble. Just another example. It helps to get out of a bubble and understand the picture before assuming your place is somehow an exception to a rule when it's not.

I haven't followed this topic closely. Aside from needing to revisit the tax rate, what was bungled?

Casino royal defends his crown
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ends-his-crown