Quote:
Originally Posted by twister244
I have to wonder if Ballys wants that bridge there.... I mean - It's an instant connection for River North to go spend their money at the casino by simply walking over there. I wonder if there was some internal conversation where the pencil numbers where the amount of additional "foot revenue" that bridge would bring into the casino would pay for itself and generate revenue in lieu of not having a bridge.
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Yeah, I think the original concept was that pedestrians would come from the east via the bridge, and drivers would come from the west via Chicago or Jefferson. There were also synergies with the restaurant/entertainment options across the river. Grab dinner at Erie Cafe or Victory or Obelix, then stroll over to the casino to play a few slots or a few rounds of 21. Not a bad concept honestly; half the business at the New Orleans Caesars (formerly Harrahs) is just tourists cutting through the casino as a shortcut.
I don't think Bally's would have proposed the bridge if they didn't see the value in it. The fact that they included the bridge in their original plan was a nice reassurance that they appreciated the importance of good walking/biking/transit connections. My fear was that they would only care about drivers, like most "urban" casinos in the US. That's why it's so infuriating that River North NIMBYs keep trying to kill the bridge - by making pedestrian access harder, they are making the casino into the kind of auto-oriented dead zone that is more likely to create vandalism/property crime, muggings, etc.