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UB report claims casino could benefit Buffalo
5/22/2002
A properly planned casino could benefit downtown Buffalo, according to a report prepared by the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.
Key elements would necessarily include: a location and design that fits the existing downtown fabric, flow of revenues to local government, and a marketing plan that targets tourists, not local residents.
The 28-page report, titled "If Gambling Comes . . . The Location, Design and Management of Urban Casinos," is based on a fall 2001 forum at which local elected officials, casino professionals, prospective developers and designers hashed out the realities of fitting a casino into downtown Buffalo's landscape.
"The conversation last September was framed as a "what if' consideration of a casino for Buffalo," said Robert G. Shibley, director of the architecture school's Urban Design Project. "After the vote by the Senecas, it's time to think about "what now.' "
The just-released booklet provides a record of the September 2001 casino forum, including representative quotes from the panelists, which Shibley described as a "form of knowledge" on the subject.
"And we hope that its publication will provide a broader public with some of the information and insights necessary to approach the issues involved in casino development, thoughtfully and constructively," Shibley wrote in the booklet's introduction.
The September 2001 casino forum, sponsored by Working for Downtown and Downtown Buffalo 2002!, included both advocates and critics of casino gambling. The differing points of view are evidenced in comments from Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, on the potential for spinoff benefits from downtown gambling.
"If we put it downtown it will help generate spinoff investments and attract new customers for our theaters, entertainment, restaurants and hotels," Masiello said.
Hoyt countered that viewpoint, predicting no casino-driven benefits.
"Casinos are designed to draw people in, keep them inside for the longest possible period of time and take as much money from them as possible. The spinoffs simply don't exist," Hoyt said.
The condensed version of the roundtable discussion includes comments from William N. Thompson, an internationally recognized expert on casino gambling and professor of public administration at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Rick Jemison, a member of the Tribal Council of the Seneca Nation of Indians; and Kent Kleinman, chairman of the School of Architecture and Planning.
The full report can be accessed online at www.urbandesignproject.org and can be downloaded in PDF format.
5/22/2002
A properly planned casino could benefit downtown Buffalo, according to a report prepared by the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.
Key elements would necessarily include: a location and design that fits the existing downtown fabric, flow of revenues to local government, and a marketing plan that targets tourists, not local residents.
The 28-page report, titled "If Gambling Comes . . . The Location, Design and Management of Urban Casinos," is based on a fall 2001 forum at which local elected officials, casino professionals, prospective developers and designers hashed out the realities of fitting a casino into downtown Buffalo's landscape.
"The conversation last September was framed as a "what if' consideration of a casino for Buffalo," said Robert G. Shibley, director of the architecture school's Urban Design Project. "After the vote by the Senecas, it's time to think about "what now.' "
The just-released booklet provides a record of the September 2001 casino forum, including representative quotes from the panelists, which Shibley described as a "form of knowledge" on the subject.
"And we hope that its publication will provide a broader public with some of the information and insights necessary to approach the issues involved in casino development, thoughtfully and constructively," Shibley wrote in the booklet's introduction.
The September 2001 casino forum, sponsored by Working for Downtown and Downtown Buffalo 2002!, included both advocates and critics of casino gambling. The differing points of view are evidenced in comments from Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, on the potential for spinoff benefits from downtown gambling.
"If we put it downtown it will help generate spinoff investments and attract new customers for our theaters, entertainment, restaurants and hotels," Masiello said.
Hoyt countered that viewpoint, predicting no casino-driven benefits.
"Casinos are designed to draw people in, keep them inside for the longest possible period of time and take as much money from them as possible. The spinoffs simply don't exist," Hoyt said.
The condensed version of the roundtable discussion includes comments from William N. Thompson, an internationally recognized expert on casino gambling and professor of public administration at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Rick Jemison, a member of the Tribal Council of the Seneca Nation of Indians; and Kent Kleinman, chairman of the School of Architecture and Planning.
The full report can be accessed online at www.urbandesignproject.org and can be downloaded in PDF format.