USA TODAY: …The problem: Casino gambling, which when legalized four decades ago was supposed to help Atlantic City reclaim its pre-air conditioning, pre-jet travel, pre-Las Vegas glory, is besieged by out-of-state competition…
Casino revenue has declined almost every month for the past eight years and now amounts to just half of the $5 billion reported for 2006. Atlantic Club (1,600 jobs) closed in January, Showboat (2,100 jobs) will close next month, and several of the 10 surviving casino-hotels probably will shut or shrink…
That may include Revel, a 70-story-high glass extravaganza that Christie called “a game-changer for Atlantic City” when it opened two years ago after being completed with an emergency infusion of $261 million in state tax credits… (more)
EDITOR: The story not told is that the Greater Atlantic City Area is relatively prosperous despite the shrinking casino industry. This is due to other job generators, many of which were not present when casino gambling was approved.
