Alex Abboud @alexabboud:
Great piece by @richard_florida on why casinos are bad for cities. Hope you’re reading #Toronto & #Ottawa http://zite.to/U5ABjL 

@alexabboud Reason why the piece is weak: replace “casinos” for “bars” and it’s as strong an argument against legal alcohol.

@alexabboud As for how it affects cities: local management is key. AC had horrible government; Vegas was much better.

@alexabboud Good argument about diminishing returns, though; it’s unclear that multiple gambling destinations can be supported.

Alex Abboud @alexabboud:
@jeffporten do bars produce a similar amount of disorder?

@alexabboud I strongly suspect similar arguments could be made about concentration in lower economic areas & ancillary economic impacts.

Alex Abboud @alexabboud:
@jeffporten that’s fair. But wouldn’t that be more of an argument against concentration than defense of casinos?

@alexabboud Don’t know. AFAIK, only Nevada has large number of tiny casinos. Elsewhere it’s big megacasinos.

@alexabboud But if the problem is excessive gambling, need a solution that deals with upcoming online, state lotteries, etc.

@alexabboud I’d say the problem is more one of math education.