Gambling can destroy...
...vast tracts of land.
\r\n\r\nThere were several impressions I was left with after my cross-country jaunt. After realizing that travelling without a CD player or cruise control were idiocy, and that this is a huge (and often beautiful) country, there was the gambling.
\r\n\r\nUsed to be this only existed in Nevada and New Jersey. And it was ugly there. Now: California (reservation gambling), South Dakota, Missouri, Illinois, and others.
\r\n\r\nLocally, there are a number of reservation casinos. Given the distribution of reservation land, many of these are off major routes. Meaning: two lane roads, often winding, with casinos drawing large quantities of traffic, often disgorged at or after sunset, after a day spent drinking, and more often than not, losing, at the slots and game tables.
\r\n\r\nThe result is a blight the length of this 20 mile valley. I like it as a biking route from Yolo County. It's also home to some of the only white-water rafting (class I/II) in the area -- no, it's not wild-and-crazy, but it's a great way to beat the heat. Many property owners are looking to get out. Motor vehicle accidents, drunks, casino-induced violence, brushfires, and vandalism aren't what they moved to this area for. The casinos, being sovereign Indian property, don't have to include these externalities in their own profit-loss statements.
\r\n\r\nFor one view, see [link|http://marcvaldez.blogspot.com/2003_02_16_marcvaldez_archive.html|this].
\r\n\r\nMuch gambling in this country is reservation gambling. I see it as generally negative, it's quite unregulated. The professional gamblers avoid reservation casinos as the odds are typically very poor, or worse (though this could just be the old guard of Vegas and Atlantic City FUDing).
\r\n\r\nIn Oz, a similar rise in "gaming" has lead to a decimation of the live entertainment industry. If a bar can install one-armed bandits and draw twice what a good band would, without having book the band, put up with the bad bands, deal with the various issues associated with live music (yes, there's some overlap with the effects of gambling), etc. The result is far less nightlife in Sydney and other cities.