The danger, it seems to me, is that once the novelty wears off and revenues and attendance begin to wane, the casino won’t add much to the overall success of the development. I seriously doubt those seniors bused in from Richmond for an exciting day playing the slot machines will be taking river cruises or spending their winnings at National Harbor’s restaurants and shops. Nor do I imagine there will be large numbers of high rollers from Dallas and Dubai flying in for a few days of high-stakes Poker on the Potomac. The potential really comes from Washington’s convention and meeting visitors — the tourist crowd is too family-oriented — along with Washington’s well-heeled locals on an evening out. But that’s a more limited audience than Peterson is counting on, as well as one that would respond better to a high-toned facility featuring table games and nightclub entertainment than row upon row of noisy, flashing slot machines.
As it turns out, National Harbor’s strongest draw may be as a residential development for empty-nesters and childless couples who appreciate the waterfront ambience, the walkable village feel and the proximity to the District and the Beltway — many of the same attributes that have made Old Town Alexandria so sought-after and successful. The townhouses at National Harbor quickly sold out. Going forward, Peterson’s challenge will be to ensure that the presence of casino gambling — or for that matter, any of its tourist components — do not overwhelm the project to the point that they undermine the potential for a vibrant community in which Washingtonians live and work.
Steven Pearlstein is a Pulitzer Prize-winning business and economics columnist at The Washington Post.
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More news about Md. politics
Aaron C. Davis
The Maryland legislature adjourned today without agreement on how to overturn a court ruling that has left thousands of Maryland pit bull owners in legal limbo.
John Wagner
The bill allows a Las Vegas-style casino in Pr. George’s and table games at Md. casinos.
John Wagner
The bill would allow a Las Vegas-style casino in Prince George’s, as well as table games at Maryland’s five existing slots locations.
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We know gambling can work economically in destination resorts given over to gambling (Las Vegas, yes, but alas not Atlantic City). Or it can work on Indian reservations that are far away from other casinos but close enough to urban areas. There are precious few examples of casinos anchoring, or even co-existing with, successful mixed-used developments.
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As a recent regular (reverse) commuter on Interstate-66, I have developed a newfound appreciation for the inconvenience and economic damage that the transportation nazis in Arlington have imposed on the rest of the region.
For two decades these zealots have successfully blocked any highway construction in the county that might result in even one additional single-occupancy vehicle on the road. Even the investment of billions of dollars in the extension of Metro along the Dulles corridor has not shaken their self-righteous determination to impose their values and force every last one of us to move closer to where we work or abandon our single-occupancy vehicles in favor of buses, carpools and bicycles.
One of their favorite tactics is to file a lawsuit to prevent even a shovel of earth to be turned unless a full-blown environmental impact study has been done, knowing that the study will significantly delay any project, increase its costs and provide the basis for further lawsuits alleging that said study was faulty and must be done over. This tactic comes straight out of the NIMBY handbook. And it was just such a suit that forced Virginia to abandon plans for an additional toll lane on Interstate-95 on the heavily-traveled segment between the Beltway and the Pentagon.
Last month, however, in passing the new highway reauthorization bill, Congress included a provision directing the secretary of transportation to provide a categorical exclusion from the environmental impact review for any highway project that is done within an existing right-of-way. That would surely include the disputed segment of I-95 and possibly even I-66 through its many Arlington bottlenecks.
Sean Connaughton, the state’s transportation secretary, warned against getting too excited by the new provision.
“Given so many worthwhile non-Arlington projects in Northern Virginia, we are using our limited resources to fund them,” he told me in an e-mail.
Translation: Even for Republicans, life’s too short to spend it fighting the Arlington zealots.
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