This is just a small article about negotiating with "surrounding communities" in terms of road improvements etc. There is no mention of Holyoke as a community near Springfield. I hate to say it, but if Springfield does end up with a casino my guess will be that Holyoke will continue to get screwed. Our young mayor and all the positive feelings about economic development in certain social circles here doesn't change that as long as Holyoke remains economically insignificant, we will be ignored.
The reason that this upsets and saddens me is that I have been teaching a class at Holyoke Community College this semester (that is just now ending). We have spent a fair bit of time (even though it is a macro course) discussing the possible economic impacts of a large scale casino/resort coming to the area. The economic possibilities of a major casino development have my students (rightly so) excited about the future of capital flowing in and job prospects in the area. A large scale resort is a dream for a young business major /entrepreneur. Maybe not a great dream, but still the possibility of change is a step in the right direction (in a city that has been taking many small steps in the right direction in recent years). It is still early in the casino planning phases, but those of us who are working to rejuvenate Holyoke back to the beautiful and economic relevant community it once was need to start fighting this fight now!
Worst case scenario (if the impact on Holyoke of a Springfield casino is totally ignored)....well....
At least with a casino in Springfield we will have even more more drug money flowing into our city, sigh....
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/massachusetts_gaming_leaders_u.html#incart_river_politics#incart_m-rpt-2
