Boom Or Bust? Casino Gaming and Host Municipalities‪.‬

Introduction A myriad of literature exists that addresses the impact of legalized casino gaming on cities that host the venture from a multitude of perspectives--socially, economically, culturally, morally, psychologically, with regard to crime, in terms of gambling addiction, and even from an individual and family stress perspective. Whereas many of these studies insist that legalized gaming has had a net negative impact, others extol its positive virtues, especially economically. In sum, existing literature on the topic is contradictory, ambiguous, and difficult to analyze because, whether pro or con, most offer valid arguments that are quite persuasive. The trend among most scholars studying this phenomenon is that someone makes a claim and someone else deconstructs it by arguing the exact opposite. It is frustrating to say the least! Who is to be believed?