For the state, however, gambling in Detroit may be a wash. The lottery had seen increases the previous eight years. The costs in Detroit also include 90 arrests in the casinos last year, increased demand for Gamblers Anonymous services, and one suicide. Another potential suicide was averted. And few of the problems predicted by opponents have come to pass.
People come here and they go home.
Our problem is all the traffic and the auto accidents. Meanwhile, the city is floating in tax revenue from the riverboat. The money was spent on new police cruisers, fire trucks, road and utility improvements, shops and a visitors bureau. Academic and other studies have come up with varying results. One recent study, commissioned by the Indiana Gaming Commission, said the casinos have provided jobs in areas of northwest Indiana and along the Ohio River, where economic opportunities were scarce.