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I know the new owners of the Dallas Mavericks are banking on gambling being legalized in Texas so they can create some gambling complex in Dallas. That was Mark Cuban's dream.
I'm in the camp that doesn't see gambling legalized in Texas. IF it ever is I would totally see the casinos in Galveston rather than Uptown. Gambling is an escape and people like to get away for a few days. Maybe Uptown for the wealthy high rollers, but Galveston for the mainstream crowd that currently goes to Livingston, Lake Charles, and Biloxi.
I know the new owners of the Dallas Mavericks are banking on gambling being legalized in Texas so they can create some gambling complex in Dallas. That was Mark Cuban's dream.
I'm in the camp that doesn't see gambling legalized in Texas. IF it ever is I would totally see the casinos in Galveston rather than Uptown. Gambling is an escape and people like to get away for a few days. Maybe Uptown for the wealthy high rollers, but Galveston for the mainstream crowd that currently goes to Livingston, Lake Charles, and Biloxi.
This is only because the laws are historically designed this way. As gambling has been increasingly been allowed more and more in high population areas, market has left the “casino towns” in favor of Philly, NYC, etc
Lol, I never said that the majority are buses in. I said there are buses that do bus folks in, and they make a vacation out of it. Reading is fundamental.
It's not a matter of convenience. Old folks gamble a lot and they seem to like the bus rides out of state.
I understand the underground gambling scene in Houston quite well. There are two game rooms within walking distance that I know of.
I don't think basic reasoning works out well for you in this case buddy. The vast majority of gambling historically developed away from business districts and more towards vacation spots.
Gambling in the gulf is littered along the coast, instead of big city economic centers
Even Vegas itself developed a bigger casino scene outside city limits in Paradise Nevada.
So although your reasoning may be sound there clearly it's something you are missing and that is the vacation component. A place like New Orleans does have gambling in the core but New Orleans core is one of the biggest tourism spots in the country.
I agree with you on NY and Philly, but those are huge tourist draws.
Like it or not Uptown is not uptown is fun but it isn't much of a destination. Uptowns biggest draw I the Galleria and probably 75% of patrons are probably not old enough to enter a casino.
The next biggest group frequenting Uptown would be 18-24 years olds. They are off age to frequent Casinos but studies show 18-24yo love occasionally visiting casinos for the experience, but lack the disposable income to make it a frequent thing.
25-54year olds are the biggest casino going group. The later half of that group has the higher spending power and also a higher tendency to avoid the Galleria area, and although Uptown continues to evolve I really don't see a casino being better located there than anywhere else.
If market is the prevailing factor then the Convention District would be my choice. If a weekend trip is the factor then Galveston would be the clear winner.
Houston always stretch things in multiple areas. The way side of downtown into EADO has so many benefits already. The stadiums and conventions already drive a lot of activity. Light rail is another plus. Discovery Green and the growing residential population are others. Tucking the highway out of sight, capping it with a park and linking the neighborhoods together might be the missing piece of the puzzle, or what kills the area. IDK but just feel that Uptown isn't the no-brainer or is being made out to be.
What are the benefits of Uptown other than proximity to The Post Oak?
Lol, I never said that the majority are buses in. I said there are buses that do bus folks in, and they make a vacation out of it. Reading is fundamental.
It's not a matter of convenience. Old folks gamble a lot and they seem to like the bus rides out of state.
I understand the underground gambling scene in Houston quite well. There are two game rooms within walking distance that I know of.
I don't think basic reasoning works out well for you in this case buddy. The vast majority of gambling historically developed away from business districts and more towards vacation spots.
Gambling in the gulf is littered along the coast, instead of big city economic centers
Even Vegas itself developed a bigger casino scene outside city limits in Paradise Nevada.
So although your reasoning may be sound there clearly it's something you are missing and that is the vacation component. A place like New Orleans does have gambling in the core but New Orleans core is one of the biggest tourism spots in the country.
I agree with you on NY and Philly, but those are huge tourist draws.
Like it or not Uptown is not uptown is fun but it isn't much of a destination. Uptowns biggest draw I the Galleria and probably 75% of patrons are probably not old enough to enter a casino.
The next biggest group frequenting Uptown would be 18-24 years olds. They are off age to frequent Casinos but studies show 18-24yo love occasionally visiting casinos for the experience, but lack the disposable income to make it a frequent thing.
25-54year olds are the biggest casino going group. The later half of that group has the higher spending power and also a higher tendency to avoid the Galleria area, and although Uptown continues to evolve I really don't see a casino being better located there than anywhere else.
If market is the prevailing factor then the Convention District would be my choice. If a weekend trip is the factor then Galveston would be the clear winner.
Houston always stretch things in multiple areas. The way side of downtown into EADO has so many benefits already. The stadiums and conventions already drive a lot of activity. Light rail is another plus. Discovery Green and the growing residential population are others. Tucking the highway out of sight, capping it with a park and linking the neighborhoods together might be the missing piece of the puzzle, or what kills the area. IDK but just feel that Uptown isn't the no-brainer or is being made out to be.
What are the benefits of Uptown other than proximity to The Post Oak?
This is completely due to the fact that gambling laws make it historically hard for casinos to be build near major population areas. Whether it’s a good or bad thing. People travel to gamble because they can’t gamble at home. That’s that. There’s also a market for people gambling because they are on vacationing for other reasons but that’s not what makes places like Lake Charles get revenue. Hence the decline of Atlantic City.
It’s entirely possible if Texas did decide to legalize gambling, they’d zone them to places away from major cities (floating casinos were a common strategy to do this). If that were to happen, then that would open the door for Galveston as a gambling site. One of the reasons people have thought of Galveston as a potential site for a casino is because of the floating casino laws of Louisiana, Mississippi and other states. But if we are speaking hypothetically to where Texas allowed gambling without location restrictions, that goes out the door and the option that makes sense would be in Houston regardless if it’s in Uptown, the convention district or somewhere else. Not only would Houstonians have no need to drive down to Galveston, people arriving the state wouldn’t have the need to either.
Why uptown was spoken of specifically, If you scrolled up, you’d see why. the reason Uptown was brought up specifically is because Fertitta purchased the site adjacent to the Post Oak Hotel so there was a casino speculation. Theres plans for a Post Oak branded casino in Las Vegas, it would in theory be a brand already tied to a casino.
Also, you’re completely wrong about Las Vegas. The original Las Vegas casino district is downtown. The Strip was built after tourism kept surging and they ran out of space. Downtown is still a thriving casino district. Second biggest casino district in the US after the strip. So yeah. Completely wrong there.
Where Vegas really comes into the conversation only straightens my point. Vegas happened because of bad laws everywhere across the US. Vega’s continues to thrive despite things easing because they’ve since expanded far beyond gambling revenue. It’s an events town of all facets now.
So back to the point, people travel to gamble because they have to; not because they want to. Texas may decide to force people to travel to gamble in which case places like Galveston are in the equation. But that’s the only thing that would make Galveston get one over Houston. The legal aspect
Last edited by ParaguaneroSwag; 04-19-2024 at 12:30 PM..
How I'm I wrong that Vegas developed a bigger casino scene outside the original core?
They could have expanded the core or they could build in Paradise.
The later happened. That's a fact, not opinion.
You still haven't answered the question of what makes Uptown such a great location for a casino other than proximity to The Post Oak?
Fertitta building one close to his hotel aside, what advantage does Uptown have?
Galveston, in reference to Distance from Houston is not exactly boonies. Neither is Atlantic City.
You also haven't addressed that the cities being mentioned are major tourist draws, but Houston isn't. And Uptown isn't a destination. To be honest Galveston isn't either. But people see it as more of a destination than Uptown. Galveston needs a tourism jolt. Even if it's from just from the rest of Houston
How I'm I wrong that Vegas developed a bigger casino scene outside the original core?
They could have expanded the core or they could build in Paradise.
The later happened. That's a fact, not opinion.
Again, Downtown Las Vegas ran out of room. To make the kind of projects the mob wanted to make, they needed a lot of land. Hence the strip. Downtown Vegas is thriving and vibrant even more so than it was in its early days. It’s just that the strip is even that much more vibrant.
Besides, I never said I disagree that casinos tend to be built away from the population . As a matter of a fact, I acknowledged this (though despite your claim otherwise, Vegas is an exception here). Where im disagreeing is about modern casino developments and how they’re. Fertitta or whoever isn’t going to build a casino as if it were the early 2000s because it’s not the early 2000s
Quote:
Originally Posted by KinBueno
You still haven't answered the question of what makes Uptown such a great location for a casino other than proximity to The Post Oak?
Did you not read my post? I said it’s not better. The convention district is just as good of a location. I addressed already that Uptown was brought for a specific reason. Not because it beats all other portions of central Houston. I’m not going to answer a question I don’t agree with. I don’t think Uptoen is any better then the convention district
Quote:
Originally Posted by KinBueno
Fertitta building one close to his hotel aside, what advantage does Uptown have?
It’s not about it being close to the hotel. It’s about it being part of the hotel
Quote:
Originally Posted by KinBueno
Galveston, in reference to Distance from Houston is not exactly boonies. Neither is Atlantic City.
Atlantic City not being in the boonies yet declining when NYC and Philly casinos opened make the case for Galveston even worse
Quote:
Originally Posted by KinBueno
You also haven't addressed that the cities being mentioned are major tourist draws, but Houston isn't. And Uptown isn't a destination. To be honest Galveston isn't either. But people see it as more of a destination than Uptown. Galveston needs a tourism jolt. Even if it's from just from the rest of Houston
There’s nothing to address here. If you’re trying to say that we shouldn’t legalize gambling in Texas because Texas isn’t as touristy as other states, then great. You’re in the don’t legalize gambling camp (which isn’t a bad thing). NYC being a tourist draw has nothing to do with if a hypothetical casino in Texas. If approved, it will go where the market makes most sense of which is in central Houston. This is pretty irrelevant but Philly isn’t exactly a huge tourist hotspot either. It’s irreverent tho
Never came close to saying I was against legalizing casinos in Texas.
Morning I said would hint at implying that.
I am 110% in favor of personal freedoms.
As long as you are not harming others have at it.
I'm not in to that moral regulation of alcohol, gambling, marijuana and all that other hypothetical political nonsense.
My point is simply that Galveston would be a great spot for casinos and I disagreed with your point that Uptown easily made more sense for a location than Galveston.
It makes sense for Tillman to have one at his hotel, but it's the rest of the argument I disagreed with
Never came close to saying I was against legalizing casinos in Texas.
Morning I said would hint at implying that.
I am 110% in favor of personal freedoms.
As long as you are not harming others have at it.
I'm not in to that moral regulation of alcohol, gambling, marijuana and all that other hypothetical political nonsense.
My point is simply that Galveston would be a great spot for casinos and I disagreed with your point that Uptown easily made more sense for a location than Galveston.
It makes sense for Tillman to have one at his hotel, but it's the rest of the argument I disagreed with
In the other thread you mentioned downtown Houston being a better location than Galveston, so with that you’re not part of the Galveston over Houston gang. But instead I suppose you’re in the Houston just not Uptown.
I believe both the convention district and Uptown are great spots. And definitely both more business sense than Galveston. I think you’re selling Uptown short. There’s advantages to Uptown besides just the Post Oak hotel. And there’s advantages that the convention district has over Uptown as well.
I don't think midtown has better bones than Montrose because of the grid. I think midtown has better vibes because of the two things I mentioned, the better sidewalk coverage and the better public transit connections.
London and Paris are ancient cities. Whether they are grided or not they were built around pedestrians. In the modern world grided cities make more sense because modern cities sprawl more. Traversing 5 miles of grid by rail, bus or your personal car is much easier than traversing 5 miles of spaghetti roads filled with single family homes interspersed with dead ends.
I don't think Atlanta's core is just downtown and midtown, but I do think the core transitions into exurban looking areas pretty quickly. Those areas are not exurban but because if the tree cover and cul de sacs, they seem like developments you would see much further out in Texas cities. That doesn't mean I'm not giving ATL credit for the core, it just means that the transition seems rapid in comparison.
As for the things Miami gets passes on are:
inconsistent sidewalks, or too narrow sidewalks
The streets are narrower but they are still heavy with traffic like Houston streets
The major arteries are just as wide, but lack of upfront parking saves it from feeling as wide
The development sprawl for as much as they can. If not for the Everglades and the ocean it would be just as sprawled
Land is more of a premium so there is less surface parking, but the newer buildings in both cities are both built geared with the car in mind with often wonky garage entrances.
There's a ton more. But Miami has much better PT and much more pedestrian friendly core areas, and being sandwiched in limits east well sprawl so it doesn't offend as bad as Houston but it does get a lot of passes outside key neighborhoods
Definitely Montrose.
I didn’t disagree with you on the “spaghetti roads with single family homes” portion. But Spaghetti roads in no way limits urbanity. Yes London and Paris are relatively ancient but tons of cities in Africa and Asia that are as new or newer than their American counterparts are urban and generally girdles. Even the cities you think are ancient. Often 90% of the city got built after 1960. The biggest issue is the dead ends which do limit connectivity but 99% of all cul-de-sac heavy neighborhoods could be retrofitted for the urban experience. Their existence doesn’t promote urbanism because developers are generally attracted to grids even spaghetti grids but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
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