Audie Blevins

Gambling as a Community Development Quick Fix

As small communities throughout the country felt the loss of federal programs and funding, four gold-mining towns in South Dakota and Colorado turned to the legalization of limited-stakes gambling as a means of economic revitalization. All four used the preservation of their historic Old West images to legitimate gaming, but differences in state legislation resulted in different patterns of development. In Deadwood, South Dakota, many small casinos were established, with most gaming tax revenues going toward the towns historic preservation. In Colorado, fewer but much larger casinos emerged, with the returns for historic preservation available to projects across the state, with the gambling communities of Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk benefiting little. Retail businesses were cannibalized as gambling became the dominant industry in all four towns. Resident populations and schools experienced little change; most of the change occurred in vehicular traffic, law enforcement, and the utilization of infrastructure.

Gambling on the Lure of Historic Preservation: Community Transformation in Rocky Mountain Mining Towns.

Recently four small isolated mountain communities, similar in history and common in their efforts to stem a half century of population and economic decline, chose to undertake a unique community development effort to revitalize their economies: local option, limited stakes gambling. In all four, historic preservation was the rationale for the legalization of gaming and, in all four, gaming has been highly successful in creating jobs, private and public investments, and increased tourism; yet, different state approaches to regulating gaming resulted in contrasting community development efforts. In South Dakota, most gaming taxes and fees are ear-marked for preservation while in Colorado these revenues are destined primarily for the state general fund. These legislated mandates, along with different restrictions on the magnitude of gaming establishments, have resulted in different development paths. The similarities and differences among these four communities are examined.

Primary Group Interaction of Residents in a Retirement Hotel

The interaction patterns of sixty-three residents age 55 and over living in a retirement hotel for three types of primary groups-kin, friends, and neighbors-were studied. Almost all residents voiced high housing satisfaction and were involved to various degrees in their primary group network. The relative with whom visited the most, usually the adult child, influences the primary group interaction the most, but at the same time may contribute to feelings of uselessness on the part of the retired residents of the apartment complex.

AMERICAN INDIAN CASINO GAMBLING: ISSUES OF TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Games of chance have been commonplace in the histories of American Indian peoples, but many tribal governments are now engaged in casino gambling as a part of the nationwide expansion of gambling for local economic development. Analysis of selected case examples, primarily from the West, reveals that tribes invest their profits in community infrastructure, social welfare projects, and economic diversification. Investments provide needed employment for tribal members and non-Indian residents of surrounding communities. Federal legislation requires states that allow gambling to develop compacts with tribal governments for the provision of gambling within those states. However, constitutional and case law regard tribal governments as sovereign in relation to state governments. This legal tension provides a source of continuing conflict in spite of Indian casino gamings potential for community development.

The Rural Turnaround in Wyoming: Implications for Community Development

From 1970 to 1980 Wyoming experienced a population increase of more than 40 percent. Most of the increase is attributed to migration. By 1980 three of every 10 residents were migrants. Most migrants settled in nonmetropolitan areas. (Wyoming had no metropolitan area in 1970, only one by 1980 and two by 1984). Growth from 1980 to 1986 slowed to an increase of 8.0 percent, but nonmetropolitan areas still were experiencing a higher rate of growth than metropolitan areas. Examination of the industrial sectors within Wyomings economy revealed that the number of jobs in the state increased substantially during the 1970–1980 decade; growth occurred disproportionately in construction and mining, reflecting the development of the states vast natural resources of coal, gas and oil. Although the population boom of the 1970s was tied closely to energy extraction, results are inconclusive regarding a possible “bust” during the 1980s as natural resource development declined. Wyomings employment distribution changed ...