Our View: Casinos are part of community

A study of communities where gambling is relatively new has shown that casinos aren't necessarily as bad as some people claim, nor the cure-all that boosters might wish.

While this may come as no suprise to people who are accustomed to having casinos in their communities, it's good to know that somebody has applied scientific research to the question.

In this case, it was University of Nevada, Reno researchers who looked at eight communities - in Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi and Iowa - where gambling sprung up at least four years ago but not more than 10.

"The results are complex and clearly mixed," Grant Stitt, a co-author of the study, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

For example, problem gambling in those communities seemed to be three times the national average. But crime and suicide, frequently cited as the dark neighbors who move into town with casinos, didn't appear to be affected.

Nevadans, of course, have been through the spectrum of gambling's image - from economic salvation to mob domination to corporate boardroom. While places like Missouri and Illinois keep adding gambling to their mix of business and industry, Nevada goes the opposite direction to diversify its economy away from gaming.

Neverthless, there can never be another Las Vegas. Its sheer spectacle, as much as the ability to make a legal wager, make it the nation's leading tourist draw.

Outside Las Vegas, however, in places like Carson City, is where best to try to draw a comparison of the effects of casinos on the community. Here, they are major employers and pillars in the community - but they don't dominate the landscape.

By the same token, people don't generally come to Carson City, either to visit or live, because of the casinos. If Carson City's casinos were to disappear overnight, the economy certainly would suffer but we doubt the crime rate would change much.

It's a more stable community because of the casinos, not despite them. Social problems - alcoholism, domestic violence, child neglect, perhaps even problem gambling - depend far more on the quality of the economy than on the types of businesses that comprise it.