I am a former resident of State College (22 years) as well as a former resident (5 years) of a casino town, Lake Tahoe, CA. I believe my history allows me to speak to the issue of potential impact of a casino on State College with a voice that is weighted with more than mere opinion. Certainly, as proponents claim, a casino will bring in more jobs, tax revenues and revitalize a dying Mall; also, I can assure you Bailey’s will make every effort possible to be a good neighbor to the community. Those are all positive reasons that look very good….on the surface. But a local casino will, in time, touch and bring many less positive changes to every person and aspect of life in State College even for those residents who never set foot inside the business. Those changes will directly affect local quality of life. To state what you all know so well, big changes are coming to State College. Now is a time of opportunity to wisely consider the form and potential direction of those changes in order to preserve quality of life into the future of this wonderful place we all love to call Happy Valley.
I had a good job in Lake Tahoe, comfortable home near the lake and loved the magnificent Natural beauty of the region. But five years was all I could take of figuratively “living in the shadows of the casinos.” I pray that State College does not become a smaller version of that kind of place.
Erroll Wilson
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