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Im not sure the CEO's are closed minded by wanting to pay less in operating costs so they choose to build their business in a low crime county. I really think that crime is the major factor when deciding where to relocate to. Not taxes. I don't mind paying taxes in an area where you get quality police service. I don't mind paying tolls when you drive on a quality roadway. A prime example is the dulles toll rd. Yes it costs money, but there's no major backups, its a nice stretch of pavement to drive on and it gets you from point A to B faster than taking I66.
Now on the other hand, look at metro. Ridiculous costs. High crime, overcrowding and chaos plague the system. Transit police are understaffed, the board who runs it just cares about making money, and the riders suffer. You really don't get what you pay for when riding the transit system in the DMV.
People in Fairfax pay for the high cost of living and paying into their system pays out dividends in the long run. Montgomery County is the same thing. 270 technology corridor is making an attempt to bring in corperate business. Rt. 28 and the dulles toll rd attempt to attract major corperations and they do. They have low crime rates, the employees have nice places to eat lunch and don't have to worry about getting robbed. Workers are more productive and moral is better because of this. This in turn attracts professionals from all over the US, with great schools, great places to live and thrive and the company is successful in turn.
A casino will set the standard for where things in Maryland should be. Bringing in professionals to work and demonstrate that we can bring professionalism and good jobs to the area. Its up to the applicants who are selected to work there to be up to par on the national standard of customer service and people will come from all over to get vegas standard service and treatment. I think if the casino can demonstrate they can set the bar high and bring in tourists from all over that will greatly improve the county's overall image.
Another good post. Even immigrants are choosing Fairfax over PG.
Enrollment was also projected to rise in Prince William County, Arlington County and Alexandria, where classes also resumed Tuesday. In Loudoun and Montgomery counties, where schools reopened last week, enrollment is climbing. (Loudoun has had the fastest five-year growth rate in the region — about 25 percent.)
In District schools in recent years, most growth has come in public charter school sector. Prince George’s County schools have been an exception to the regional trend: Enrollment has slid in recent years.
Agreed but then PG is going to be in big trouble no matter what. Pinning your hopes on casinos is a fools' errand and I'm going to vote yes come November. Detroit and New Orleans both have casinos and things have actually gotten worse. I believe one of the casinos in Detroit has already shuttered.
The DC area, New Orleans, and Detroit are three disparate economies. First, you have stark income contrasts. Second, Detroit doesn't have much in the way of tourism. Who says, "Boy! I really want to go to Detroit and see the....(whatever it is Detroit has to offer millions of tourists)." Third, Detroit was decimated by the auto industry and housing crash. A double whammy. New Orleans was hit with Katrina and the recession. Another double whammy. I would expect those casinos to have trouble. Different story here near one of the most visited cities in the world and relatively low unemployment.
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I was talking with a friend about this same thing this week. It'll be a field day for the stickup boys from Southeast and the other thugs nearby. Look for fights in buffet lines and just a general auro of nastiness in and around the casino. It won't be pleasant. These are all things I witnessed when I spent a summer in Detroit and frequented casinos there.
Funny I haven't seen this behavior at other casinos. Are you insinuating that people here are savages who can't seem to function in society? I have been to many buffets in many majority minority areas along the east coast and never have I seen this behavior you speak of. Are you getting your information from fictional movies or something? In addition, there are already venues for the "SE stick-up boys" to choose from. How about shopping malls where people bring cash as well? How come these "stick-up boys" haven't been seen in other affluent areas where people actually have something to steal? They'll just magically appear at the casino right? And any thug or crook stupid enough to commit a crime where there will be undoubtedly beefed up security, cameras probably out to Oxen Hill Rd., and undercover and uniformed cops milling around all of National Harbor should be taken off the streets.
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general climate of incivility.
That's a big accusation. Ever heard the phrase, "If you go looking for it, you'll find it?" Sometimes people expect certain things and perceive they've experienced it when they really didn't. In other words, blowing things out of proportion. As many times as I've been in the southern part of the county, I have never experienced this "general climate of incivility." Have you ever been to New York City?
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Until there is a cultural change nothing much will change and no casino is going to change these realities.
If anyone believes that a casino or any other business will change the social culture of a region is ignorant.
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One last thing this is how I see things going down. While the National Harbor location is centered in an oasis of affluence. In due time folks will simply go elsewhere. After a couple sensational news stories about robberies and shootings. The folks in say Fairfax and points west will simply go to West Virginia. It's about a hour away and the drive is scenic. It makes for a decent date. If table gaming opens up statewide in Maryland than folks in Northern PG, Montgomery will probably just go to Arundel.
See, this doesn't make sense. The same criminals you feel will rain down on National Harbor should be smart enough not to sh*t in their own back yard. If they were smart, committing crimes away from where you live is ideal. Yes, the criminals that you feel will haunt National Harbor will have transportation to get to the other casinos unless you think these criminals can either run or swim with their bounty to get away. I'm almost certain they won't be catching the us or a cab out of National Harbor after committing a crime around so many witnesses. If we're not seeing this crime at other casinos, what makes you think National Harbor will be any different concerning those criminals with the guts to commit crimes in and around a casino? Wouldn't they have tried this already at other casinos? Or have they just been sitting waiting for National Harbor to be built so that they could get a shot at robbing a casino there?
While I do agree that there will be the few mentally challenged criminals who may attempt such a feat, it certainly won't be an epidemic as some would have us to believe. Some criminals are too dumb to asses risk. Others aren't. Some will deem committing crimes near a casino is too risky. Which it will be. The police EXPECT crime to be near casinos, so there will be more eyes (higher risk). No one expected purses to be snatched at gas stations (lower risk).
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If PG doesn't take an aggressive policing stance, kind of how they are doing at the Wegman's this whole enterprise could unravel very quickly.
Really? So your argument is Wegman's is "safe" because of the increased police presence? Really? A grocery store? lol I guess the savages have to be kept in check around all of that......packaged food?
Hmmmmm. I didn't see anything in the article about immigrants choosing one county over the other. What I read was that the rise was in part due to those county residents who were already there having more children and unable to move. From your statement, you allude to migration rather than what the article stated.
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Larry Bizette, a school system demographer, said enrollment has been fed in part by high birthrates among minority county residents and a downturn in the housing market.
Bizette said that the Hispanic birthrate is almost triple that of white non-Hispanics.
In addition, Bizette said, fewer parents have been able to buy homes in the outer suburbs, farther away from the District. The slow economy, he said, made it difficult to sell condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes, so many families remained in the area and enrolled in local schools.
And before anyone accuses me of defending PG schools, I'm not. For the tenth time, I know PG schools are in a state of mediocrity, I'm just pointing out the difference a statement makes when trying to discuss what an article states. But we again digress. Let's get back on topic.
Hmmmmm. I didn't see anything in the article about immigrants choosing one county over the other. What I read was that the rise was in part due to those county residents who were already there having more children and unable to move. From your statement, you allude to migration rather than what the article stated.
And before anyone accuses me of defending PG schools, I'm not. For the tenth time, I know PG schools are in a state of mediocrity, I'm just pointing out the difference a statement makes when trying to discuss what an article states. But we again digress. Let's get back on topic.
I actually think what EdwardA said is technically accurate. The assumption that is being made is, which is ridiculous, by not surprisingly the Washington Post, is that people actually want to move from where they are living. Maybe people are living there, because they really like it and they have no intention of moving? Either way at some point they chose those places over PG, so what EdwardA said has merit.
Either way, this doesn't bode well for PG. To bring this back to the topic, is a casino going to change the perception of this county? What is it going to change for their to be a culture change here? Obviously the possibility of a casino isn't really registering with people, so how long should we wait for the casino to have a positive impact on this region? That question is for the pro-casino people on here.
I actually think what EdwardA said is technically accurate. The assumption that is being made is, which is ridiculous, by not surprisingly the Washington Post, is that people actually want to move from where they are living. Maybe people are living there, because they really like it and they have no intention of moving? Either way at some point they chose those places over PG, so what EdwardA said has merit.
Either way, this doesn't bode well for PG. To bring this back to the topic, is a casino going to change the perception of this county? What is it going to change for their to be a culture change here? Obviously the possibility of a casino isn't really registering with people, so how long should we wait for the casino to have a positive impact on this region? That question is for the pro-casino people on here.
The article never stated why rolls dropped in PG. Let's face it. It's not like everyone in PG can afford private school. So, why the drop? It's not all because of immigrant choice. Teen pregnancy is down in the county. I'm sure that can cause rolls to drop. I do know there are more jobs in Fairfax and Alexandria. Good schools help too. I'm not sure why the article would mention PG without stating why there was a drop. That leaves the door open to too much speculation. Where did the students go? Did more graduate than came in? Whatever the case may be, I'd like to know.
The article never stated why rolls dropped in PG. Let's face it. It's not like everyone in PG can afford private school. So, why the drop? It's not all because of immigrant choice. Teen pregnancy is down in the county. I'm sure that can cause rolls to drop. I do know there are more jobs in Fairfax and Alexandria. Good schools help too. I'm not sure why the article would mention PG without stating why there was a drop. That leaves the door open to too much speculation. Where did the students go? Did more graduate than came in? Whatever the case may be, I'd like to know.
ISN'T IT OBVIOUS????????????? People aren't moving here to send there kids to county schools!! They will send them elsewhere. The region is growing which would explain the increase in other places.
Let me ask you, what do all those places have in common that PG doesn't? This isn't news, this has been happening for years.
The DC area, New Orleans, and Detroit are three disparate economies. First, you have stark income contrasts. Second, Detroit doesn't have much in the way of tourism. Who says, "Boy! I really want to go to Detroit and see the....(whatever it is Detroit has to offer millions of tourists)." Third, Detroit was decimated by the auto industry and housing crash. A double whammy. New Orleans was hit with Katrina and the recession. Another double whammy. I would expect those casinos to have trouble. Different story here near one of the most visited cities in the world and relatively low unemployment.
I'll give you New Orleans but I'd argue there are similarities between Detroit and DC. Both are dominated by one industry, both have thriving suburbs. The incomes are not that far apart when comparing suburbs to suburbs.
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Funny I haven't seen this behavior at other casinos. Are you insinuating that people here are savages who can't seem to function in society? I have been to many buffets in many majority minority areas along the east coast and never have I seen this behavior you speak of. Are you getting your information from fictional movies or something?
In addition, there are already venues for the "SE stick-up boys" to choose from. How about shopping malls where people bring cash as well? How come these "stick-up boys" haven't been seen in other affluent areas where people actually have something to steal?
Well I know for one even when I was coming up Virginia had a rep of not being particularly hospitable to criminals especially black ones. So I think many of these guys just stick to DC and PG.
I used to go to the firehouse "casinos" back in the day. I think there was one in Silver Hill folks were getting stuck up there. The place was surrounded by off duty police.
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They'll just magically appear at the casino right? And any thug or crook stupid enough to commit a crime where there will be undoubtedly beefed up security, cameras probably out to Oxen Hill Rd., and undercover and uniformed cops milling around all of National Harbor should be taken off the streets.
Uh huh and this is why PG Metro Stations are listed as some of the most dangerous in the system.
That's a big accusation. Ever heard the phrase, "If you go looking for it, you'll find it?" Sometimes people expect certain things and perceive they've experienced it when they really didn't. In other words, blowing things out of proportion. As many times as I've been in the southern part of the county, I have never experienced this "general climate of incivility." Have you ever been to New York City?
Actually I lived in NYC for seven years certainly a lot of incivility there. It's my opinion I have no facts to back it up just simply put that I noticed a precipitous drop off in customer service and increase in rudeness in PG compared to other areas of the region.
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If anyone believes that a casino or any other business will change the social culture of a region is ignorant.
Who said that? I think anyone who thinks a casino will be some big economic boon that will somehow translate into better schools is equally ignorant.
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See, this doesn't make sense. The same criminals you feel will rain down on National Harbor should be smart enough not to sh*t in their own back yard. If they were smart, committing crimes away from where you live is ideal. Yes, the criminals that you feel will haunt National Harbor will have transportation to get to the other casinos unless you think these criminals can either run or swim with their bounty to get away. I'm almost certain they won't be catching the us or a cab out of National Harbor after committing a crime around so many witnesses. If we're not seeing this crime at other casinos, what makes you think National Harbor will be any different concerning those criminals with the guts to commit crimes in and around a casino? Wouldn't they have tried this already at other casinos? Or have they just been sitting waiting for National Harbor to be built so that they could get a shot at robbing a casino there?
Nice theory hope you're right.
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While I do agree that there will be the few mentally challenged criminals who may attempt such a feat, it certainly won't be an epidemic as some would have us to believe. Some criminals are too dumb to asses risk. Others aren't. Some will deem committing crimes near a casino is too risky. Which it will be. The police EXPECT crime to be near casinos, so there will be more eyes (higher risk). No one expected purses to be snatched at gas stations (lower risk).
Perception often trumps reality. All it'll take is a few sensational incidents and folks will stay away. It'll merely confirm what they think of PG and that will be the end of that.
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Really? So your argument is Wegman's is "safe" because of the increased police presence? Really? A grocery store? lol I guess the savages have to be kept in check around all of that......packaged food?
I hate to break it you but even the powers that be immediately saw the need for beefed up police prescence at the PG Wegman's.
Prior to the Dec. 2 letter, Scanlon said he spoke with O'Donnell as early as October — around the time of the Wegmans grand opening — to express concerns about the safety of his officers with the presence of more retail and O'Donnell's lack of funding to equip his officers.
Scanlon said issuing grants like these are very common and that they have made donations to police departments in the past to equip K-9 units and install security cameras. "It was very clear to us that the money would be used for purchase of firearms, ammunition and officer training," Scanlon said. "That's exactly what Chief O'Donnell outlined in his letter."
See, this doesn't make sense. The same criminals you feel will rain down on National Harbor should be smart enough not to sh*t in their own back yard. If they were smart, committing crimes away from where you live is ideal. Yes, the criminals that you feel will haunt National Harbor will have transportation to get to the other casinos unless you think these criminals can either run or swim with their bounty to get away. I'm almost certain they won't be catching the us or a cab out of National Harbor after committing a crime around so many witnesses. If we're not seeing this crime at other casinos, what makes you think National Harbor will be any different concerning those criminals with the guts to commit crimes in and around a casino? Wouldn't they have tried this already at other casinos? Or have they just been sitting waiting for National Harbor to be built so that they could get a shot at robbing a casino there?
While I do agree that there will be the few mentally challenged criminals who may attempt such a feat, it certainly won't be an epidemic as some would have us to believe. Some criminals are too dumb to asses risk. Others aren't. Some will deem committing crimes near a casino is too risky. Which it will be. The police EXPECT crime to be near casinos, so there will be more eyes (higher risk). No one expected purses to be snatched at gas stations (lower risk).
And just to hammer the point home. I believe you were the one that said that the casino would have not have issues with prostitution and it was ridiculous to suggest that it could happen.
Brewer said the county police are constantly investigating the issue of prostitution, not just in College Park, but throughout the county. He said police will continue to check in on the existing hotels to see if such acts are still being done.
Not saying that this will happen at National Harbor, but I wanted to point out that this has been an issue within the county and it is possible that could be an issue at the casino, although I hope won't be.
ISN'T IT OBVIOUS????????????? People aren't moving here to send there kids to county schools!! They will send them elsewhere. The region is growing which would explain the increase in other places.
Let me ask you, what do all those places have in common that PG doesn't? This isn't news, this has been happening for years.
I asked for some stats. I asked for a breakdown. I could give a rats ass if it's obvious are not. I want to know the breakdown of why rolls are dropping. So, don't feed me BS about what's obvious. Show me the numbers of what's truly going on. The article, to which I was referring to, did not mention ANYTHING about county to county migration. Yet, you are drawing conclusions and expect others to draw the same. I could give a flying flip about Alexandria and Fairfax.
I see the next time I won't even ask. I'll do it myself because everyone on here seems to know everything.
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In Prince George’s, a number of factors contribute to the hemorrhaging, including the foreclosure crisis, private and parochial school attendance and mistrust of the school system. There are also fewer families with school-age children in the county.
The next time someone asks for a breakdown of a statement, try not to be so quick and assume what YOU THINK should be obvious is obvious to others. The above is all that I was asking for which is not so obvious from the statement in the article I was referring to.
I actually think what EdwardA said is technically accurate. The assumption that is being made is, which is ridiculous, by not surprisingly the Washington Post, is that people actually want to move from where they are living. Maybe people are living there, because they really like it and they have no intention of moving? Either way at some point they chose those places over PG, so what EdwardA said has merit.
Either way, this doesn't bode well for PG. To bring this back to the topic, is a casino going to change the perception of this county? What is it going to change for their to be a culture change here? Obviously the possibility of a casino isn't really registering with people, so how long should we wait for the casino to have a positive impact on this region? That question is for the pro-casino people on here.
Both you and EdwardA are correct in that people especially immigrants are choosing counties like Fairfax, Alexandria City, etc. because they have some of the better schools in the area as well as the fact that those areas have established ethnic clusters that ease assimilation. The problem is that those systems can only absorb so much before there is institutional failure. The more ESOL students that say Fairfax has, the more in-school services that they have to provide in the school. Additional services take away from existing programs and so on and so on. Although it doesn't take PG off the hook for improvement it does show that the grass is not that much greener. As for PG, those diminishing numbers should be a wake-up call to improving school since, as others have noted, that is one of the fundamental keys that they control to enticing businesses to move to the county.
As for a casino changing the perception of the county, that change will be as significant as what was done in Anne Arundel and other MD counties in regards to public perception. Due to the uptick in consumers and that area becoming more of a 24/7 destination (per the county's current plan), there will be additional businesses to cater to that type of market. Some may be new others may change their hours to compliment what is there (for example IHOP). As for the length of time it will take before the casino resort has a positive impact on the region? That is contingent on a few things but what is most critical is how it opens. Its opening (especially since it will be coming out the gate with established competition) will be critical to how fast it builds a positive reputation. They would be well served to look at the lessons learned/reviews from neighboring casinos and build upon it from there.
Another thing that they will need to do is figure out a way to improve the foot traffic that is destined to come from the Outlet across the street from it. May be able to resolve it using a pedestrian bridge across Oxon Hill Road or a tunnel under (less likely). It will be interesting to see how they address that.
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