So it looks like the North Side will be home to the first Pittsburgh casino.

My thoughts:

1.  I lunched with a member of the local panel about six months ago and we discussed which location would get the casino.  I told him I thought the South Side would be a traffic nightmare, because the South Side already IS a traffic nightmare.  I told him I thought the North Side would be odd because it would be right next to the family friendly Science Center.  I told him the Hill District would probably be best, but as he pointed out, the residents probably wouldn’t be too thrilled about it.  I guess the lesser of three evils won out.

2.  Don Barden, the leader of PITG that won the license, reportedly cried when it was anounced he won.  Yeah, making $500 kajillion a year would make me cry too.

3.  This made me laugh:

Michelle Sherman, chief financial officer for Barden Cos., also burst into tears of joy when the vote was taken. “Oh my God, I’m crying, oh my God. I’m overwhelmed. Mr. Barden is the consummate visionary and entrepreneur. This is something he deserved.”

Oh my God, I’m so over her.

4.  I for one have no idea what the appeal is to playing slot machines.  For me, going to the casinos in Niagara Falls is all about the table games.  Sitting on my ass, cute as it may be, for six straight hours and feeding a hungry machine bill after bill until my tennis elbow acts up?

Meh.

Category: Downtown happenings, Eye rolls | December 20, 2006 | | ShareThis