The idea of hosting a resort casino in New Bedford is now supported by 63 percent of the city’s residents, according to a recent poll.
Every major demographic and political group in the city support the idea of bringing a casino to the city, according to a poll released today by the Center for Policy Analysis (CFPA) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
The CFPA interviewed 607 New Bedford residents from April 16-17 to gauge their views on the general idea of hosting a resort casino in the city and to measure their support or opposition, specifically, to locating a resort casino on the Hicks-Logan site at the intersection of I-195 and Route 18.
The poll, which has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval was commissioned by Citizens for a Hicks-Logan Casino.
Respondents stated by more than a three to one margin that they support locating a resort casino in the city, with 63 percent in support, 16 percent opposed and 21 percent undecided.
Respondents stated by almost a three to one margin that they support putting a resort casino in the Hicks-Logan area, with 58 percent in support, 21 percent opposed and 21 percent undecided.
"Support for the general idea of hosting a resort casino, as well as support for the Hicks-Logan site specifically, has definitely increased in the city over the last two years," said Clyde W. Barrow, who supervised the poll.
The CFPA conducted an identical poll on July 9-11, 2008, which found that 53 percent of the city’s adult residents, and 55 percent of its registered voters, favored hosting a resort casino in New Bedford. The same CFPA poll found that residents supported the Hicks-Logan site for a resort casino by a margin of 51-23-27 less than two years ago.
Based on national averages, Barrow estimates that a gaming facility at the Hicks-Logan site would employ 2,700 to 3,500 people in a variety of occupations at every level of educational attainment.
According to Barrow, "A resort casino in the city of New Bedford would be well positioned to recapture the more than $200 million that leaves Southeastern Massachusetts annually for Rhode Island’s slot parlors and to compete for the additional $230 million that Rhode Islanders currently spend at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun."
Maria Contos, spokesperson for Citizens for a Hicks-Logan Casino, said the group was recently organized "because the residents of Greater New Bedford need jobs and a casino is the best opportunity available for most of us."
