Posted on 12/17/2006 7:17:34 AM PST by mcg2000
You'll be happy to hear that Biloxi's gaming business not only has made big strides since Hurricane Katrina devastated the coastline, but also that the restored casinos have expanded what they offer, and new properties are on the way.
Before the storm that destroyed tens of thousands of gulf-area homes, Biloxi had nine casinos. Today, seven are back in business, including the glitzy Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, which reopened at the end of August, a year after Katrina hit.
After the hurricane, the city changed its laws to allow casinos -- previously confined to floating structures at the water's edge -- to be located up to 800 feet inland. The hurricane's sweep cleared property that is being used for casino expansion. (However some, including the Beau Rivage, Imperial Palace and Boomtown casinos, remain on the waterfront.)
The city's mayor, A.J. Holloway, has predicted the city's casino surge will continue and eventually Biloxi will challenge Atlantic City as the country's top gambling city after Las Vegas. (Anyone taking bets?)
As for Biloxi's other facilities and attractions, the rebuilding slowly continues, and all agree the challenge is huge.
"It's going to take us five to 10 years to get our attractions back," said Kay Miller, outreach services director for the Biloxi Visitors Center, but she noted that progress is being made and would-be visitors no longer have to ask if restaurants and gasoline are available.
"We're way beyond that," according to Miller, who said that besides the casinos with their hotel rooms and restaurants, all the area's golf courses are back in action, schooner tours are available, a 70-minute Biloxi Shrimping Tour takes visitors into the gulf, and the Biloxi Tour Train offers historic tours that include the impact of the hurricane.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
In the meantime, murder rate in NO is climbing, Blankos program to get citizens is in shambles, wildlife now reside in vacant homes, fields are being raped, women are being pillaged...
Biloxi and NOLA are both southern cities, both hit by the same storm. One came back. Why not the other ?
La. has a liberal govenor, Miss. has a republican govenor.
On the other hand, drive the Mississippi coastline and you will see the direct damage that Katrina really did.
The media forgot about the real victims of Katrina, the people of Mississippi, and focused on people on roof tops.
The MSM told me it's because Biloxi is full of rich, white, Confederate racists, and Bush likes them and hates black people. ;)
Exactly! And to take it further... NOLA rejects free enterprise development and wants the federal government to build it all back while Miss. accepts free enterprise development. It's a micro Socialism vs. Capitalism.
Yep, what should have been done abotu NOLA is to simply declare it an income tax-free zone for a limited time. Private investors and businesses would have rebuilt that city within a few months.
There, fixed it for you.
Would you rather vacation in a beautiful setting with great sandy beaches where you and your family are safe? Or would you rather vacation in a slime infested drunken brothel of a city where drunks and homosexuals abound and women get beads for showing their breasts,and you can get knocked in the head at any moment.
They do anything productive in that town?
Biloxi?
Its funny....almost everyone who ever traveled through the state of Mississippi...come out with extremely positive thoughts. They don't complain about corrupt cops....crime in Jackson or Bioloxi. They don't talk about how dirty things look. Its always that way. Now....New Orleans....is a different story.
Article makes them sound like a town full of card dealers.
And they reelected Ray "School Bus" Nagin. They truly deserve what they get. In addition, their police force supposedly had around 1900 officers, who were being paid, but in reality had closer to 1000. No wonder the place is in complete chaos, even before the storm.
It's mostly a touristy article, but I know what you mean. The casinos employ 13 or 14k people at the moment ... so it is a large part of it's identity. Keesler AFB, shrimp & seafood industry, cruise lines, Dole, oil rigs & refineries, etc.
It's essentially a typical town that has a substantial casino district.
I think the main reason is that the folks in Mississippi pulled themselves up by the bootstraps, got back to work on cleaning & rebuilding their homes and cities, and you didn't hear or read any news stories about those wonderful people over their bad mouthing the government and with their hands stuck out looking for a government check! I would hope that the great story of the backbone and tenacity displayed by these people (both here in Alabama and over there on the Miss Gulf Coast) will finally kill the stereotype that has been around for years about Alabama and Mississippi! (The typical southerner is NOT lazy, uneducated and bigotted!)
I would be offended by the article if I was Biloxian. I'm sure they're plenty of good folks there.
It must be racism. There is no other possible explanation. Offering any other potential suggestions is also racist. It is also racist to fail to say it is racism.
/sarcasm
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