IMO if they closed the Casino's in Atlantic city , your state would have to take on that whole city as one big welfare city. The casino's are all thats keeping Atlantic city alive.
I went there last year to stay a few days.I left in a few hours.. Get past the line of Casino's and the rest of the city is a ghetto. You cant even see the Ocean or the beaches from the Boardwalk for the fake dunes. No-if nothing else Atlantic City casino's keep an otherwise dead city, barely alive.
I'm not a big fan of Atlantic City, but when you say you can't see the ocean or beaches from the Boardwalk, you're just plain wrong. You sure you were in AC?