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West Side Story.....
Rohnert Park's poor families will suffer the greatest impact from the casino propsed by the Federated Indians of
Graton Rancheria. Rohnert Park's low-income housing is located primarily on the west side of Highway 101, and most of
that housing is less than 1/4 mile from the casino site. Five low-income developments now exist near the casino site west
of 101 in Rohnert Park, and more low- to very low-income housing is planned for the West Side in the next ten years, all of
it less than 1/4 mile from the casino.
On the east side of the freeway, Rohnert Park's more affluent neighborhoods
are graced with thirteen beautiful parks, many with swimming pools and tennis courts. But on the west side of the freeway,
it's a different story. There are no parks, no pools, and no tennis courts for the city's thousands of low-income
residents, and now Rohnert Park's low- income families will have to bear the brunt of the mega-casino's impacts on
traffic, and noise and air pollution, as well as the increase in crime and prostitution the casino will surely bring.
But that's not all: according to a recent study by the University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addiction,
"...individuals who live within ten miles of a casino or are in a disadvantaged neighborhood are more likely to experience
problem gambling...." - a double whammy for the residents on Rohnert Park's West Side.
Families in Rancho
Verde Mobile Home Park, one of several low-income housing developments on Rohnert Park's West Side, would have the casino
literally in their back yards, and the Park's children will be exposed to the negative impacts from the Federated
Indians of Graton Rancheria's mega-casino on a daily basis.
University of Buffalo study (PDF)-Click Here
Read More About Diesel Soot and Children HERE
Read More About Casinos and Crime HERE
Read More About Gambling's Effect on Children and Families HERE
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