Thanks to all out organizing and pressure from the Philadelphia Neigborhood Alliance and Casino Free Philadelphia, it looks like two Sugarhouse and Foxwoods will be forced to move. Gov. Rendell has now joined Vince Fumo and Dwight Evans in telling Sugarhouse and Foxwoods that they have to move. When the Governor (the long time backer of bringing Casinos to Philly and PA) and Fumo (whose office wrote the bill) are telling these guys to move, you know they are in trouble.

And so, Fishtown and South Philly are saved from the potential devastation that a Casino can bring.

But...

Where now?

It still doesn't make sense to put a Casino in East Falls (or anywhere in Philadelphia, for that matter). It still doesn't make sense to kill potential developments at the Navy Yard with a windowless slot barn. Where the hell are these things going to go, and what is going to be done to make sure that the next neighborhood that is 'selected' truly wants a Casino there?

From a technical perspective, where do we go from here? Another set of hearings with the gaming review board?

And, after spending 2 years assuming that Casinos were going to go elsewhere, how do we protect neighborhoods that didn't think they would have to organize anymore (or ever) against these behemoths? The worst possible outcome is that as a result of this pressure, there is simply a backroom deal that puts the Casinos in two new neighborhoods, where the tried and true divide-and-conquer approach will be taken with community groups to grease the skids of casinos.

So, Casino Free Philadelphia, Philadelphia Neighborhood Alliance, Bill Green and others: What is going to happen to make sure that mistakes are not repeated, and new Philly neighborhoods are not damaged? Where do we go from here?

Here is a short film we produced for the Philadelphia Neighborhood Alliance (PNA) as part of their testimony against the proposed Casino Entertainment District for the Foxwoods' site in South Philadelphia. It features footage of former Planning Commission Executive Director Janice Woodcock admitting what a lot of people know; neither the Foxwoods or Sugarhouse sites work for the waterfront or neighborhoods. I hope you like it and will pass it around.

When Linda Soffer and Jeanne Kohl of the group Mothers Against SugarHouse (MASH) received news that Thomas "Tad" Decker would be co-chairing a fundraiser for Democratic mayoral nominee Michael Nutter, they were confused and outraged. Decker is the former chair of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the governmental body that authorized the construction of two casinos along Philadelphia's Delaware riverfront and within a couple hundred feet of people's homes.

"I couldn't understand why Nutter would be taking money from a man who worked to deny Philadelphians a vote on where to put casinos" said Linda Soffer of MASH.