Casino bringing excitement, opportunity, but not solving all city of Toledo's problems

TOLEDO, Ohio (WWLP) - The bright lights and big bets of a casino can be mesmerizing, but it's not a quick fix solution. 22News headed to Toledo, Ohio to see how the community has changed since a $320 million casino was built there.

We chose to come to this city in Ohio’s northewestern corner due to its similarities to Springfield. The metropolitan areas of Toledo and Springfield are almost the same size, and the unemployment rate for both was over 14% a few years ago.

For an anticipated $6 million a year in new tax revenue and new jobs, many people were optimistic about a Toledo casino.

“You know, 1,200 people were employed here who otherwise weren't before. They now have income that they can go spend in the area of town, and it is locals who got those jobs,” said Jason Birney, Vice President of Marketing for the Hollywood Casino in Toledo.

The casino promised to employ about 1,300 people and 90% of them are from the Toledo area. Still, some of the bets were a little too big.

Toledo restaurant owner Rob Socie told 22News that he has been getting customers coming in who had been visiting the casino, but he hasn’t seen a huge influx of casino workers coming-in to eat.

“That has been disappointing, for that many employees, we thought we'd be getting more employees or we're getting very few. I guess they have a big cafeteria down there and they give their employees food discounts, so there's not a whole lot of reason for them to come off-site,” Socie said.

Still, the Toledo unemployment rate has improved from the 14.4% peak in 2009. It's now under 8%, but the drop cannot be attributed entirely to the presence of the casino, as other things have also helped bring it down, like the city's improving auto industry.

“I credit everything, it's not just the casino it's everything, it's everybody, it's the heart of downtown Toledo that we are all trying to bring people back,” said Julie Ketterman who owns a bar and restaurant downtown. “Everyone is working diligently to create a draw, and I think it's working.”

It is important to note that the legislation here does not allow for the casino to build a hotel yet like the Springfield proposals, but this casino seems to have brought a new hope for this city.