The Way Life Might Be ; Election 2008: In Minnesota and Michigan, Host Towns Cheer a Casino- Fed Boom, but Advise Planning for Higher Service and Infrastructure Costs.

Summary

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Mount Pleasant, Mich., used to be quiet in the fall, spring and winter - and even quieter in the summer, when Central Michigan University students went home.

Like the college's name suggests, the town is in the middle of the state and "in the middle of nowhere," said Gary Gag-non, assistant professor of marketing and hospitality at CMU.

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The Way Life Might Be ; Election 2008: In Minnesota and Michigan, Host Towns Cheer a Casino- Fed Boom, but Advise Planning for Higher Service and Infrastructure Costs.

"In the summer, you could throw a bowling ball down Main Street and not hit anybody because the students were all gone," Gagnon said.

But 10 years ago, the Saginaw Chippewa tribe opened the Las Vegas- style Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. Today, an estimated 10,000 people visit the casino every day, pumping millions of dollars into the local community. Strip malls and hotels have proliferated, and business is booming.

At the same time, crime is on the rise, and local services like roads, water supply and sewer system have been sorely taxed.

"It quickly became a gambling town tha...

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