They have become a form of entertainment for millions of Americans. In fact, Las Vegas, considered the home of casino gambling, is third only to Disneyworld and New York in tourism with 260 million visitors per year. While it's true that they generate billions of dollars in revenue, hardly any of that goes back to the local economy, as lobbyists promise for building in a city. Effects on local economies include the creation of construction and hospitality jobs within the casino. It's true that jobs are created, although they usually go to people from outside the communities. Lobbyists for these large casino companies say that allowing casino gambling in their cities will boost a dying economy. Contrary to this claim, however, Atlantic City has the highest unemployment rate in New Jersey. They claim that restaurants, movie theaters and other local businesses will benefit when exactly the opposite is true. Who will eat at a local restaurant when the casino offers free meals and drinks to gamblers. In 1996, Atlantic City devoted $318 million to food and beverage promotion. Even in Atlantic City, more than 900 of 2,100 small businesses have closed their doors and the number of local restaurants has been reduced from 243 to 146. Richard Byron, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, describes gambling expenses as money extracted from other consumption expenses. When you get into a small community like Atlantic City or Biloxi, the people who live in that community start going there to have fun instead of the movie theaters, restaurants, and other places they used to go to. In 1994, more people went to major league baseball parks and more money was spent than on books, albums and theme parks. It also affects real estate values, in Atlantic City the average cost of a home dropped by 24,000.00 after construction and by 11,000.00 in cities near Atlantic City. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The reason could be due to the increase in crime rate. They would like everyone to believe that there is no change in crime statistics after their entry, but this is not true. The American Insurance Institute estimates that 40% of all white collar crimes originate in gambling. Compulsive gamblers will gamble until they have nothing left: savings, family assets, personal belongings, anything that can be pawned or sold. They will take loans from colleagues, family, friends or banks, but will rarely admit it is for gambling. They will borrow until they are bankrupt. In South Dakota, the state has seen an increase in chapter seven bankruptcies. But personal debt is by far not the only problem for compulsive gamblers. In the same two years bankruptcies increased in South Dakota, the number of divorces increased by almost 6%. Furthermore, child abuse and neglect are among the crimes most committed by compulsive gamblers. A study of the impact of casino gambling on Atlantic City and surrounding areas found that not only has crime spread to surrounding areas easily accessible from Atlantic City, but some areas have had no measurable economic benefit from casino development casino. It has even been measured that gambling leads to crime. In 1994 the national crime rate dropped to 100%, while the 31 locations where the new 04 casino is located saw a 7.7% increase in crime. Governments are creating environments in which normal people, without precedent..