What happened in Tunica County?
Sorry, I left that out. Tunica county, in the early 90s, got serious gambling. Today, it is the second largest gambling venue in the nation. It is eerie. You are driving through the cotton fields, then out of nowhere arise 9 Vegas-styled casinos (although smaller), including such things as huge golf courses and 30-story hotels. These aren't riverboats (although, by law, they are required to float -- as a result you have HUGE barges floating in river water -- but patrons don't even know it). Some are 150,000 square feet.
Anyway, Tunica county, once the poorest in America, now has huge, divided highways where gravel roads once were. Brand new beautiful public schools; a great city/convention facility, etc. You name it, they've got it. Whether they need it or not <g>..
Most of the casino employees are locals, although drawn from surrounding counties (such as Shelby County, TN (Memphis, only 20 miles away)).
My point was, however, that Greenville is not representative of Mississippi. Biloxi/Gulfport is thriving. Jackson is thriving. Tunica is thriving. Philadelphia (also a major casino venue) is thriving. It happens that Greenville (also having two casinos, but of the small, run down, riverboat variety, serving only locals) is the poorest region of Mississippi. The article would lead one to believe it is representative of Mississippi or the South, in general. |
