The West Side and Westland area were already in late state decline at that point, and proponents of the move claimed that the casino would help the area improve. A bit of hypocrisy and irony was not lot in the demand to move the site, though. The site that was chosen was the former Delphi plant, which had been closed since 2007. So, the following year, a second statewide vote allowed for the Columbus casino to change locations to the West Side. There was quite a bit of opposition to this plan given that casinos provide little to no external business traffic, and the thinking was that it would’ve caused more problems for the neighborhood than what it was worth. Specifically, it was supposed to be built where the Crew’s new stadium now sits. The Columbus casino was originally supposed to be built Downtown in the Arena District.

Three years after that 2009 vote, casinos began operations in Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, with Cincinnati’s casino opening the following year in 2013. After 4 previous tries, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow casinos to operate in the state’s 4 largest cities.

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