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Let me tell you a story about a seaside resort which has seen better days. The sort of place which used to have thousands and thousands of people come to visit during the summer.

They brought bagged lunches and spent hours soaking up the sun while sprawled out on beach blankets. Once they were toasted on both sides, they’d head off to the boardwalk, ride the rides, eat some cotton candy and drop a bunch of money on the midway-style games. Now, they don’t come anymore. No more rides or games. No supermarket. No jobs.

That was the story of Atlantic City before casino gaming came to town. It was the proverbial ghost town. I lived and worked in Atlantic City when the casino boom was picking up steam. The “slum by the sea,” as many were calling it at the time, was due for a renaissance thanks to the arrival of casinos. There was to be a building boom of epic proportions and thousands of new jobs would be created. And oh, the tax revenue crowed the local politicos.

When all was said and done, there were plenty of temporary construction jobs created along with more permanent employment for people working in the hotels and casinos. Racketeer-influenced unions and La Cosa Nostra were well represented in City Hall and numerous Atlantic City mayors and city council members wound up interacting with law enforcement under, shall we say, other than social circumstances.

Overseeing the tax revenue was a major bureaucracy called the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. The CRDA (known locally as CREEDA) wound up reinvesting the tax dollars coming from Atlantic City casino operations in a lot of places, most of which were not Atlantic City. More than a decade after the casinos hit town, Atlantic City still did not have a movie theater or a single supermarket. The dealers and croupiers earn good money and they buy lovely homes, which are mostly in Brigantine or Egg Harbor Township.

Change a few words here and there, toss in a couple of jokes about hair spray and fried clams and we’ve got Revere. The first home I ever owned was in Revere and the town still holds a special place in my heart. I just hope that they get everything they’ve been promised up front.

You know what would look great? A monorail from the casino to the beach. I’ll bet Lyle Lanley could get a good price on a slightly used one.

Jeff Katz is a contributor to Boston Herald Radio.