To paraphrase an old legal adage, if you have the facts, pound the facts; if you have the truth, pound the truth; if you have neither, pound the table and yell like hell. We (see this website) have the facts, the truth; they – the racing industry and its slow-witted apologists – are yelling, or distracting, like hell. As the desperation mounts, they search for something, anything, to hold on to; lately, it’s all about “jobs,” or more specifically, what will become of all their hard-working folk should we, the evil activists, get our wish and horseracing is defunded (has its subsidies stripped away). Well.
Here are some of the racetracks that have closed since the turn of the century, and the redevelopment that followed. New jobs. New business. New tax revenue. New, in-demand replacing old, no-longer-viable – the American economic system as it was designed to function. And moral progress, to boot.
Hollywood Park, California, closed 2013
undergoing massive mixed-use redevelopment – jobs, lots of them
Bay Meadows, California, closed 2008
underwent a massive mixed-use redevelopment – homes, offices, retail, parks
Suffolk Downs, Massachusetts, closed 2019
plans for massive mixed-use redevelopment – commercial, retail, residential
Portland Meadows, Oregon, closed 2019
plans for industrial redevelopment – warehousing, distribution, light manufacturing
Scarborough Downs, Maine, closed 2020
undergoing massive redevelopment – businesses, boutiques, restaurants, housing, walking trails, recreational greenspace
Beulah Park, Ohio, closed 2014
undergoing massive residential redevelopment (with some commercial, too)
Hazel Park, Michigan, closed 2018
undergoing commercial redevelopment
Pinnacle Race Course, Michigan, closed 2010
undergoing commercial redevelopment anchored by two giant Amazon warehouses
Maywood Park, Illinois, closed 2015
undergoing major industrial and retail redevelopment with a projected 700 new jobs
Anthony Downs, Kansas, closed 2009
residential redevelopment
Rockingham Park, New Hampshire, closed 2009
undergoing massive mixed-use redevelopment – with a projected 6,000 jobs
Jackson Harness Raceway, Michigan, closed 2008
plans for a new convention center
Sportsman’s Park, Illinois, closed 2002
redeveloped as a shopping center
Garden State Park Racetrack, New Jersey, closed 2001
underwent a massive mixed-use redevelopment – homes, retail, restaurants
Playfair Race Course, Washington, closed 2001
underwent massive industrial/commercial redevelopment