Editing Atlantic City, New Jersey (section)

====Legalized gambling====
{{Main|Gambling in New Jersey}}
In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 passed a referendum, approving [[casino]] gambling for Atlantic City; this came after a 1974 referendum on legalized gambling failed to pass. Immediately after the legislation passed, the owners of the [[Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel]] began converting it into the Resorts International. It was the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978.<ref>Clarity, James F. [https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/27/archives/its-place-your-bets-as-easts-first-casino-opens-its-place-your-bets.html "It's 'Place Your Bets' at Opening Of First Gambling Casino in East An Inlay of Gaudiness 'So Far, It Looks Good' 'It Rained Quarters' Huge Crowds Expected Minority Groups Complain"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 27, 1978. Accessed August 8, 2018.</ref>

Other casinos were soon constructed along the Boardwalk and, later, in the marina district for a total of nine today.{{when|date=November 2021}} The introduction of gambling did not, however, quickly eliminate many of the urban problems that plagued Atlantic City. Many people have suggested that it only served to exacerbate those problems, as attested to by the stark contrast between tourism intensive areas and the adjacent impoverished working-class neighborhoods.<ref>Bryant Simon, ''Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the fate of urban America'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).</ref>

While Atlantic City has been less popular than [[Las Vegas]] as a gambling city in the United States,<ref>[[Florence Fabricant|Fabricant, Florence]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/dining/26city.html "Atlantic City Is In on the Bet"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 26, 2005. Accessed February 4, 2012.</ref> [[Donald Trump]] helped bring big name boxing bouts to the city to attract customers to his casinos. [[Mike Tyson]] fought most of his fights in Atlantic City in the 1980s, which helped Atlantic City achieve national attention as a gambling resort and vacation destination.<ref>Berger, Phil. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/51253573.html?dids=51253573:51253573&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+23%252C+1988&author=PHIL+BERGER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Trump+fights+to+make+Atlantic+City+king&pqatl=google "Trump fights to make Atlantic City king"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315174355/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/51253573.html?dids=51253573:51253573&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+23%252C+1988&author=PHIL+BERGER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Trump+fights+to+make+Atlantic+City+king&pqatl=google |date=March 15, 2013 }}, ''[[Tampa Bay Times]]'', January 23, 1988. Accessed February 4, 2012. "But lately, Trump has begun to show that knack for the bottom line in another endeavor. In less than a year he has become a force in the world of boxing in Atlantic City, N.J., buying the live rights to prime-time bouts that once were almost exclusive to Las Vegas casinos."</ref>

Several [[List of tallest buildings in Atlantic City|highrise condominiums]] were built for use as permanent residences or second homes.<ref>Janson, Donald. [https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/28/realestate/atlantic-city-condominiums-bought-for-fun-and-profit.html "Atlantic Condominiums Bought for Fun and Profit"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 28, 1983. Accessed October 15, 2015. "Five years after the first casino opened in Atlantic City and began to transform the shabby Boardwalk into a boulevard of gambling and entertainment emporiums, major high-rise luxury condominium projects are beginning to pierce the city's skyline."</ref> By end of the decade, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States.<ref>Painton, Priscilla. [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958614-4,00.html "Atlantic City, New Jersey Boardwalk Of Broken DreamsThe hometown of the con job may now be the victim of one"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', September 25, 1989. Accessed October 15, 2015. "Today Atlantic City has enough class to bring Cher, the queen of camp, back to the concert stage, enough savvy to have harvested $2.73&nbsp;billion in the last year from bettors in its casinos, and enough allure to be the most popular destination in America."</ref>