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With or without gambling, it may be possible for much good to come from Casino dreaming. It would seem a shame for all the plans to go to waste for lack of a casino license. Faced with the prospect of not getting a license, the dreamers seem to be asking: "do we really need a casino to make this work?"

It's a good question to ask, and more often the answer seems to be "no."

Word is Forest City may develop South Shore condos with or without the Casino license. Likewise, after pulling his bid for a North Shore Casino near PNC Park, Merrill Stabile wants to develop anyway.

According to the Post-Gazette (which undoubtably must find some joy in the new parking garage rising in front of the Tribune-Review sign), Stabile and Kratsa Properties are putting together plans for a proposed residential, retail, entertainment and hotel development at the site.

In other recent developments, the developer of the DelMonte and Equitable office buildings, Continental recently announced the addition of three restaurants in time for the All-Star game in July.

More often than not, what developers and planners are coming up with are dense mixed-use developments with casino's in them. These kinds of developments, sometimes known as cities have existed for centuries. We are perhaps now realizing they will work with or without casinos.