At first blush, Bristol, Virginia seems to have little in common with Gary, Indiana.

Gary is a northern industrial city of 70,000 residents, about 25 miles south of Chicago, has witnessed half its population migrate away in recent decades – largely in the wake of the U.S. steel industry’s struggles. A third of its citizens live at or below the federal poverty income level with the median household income at about $32,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau…

It is a long way from these Appalachian Mountains, but there will soon be one common thread – a Hard Rock casino.

In Gary, the Northern Indiana Hard Rock received its state gaming license in December 2019, broke ground the following month and opened in May 2021.