Two Princetons Become One and Sports-Betting Gets Public’s OK

by Alice Magdziak • November 9, 2011 • Cities, Towns and VIllages, Sports & Leisure, Third State • Comments (0) • 1879

Princeton and sports. Two things that a lot of New Jersey residents are passionate about.

Two interesting measures went up for a vote on Tuesday and both were approved. Princeton Township and Princeton Borough will become one town and sports betting was approved by voters throughout the state which lawmakers will now try to put the ability to take those bets in place for Atlantic City and racetracks around New Jersey by appealing the federal ban.

Usually, when a town is home to a college there is a divide between the “townies” and the university folk. Well, from what we have seen and know about Princeton, that’s not really the case. The University basically IS the town. However, there is a Princeton Township which might have disagreed. But, if there was still a divide, it may not exist for much longer. For the fourth time, Princeton Borough and Princeton Township voters were asked whether they wanted the two Princetons to merge. Voters from both Princetons needed to approve the measure and it was passed last night. The merger was approved in the township, 3,542 to 604, and by 1,238 to 828 in the borough. NJ.com says that it should take about a year for the Borough and Township to work out exactly how the merger will happen. They also say that this is the first time since 1997 that NJ has lost a municipality.

The other item that we found pretty interesting in Tuesday’s vote was the nonbinding referendum asking voters whether they thought sports betting should be allowed in Atlantic City and at NJ’s racetracks. The measure was overwhelmingly approved and NJ will become the fifth state to get legalized sports betting if the legislature successfully gets the ban repealed. The four states where sports betting is currently legal are Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Delaware. With Delaware so nearby for some NJ residents, we’re probably losing a lot of tax revenue by not acting on repealing the federal ban. NJ.com notes that Governor Christie said last week that if the referendum was passed by a large margin, he’d be willing to fight for sports betting. Looks like he might have to make good on that promise.