PITTSBURGH -- Sen. Jim Ferlo hopes to fill the city's wallet with new tax revenue by putting a casino in Pittsburgh. That's one reason why Detroit took a big gamble and made room for three casinos.

The other reason is jobs; thousands of new jobs brought to city in the last few years by gaming. Those are employment opportunities many Pittsburghers would like to see.

Target 11 consumer investigator Becky Thompson went to Detroit to take an in-depth look at the impact of casinos.

Not everyone getting new casino jobs is coming off the unemployment line, many are switching careers. That may be because average casino worker, with tips, is making more than the average Detroiter ... likely much more than $25,000. That is a salary many Pittsburghers would welcome.

The ring of the slot machines, the call of the dealer, stacking of the chips are all sounds of a new industry that is injecting life into an old car-making town.

Over the last 20 years, Detroit has lost 63,000 jobs. Within two years, casinos brought more than 8,000. And with each of the three casinos committed to building larger facilities, with hotel rooms-in the next couple years, the number of gaming related jobs will only grow.

Floor table games supervisor, Warren Black, left a management job at a security company in the suburbs for a casino job in Detroit.

"In my class there were a lot of teachers, factory workers and retirees," Black said.

Debra Perry said, "I used to be a supervisor at Target." Perry is a Detroit resident who has made more money as a supervisor of slots rather than merchandise. On top of her city income tax, she's now paying property tax.

"I was able to buy my first home since I began working here at the MGM Grand. With no husband, just my paycheck on the table only," Perry said.

That's just what the city was hoping for when it mandated in the original development agreements with casinos that more than 50 percent of casino employees be Detroit residents.

Detroit's CFO, Sean Werdlow, said, "We wanted to make sure that Detroiters had jobs. Basically, we wanted to make sure people could hold on to their homes so that we could help stabilize and help increase our property tax revenues."

Property values have increased steadily, even though some casino workers who were Detroit residents have moved out of the city.

The city's tax base has also increased with the addition of more jobs outside of casinos. That's because it also mandated that 30 percent of the vendors doing business with the casinos be minority-owned.

Many vendors opted to be pass-through companies, doing paperwork for larger companies supplying the goods. But Saundra Kent invested in, and owns, half of her own company. She's a supplier of food and paper products to casinos. She has eight employees, many of whom were previously unemployed.

"Let me tell you the benefit to the city. People now pay taxes, people have insurance so they're not on the unemployment line," Kent said.

Getting these companies going isn't easy. Their orders are often too small to get the attention of the large product suppliers.

Kent and other minority owners credit MGM, for offer financial help and stepping in to make sure they get the products to sell.

Coming up Wednesday in our special look at the effects of casino gambling, Target 11 finds out what gaming in Detroit has meant to other businesses and entertainment venues ... conditions that turn out much the same in Pittsburgh if casinos come here.