One region, two stories about casinos. Early next month, The Meadows Racetrack & Casino will open its doors to customers, although in temporary quarters while a permanent facility is built. While this is good news for those who are eager to visit southwestern Pennsylvania's first slots casino, here in Pittsburgh the opening of the Majestic Star casino on the North Shore is an uncertain bet.

This week the city planning commission unanimously approved PITG Gaming's casino master plan, a significant step but one taken on an increasingly difficult road. The decision will allow owner Don Barden to continue planning his casino even as some of his prospective neighbors continue to complain about it.

As Tuesday's contentious planning meeting showed, the complaints and the feelings run deep. The Steelers and the Pirates are concerned about the impact the casino will have on games and other events. The Carnegie Science Center also has problems with the plan, in particular its effect on bus access.

Although it got little thanks, the planning commission did attempt to meet the objections. While the panel did not go as far as requiring a traffic study before approving the master plan, as the teams not unreasonably wanted, it did require 16 traffic-related conditions the casino must meet, including completion of a game-day study of a worse-case scenario for the two fields.

The Post-Gazette has sympathy for all the parties that are likely to face greater traffic problems when the casino opens. But the reason advanced by a city transportation planner for not doing a study before approving the master plan also had some plausibility -- there isn't enough time. Indeed, The Meadows' imminent opening is a reminder that Pittsburgh is lagging badly behind. The loss in revenue and jobs while neighbors feud is not something the city can afford at a time of economic distress.

Of course, the difference between The Meadows and the North Shore is more than a trip down I-79 south. Rather, it is about the added difficulty of building in a city setting. The truth is that if the Isle of Capri plan had won, Hill District residents would have been up in arms. If Harrah's plan for Station Square had been the winner, a host of critics would have complained about a traffic nightmare there.

For good or ill, the state Gaming Control Board made its choice. It wasn't the Post-Gazette's favorite (like the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force, we supported the Isle of Capri plan), but sooner or later everybody in the city has to accept the process and settle their differences. We hope that whatever the state Supreme Court decides on the appeal by the other casino applicants, some clarity -- and perhaps acceptance -- will be brought to this troubled situation.