Could Atlanta be in the running for second Amazon headquarters? (Boston: discount, commute)

[tikigod311]

I believe a cold climate is going to be a large negative factor. It won't be the deciding factor, but it will be a factor. Generalizing here, but I think the overwhelming majority of people only live in cold weather cities if they have to for their job or it's where they were born.

Amazon won't have any trouble attracting talent to Atlanta. Most people don't expect to stay in the town of their alma mater and most people don't like to live in cold weather climates.

[whodean]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

I think the overwhelming majority of people only live in cold weather cities if they have to for their job or it's where they were born.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

I’m assuming you meant that Seattle's sunset today is only 8 minutes later than Atlanta's.

It’s only because Atlanta is so close to the divide with central time. I’m sure Seattle's sunrise is much later than
Atlanta's.

In short, Seattle has shorter days than Atlanta.

No, I made a hurried error earlier.
Seattle's sunset was only 8 minutes later than that of Boston today, which was being discussed here this afternoon.
Sorry about the confusion I caused.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by bu2

The basic driver in HQ2 is getting employees. They have tapped out the west coast as well as Seattle's ability to handle them. They want someplace employees will want to go and can afford to live in. That's why anyone suggesting NYC has a shot is totally clueless.

Boston is expensive, but its not NYC expensive. They will balance that vs. the access to talent. Cities like Atlanta, Dallas and Austin have a big advantage in COL, but aren't as close to that massive east coast talent pool.

I wouldn't go that far, but even so, I don't think metro NYC is out of the question, specifically Newark.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Seattle has the shortest days in the country, because of being the farthest north large city, by far. Seattle is north of Quebec City.

Boston's daylight issue (and Atlanta's daylight issue, to a lesser degree) is being in the wrong time zone, for economic reasons. Everybody wants to be in the same time zone as New York and Washington DC, the nation's capital. But Atlanta is very far to the west of DC, and Boston is just as far to the east of DC.

Atlanta perhaps should be in Central, but Boston should definitely be in Atlantic, an hour ahead of Eastern.

Those are great points about the amount of daylight that a Pacific Northwestern city/metro like Seattle experiences during the winter months and about Boston's daylight issues during winter months.

That is also a great point about Atlanta's relatively far-west location on the North American continent despite being in an Eastern Seaboard state in the Eastern Time Zone.

(...Atlanta may be located in a state (Georgia) that touches the Atlantic Ocean, but Atlanta is located as far west on the North American continent as a city like Cincinnati which is roughly about 630 miles due west of the Atlantic coastline at its more northern position on the continent... By comparison, Atlanta is only about 350 miles due west of the Atlantic coastline at its more southern position on the North American continent.)

I agree that there is an argument to be made for a relatively far-easternly located city/metro like Boston (along with much of New England) to be moved the Atlantic Time Zone, particularly because of the very short winter days where the sun sets as early as 4:11 pm in Boston (and even earlier in the state of Maine which is located farther east than Boston) during the month of December.

But despite Atlanta's relatively very far-westernly location in the Eastern Time Zone (...Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis are the only large city/metros located farther west in the Eastern Time Zone than Atlanta), it would be extremely difficult to make the argument that Atlanta should be in the Central Time Zone for two major reasons:

1) If Atlanta were located in the Central Time Zone it would suffer from the type of short winter days (with sunsets as early as 4:30 pm during the months of December and January) that cities like Boston (with its relatively very far-easternly location in the Eastern Time Zone) and Chicago (with its relatively very far-easternly location in the Central Time Zone) experience... That's because if Atlanta were actually to be located in the Central Time Zone it would be the easternmost large city/metro in the Central Time Zone...

2) Atlanta's location in the Eastern Time Zone (with the world's financial capital in New York and the nation's capital in Washington D.C. along with other major Eastern business and population centers like Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, the Florida Peninsula, the North Carolina Piedmont, etc) has been an economic boon to Atlanta in a legendary way...

Atlanta's location in the Eastern Time Zone has played a dominant role and has been a monster factor in the massive amount of economic success that the city/metro has enjoyed over much of the last 7 decades.

Atlanta's location in the Eastern Time Zone is one of the major reasons (if not the most major reason) why Delta Airlines moved its headquarters from Monroe, Louisiana to Atlanta in 1941. Atlanta's location in the Eastern Time Zone played a dominant role in the growth of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport into a major international air hub and the world's busiest airport.

Atlanta's location in the Eastern Time Zone (in-sync time-wise with NYC, DC and the other major business and population centers of the Eastern Seaboard and Eastern Time Zone while also being geographically-aligned with the fast-growing Sunbelt region of the US) has also played a major factor in its ability to attract corporate relocations from other parts of the nation and the world... Hence one of the major underlying reasons (along with the airport, etc) that Atlanta is near the very top of the list for the consideration of being awarded the second headquarters for a large global corporation like Amazon.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

1) If Atlanta were located in the Central Time Zone it would suffer from the type of short winter days (with sunsets as early as 4:30 pm during the months of December and January)...

I would riot in the streets if someone tried to make this happen.

[bu2]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/...ed-low-income/

Explains why Amazon doesn't want to stay only on the west coast. " In the high-priced Bay Area, even some households that bring in six figures a year can now be considered “low income.”
That’s according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which recently released its 2017 income limits — a threshold that determines who can qualify for affordable and subsidized housing programs such as Section 8 vouchers...."

[krogerDisco]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Seattle has the shortest days in the country, because of being the farthest north large city, by far. Seattle is north of Quebec City.

That would mean it has longer days in the summer.

[David1502]

Shorter flight times is a significant advantage which Boston has over Atlanta for European travel. While Delta's Atlanta international hub is a huge advantage, Boston has two hours less flying time to major European markets - keep in mind that all flights from Atlanta to European destinations fly over Boston. Delta and other airlines have expanded their service to Europe from Boston, so it's not at the disadvantage it was several years ago. Atlanta has the advantage for service to Latin America.


A lot of Atlanta residents may be unaware of Delta's Seattle hub for service to China and other Asian destinations - it is about an 11 hour flight to Beijing, so Seattle has the advantage of having the shortest flight times from the U.S. to Asia. Boston is the East Coast equivalent to Seattle in this area of short flight times.



There is a lot of focus on Amazon's presence in the U.S. market, however they have strong presence internationally (they are even in China) and probably see more growth potential outside of the U.S. Therefore the second HQ city should facilitate that end. For reaching Europe, Boston has an advantage, whereas for Latin America cities like Atlanta, Miami, Dallas and Houston hold an advantage.

Boston Metro also has a far more extensive public transit system, however, its subway system is very dated (not handicap accessible in the least) since it was constructed in the early 1900's before the handicap accessibility requirements became law. Atlanta has a lot more modern subway system, although it covers a smaller footprint.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by krogerDisco

That would mean it has longer days in the summer.

Very much so.

Seattle 6/23 5:12 am ↑ (53°) 9:11 pm ↑ (307°) Daylength 15:59:0223

Atlanta 6/23 6:27 am ↑ (61°) 8:51 pm ↑ (299°) Daylength 14:23:51