Could Atlanta be in the running for second Amazon headquarters? (shop, renewal)

[KingKanye]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Your point was that the Washington Post is the Voice of God and has deemed Crystal City the indisputable winner of HQ2. Mine is that the media doesn't have the last word on this matter...only Amazon does. So you can drop your trademark snarkiness and take comfort in the fact that you're not the only one on this thread that's in an apparent muddle over this.

Maybe they got the information from Bezos directly b/c he owns the Washington Post. Or they would have to retract it if he told them to retract it.

Honestly it's not that big of a deal, not sure why y'all are fighting about it. As long as ATL remains an inexpensive option for lesser corporations then we'll be alright. We ain't going anywhere.

[Ric 0_0]

Originally Posted by KingKanye

Maybe they got the information from Bezos directly b/c he owns the Washington Post. Or they would have to retract it if he told them to retract it.

Honestly it's not that big of a deal, not sure why y'all are fighting about it. As long as ATL remains an inexpensive option for lesser corporations then we'll be alright. We ain't going anywhere.

Speaking of that, we might just get the NS HQ.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...more-than.html

[Need4Camaro]

I personally don't think its necessarily a bad thing if Atlanta does not win Amazon HQ2. The reason is, look what Amazon did to Seattle (they heavily inflated the cost of living, completely reconstructed its culture, ect) -- I also don't fully feel (and this is after having lived in a liberal town) that Atlanta metro, Georgia and Amazon will see eye to eye in political / business / cultural matters. Atlanta has loosened up quite a bit yes but in comparison to the western lifestyle its still apples and oranges difference. Atlanta is FAR more conservative in that respect (and personally I like that.) -- Atlanta definitely has the size, workforce, population, and education but I still think there are key ingredients that arent necessarily "missing" ..but just entirely...different.

[arjay57]

I am okay with Amazon going to DC and New York.

Not to put us or anybody else down, but they are the leading cities in the East. New York because of finance and culture and everything else, DC because of the federal government.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I am okay with Amazon going to DC and New York.

Not to put us or anybody else down, but they are the leading cities in the East. New York because of finance and culture and everything else, DC because of the federal government.

Well if they do, the hint was in the RFP. They wanted good air service to NYC and DC. They can helicopter around to avoid the traffic. Of course the employees won't be able to helicopter in to afford their housing.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I am okay with Amazon going to DC and New York.

Not to put us or anybody else down, but they are the leading cities in the East. New York because of finance and culture and everything else, DC because of the federal government.

Such a decision seems perfectly reasonable at the end of the day.

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I am okay with Amazon going to DC and New York.

Not to put us or anybody else down, but they are the leading cities in the East. New York because of finance and culture and everything else, DC because of the federal government.

Agreed.

Atlantans shouldn't be too hard on themselves about Amazon HQ2.

If in fact Jeff Bezos was going to go with his heart the whole time, which is in DC, that's not an indictment on Atlanta. No city will ever be able go compete with what DC (being the nation's capitol) offers.

The fact that we made the top 20 list still says that Atlanta's doing something right. And regardless of what happens with HQ2, Atlanta is still a damn impressive business hub that is growing organically via a bunch of other smaller relocations/expansions, and it's still the fastest growing city in the country outside of Texas. Atlanta will be fine.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Neither is Seattle, for that matter; yet Bezos chose to leave NYC to found his company there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos

But he didn't know that Amazon would become the behemoth that it is now when he founded it. Right now, NYC and DC provide specific sets of advantages that are extremely beneficial to the company and will help accommodate its future growth. So I have to agree with the other posters that it essentially does boil down to Atlanta not being DC or NYC.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Whew, I'm glad we didn't get hoodwinked by this nonsense.

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Good observation. The trajectory they're on is setup for a massive drop one way or another at some point. Their dominance isn't guaranteed at all.

No need to do any spinning here. It would have been a great win for Atlanta, and a split second HQ would have most likely been more ideal and still very impactful. This competition was still overall very good for the city and I can easily see Amazon growing their presence in Atlanta in the future.

[zulu400]

I posted this elsewhere, but I agree its a WIN for Amazon....

I think Bezos is smart, he has one leg on wall st and the other in the political center.

As far as jobs I think he is just saying that the jobs are high paying - but eventually I think it will settle down with the local comparable averages (which are pretty high for NYC and DC anyway).
For this to work, its mandatory to have a big workforce around you, else the employees might demand more $$$ knowing amazon cannot do anything about it. Now they can't. Win for Bezos.

I also think that both cities and local jurisdictions might have enticed Amazon with the most kickbacks as far as taxes or real estate etc like everyone else was doing over the past year - another win for Bezos.

I'm just happy the stupid reality show is ending.

If we can make good progress in managing the growing congestion, I think we will be fine.