Could the Denver metro be the home of the new Amazon HQ2? (top schools, square footage)

[Indigo Cardinal]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

I think we’re top 10 but not top 5.

That's pretty much my thought. Looking over this list, I'd put us at around the number 10 spot as of right now.

[unbeliever]

Originally Posted by mic111

I think this whole exercise is to attempt to get greater concessions out of Denver and that we are their target location.

There's no reason to believe that. The other 19 finalists are all saying the same thing.

[Mike from back east]

Nine years ago in these forums, during the worst of the Great Recession when some on here were spouting doom and gloom, I predicted that we'd come out of that awful mess and that someday even Newark, NJ would blossom. Newark is on the list of 20, they might make it. I hope they do.

A lot of the eastern locales are already busy crowded expensive places, like DC and Montgomery County which are contiguous areas and dreadfully gridlocked, as are many other cities. IMO the two least gridlocked are Raleigh, NC and Nashville, TN.

I'd favor a more central location, like Columbus, OH, within a days drive of all the major eastern population centers, with lots of room to grow and near the Ohio State University as well as many others.

Denver isn't a bad choice at all, on the western edge of being somewhat central, though somewhat isolated as we know all too well.

[alloo66]

38 billion dollars addition to the economy. 50000 well paying jobs. This could make Denver a world class city.

[Westerner92]

From a purely selfish perspective, I'm trying to get on the housing ladder, and Amazon announcing before that happens will make life difficult. Even if you're on the housing ladder already, the local tax deduction cap imposed by the federal government should make you wary of property value increases.

Denver doesn't need to go the way of Seattle, and South Lake Union is a creepy neighborhood that we shouldn't want to replicate. Imagine an even more sterile version of RiNo that's dead after 5 with a bunch of rent-a-cops that keep tabs on anyone without company badges. I'm hoping Amazon wants to spread the success around, and picking a more unexpected location would help them take over an economy like I'm sure they want to do. I'm pulling for Pittsburgh, Nahsville, or Raleigh.

[the resident09]

Originally Posted by emm74

Maybe if you consider Washington DC in the northeast? Which I personally don't. If you include DC and Texas as the South, which would be more common designations, almost 50% fall into that category.

I'm actually a little surprised that Denver is still on there - it's a good fit in some ways but my understanding was that some of the financial incentives were not as generous as other locations. Perhaps Amazon is now hoping to negotiate for additional goodies from the cities they are interested in.

Atlanta, Georgia
Austin, Texas
Boston, Massachusetts
Chicago, Illinois
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Indianapolis, Indiana
Los Angeles, California
Miami, Florida
Montgomery County, Maryland
Nashville, Tennessee
Newark, New Jersey
New York, New York
Northern Virginia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Raleigh, North Carolina
Toronto, Ontario
Washington, DC

From business standpoint and purposes, DC is emphatically the NE. Every company I've worked for in my life clustered it with the NE. Virginia begins the South.

[Indigo Cardinal]

The more I look at this list, the more I think the top three contenders are (in no particular order) 1.) Washington D.C., 2.) Montgomery County, MD, 3.) Northern Virginia. Reasons being that Bezos has a house in D.C., and owns the Washington Post. He might be looking to stick close to all his dealings.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by mic111

I think this whole exercise is to attempt to get greater concessions out of Denver and that we are their target location.

That seems reasonable. Its been done before.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Indigo Cardinal

The more I look at this list, the more I think the top three contenders are (in no particular order) 1.) Washington D.C., 2.) Montgomery County, MD, 3.) Northern Virginia. Reasons being that Bezos has a house in D.C., and owns the Washington Post. He might be looking to stick close to all his dealings.

Probably the best hunch so far....

We lived over 30 years in NoVA where gridlock is dreadful, 2nd worst or actual worst in the nation. I don't know where they'd put another 50K workers in DC which is already crowded and unlivable without the Metro subway. Montgomery County is as expensive as DC and NoVA and traffic is dreadful there too. If he wants to be in that area he could pick Baltimore (my home town) which is very low cost, has a tiny bit of mass transit, very good seafood like Seattle, would certainly revitalize an area that needs it and has excellent rail service with DC and the NE Corridor.

I don't envy those making the selection, there are quite a few good places to put this campus and when all is said and done they have to disappoint a lot of people.

[the resident09]

Originally Posted by Indigo Cardinal

The more I look at this list, the more I think the top three contenders are (in no particular order) 1.) Washington D.C., 2.) Montgomery County, MD, 3.) Northern Virginia. Reasons being that Bezos has a house in D.C., and owns the Washington Post. He might be looking to stick close to all his dealings.

Maybe it’s because I hate being the front runner, but I really don’t see it this way for us here in the DMV. As stated before costs and congestion will heavily be considered for the new location of HQ2. I really think Montgomery County is just there for show at this point. It’s not getting the location without more direct access to the regions 3 major airports. NOVA and DC at least have this, but Mo County definitely is the outlier I see.

Of the inland cities I only see Denver, Austin, or Atlanta (part inland part coastal) as possibilities, otherwise I think your battling with the NE states, or MAYBE Columbus. That’s it.