Could the Denver metro be the home of the new Amazon HQ2? (Colorado Springs: school, DMV)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Indigo Cardinal

I found myself thinking about Indianapolis. The irony is, its location is both a plus and a minus, IMO (note, I am not an expert.) Indianapolis is on Eastern Time, which would give Amazon a presence in that time zone (which I suspect they want), but it's a good chunk into the Midwest, so Amazon would get a physical presence more central in the contiguous U.S. Best of both worlds, there. Indianapolis also recently upgraded their infrastructure and seems to have room to grow, and the COL is pretty decent.

The minuses are it doesn't look like the talent pool is there, nor do I know if it could be attracted to move there. In all honesty, I can't think of anything off of the top of my head that draws people to Indianapolis, so that could be the sticking point for them.

Indy's also got serious crime problems. Every year it seems like it's in the Top 10 or 15 most dangerous cities in the country.

[Indigo Cardinal]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

I think a conservative state government may present problems for Texas, Georgia, and Indiana.

True, that.

I'd knock Chicago off the list, since the state of Illinois is having financial trouble.

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by randomparent

I don't think it's going to happen, although I'm sure all the Denver Metro mayors are salivating at the possibility. We simply don't have the money to woo Bezos, and I think Amazon is more inclined to go east. I'm giving Atlanta or a Northeastern location the best odds.

I agree. The cost of living, especially housing, due to demand, will get Denver off the list as well as its geographical location.

[Indigo Cardinal]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Indy's also got serious crime problems. Every year it seems like it's in the Top 10 or 15 most dangerous cities in the country.

I guess I didn't consider that since St. Louis (where I'm from) keeps hitting number 1......

[BornintheSprings]

My money is on Atlanta.

[EastBoundandDownChick]

My money is on Boston or Denver. In reality, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they broke up the headquarters, keeping some of the programmers in Boston while putting the actual warehouse in Denver. That way, they'd reap the best benefits of both cities. A geographically central location and the best workers. They would be able to access the best talent from the best schools on the East Coast but not have to pay for such a painful amount of square footage, which comes at a steep premium in a place like Boston. COL is also lower in Denver, despite what anyone says. That would be a better place to put those $12 an hour workers. They may choose Austin, Dallas, or Atlanta also for that very reason- COL concerns and wanting to retain a quality workforce without the need to constantly rehire/retrain. I am willing to bet even Amazon doesn't have it all figured out yet- if they did they would have made a decision already.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by EastBoundandDownChick

My money is on Boston or Denver. In reality, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they broke up the headquarters, keeping some of the programmers in Boston while putting the actual warehouse in Denver. That way, they'd reap the best benefits of both cities.

This isn't about a warehouse, they already have those all over the country, including in Denver.

[Vanderbiltgrad]

My money would have been Denver but I have heard they want an Eastern HQ so Atlanta is my favorite. Denver and LA are the only Western cities left.

[brightdoglover]

I think Pittsburgh would be great. Affordable and available housing, good mass transit, good airport connections, and the talent pool of Carnegie Mellon and the reports of millennial workers going to Pittsburgh.

I live near Boston and I cannot imagine adding that many high-wage workers to the mix anywhere in eastern MA. The housing is out of sight, there is little available anyway and the mass transit only looks good compared to, say, Dallas, which has very little.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I think Pittsburgh would be great. Affordable and available housing, good mass transit, good airport connections, and the talent pool of Carnegie Mellon and the reports of millennial workers going to Pittsburgh.

I live near Boston and I cannot imagine adding that many high-wage workers to the mix anywhere in eastern MA. The housing is out of sight, there is little available anyway and the mass transit only looks good compared to, say, Dallas, which has very little.

But....but DART has the bigliest, most yuuuuge light rail network in the country.

DFW as a whole has terrible last-mile public transportation, and Arlington (population 400,000 and home to Six Flags, Jerry World, and Globe Life Park) is a transit desert with no public transportation at all.