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The other strike against Denver, and possibly even Austin, is that they want to seek a city that is not like Seattle. Their comment of "not everyone lives in the north west" was interesting. It shows that they are not having that kind of success they are looking for when relocating employees. Seattle is a liberal, outdoorsy, expensive, trendy, yuppie/hipster, "non mild weather", city. If you had to group every city in the US in say...4 different groups, Denver would be grouped in with Seattle.
It makes sense that they would want two cities with different cultures, values, lifestyle, and weather. I'm sure a city without rain/snow, or simply one in the south with year round heat, would be a good way to attract talent. Also not every Amazon employee is some liberal, techie, hipster. I'm sure there are plenty of older people with families that would like to live in more of a affordable, suburban, enviroment (Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc).
So I would lay out Amazons wants/needs in three categories:
The other strike against Denver, and possibly even Austin, is that they want to seek a city that is not like Seattle. Their comment of "not everyone lives in the north west" was interesting. It shows that they are not having that kind of success they are looking for when relocating employees. Seattle is a liberal, outdoorsy, expensive, trendy, yuppie/hipster, "non mild weather", city. If you had to group every city in the US in say...4 different groups, Denver would be grouped in with Seattle.
It makes sense that they would want two cities with different cultures, values, lifestyle, and weather. I'm sure a city without rain/snow, or simply one in the south with year round heat, would be a good way to attract talent. Also not every Amazon employee is some liberal, techie, hipster. I'm sure there are plenty of older people with families that would like to live in more of a affordable, suburban, enviroment (Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc).
So I would lay out Amazons wants/needs in three categories:
The other strike against Denver, and possibly even Austin, is that they want to seek a city that is not like Seattle. Their comment of "not everyone lives in the north west" was interesting. It shows that they are not having that kind of success they are looking for when relocating employees. Seattle is a liberal, outdoorsy, expensive, trendy, yuppie/hipster, "non mild weather", city. If you had to group every city in the US in say...4 different groups, Denver would be grouped in with Seattle.
It makes sense that they would want two cities with different cultures, values, lifestyle, and weather. I'm sure a city without rain/snow, or simply one in the south with year round heat, would be a good way to attract talent. Also not every Amazon employee is some liberal, techie, hipster. I'm sure there are plenty of older people with families that would like to live in more of a affordable, suburban, enviroment (Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc).
So I would lay out Amazons wants/needs in three categories:
This leaves me with a hutch for Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina.
They also want a place that has strong STEM high school presence, which all three are recognized for.
That's an interesting (and, I think, valid) take on things, MN. You could indeed infer from the highlighted statement that they want to go in a different direction with HQ2 in terms of culture and lifestyle.
Or it could be just another tease.
While it is nothing really confirmed, this statement is causing me to lean away from cities that are like Seattle:
Quote:
“Not everybody wants to live in the Northwest,” said Wilke during an onstage interview. “It’s been terrific for me and my family, but I think we may find another location that allows us to recruit a different collection of employees
The other strike against Denver, and possibly even Austin, is that they want to seek a city that is not like Seattle. Their comment of "not everyone lives in the north west" was interesting. It shows that they are not having that kind of success they are looking for when relocating employees. Seattle is a liberal, outdoorsy, expensive, trendy, yuppie/hipster, "non mild weather", city. If you had to group every city in the US in say...4 different groups, Denver would be grouped in with Seattle.
It makes sense that they would want two cities with different cultures, values, lifestyle, and weather. I'm sure a city without rain/snow, or simply one in the south with year round heat, would be a good way to attract talent. Also not every Amazon employee is some liberal, techie, hipster. I'm sure there are plenty of older people with families that would like to live in more of a affordable, suburban, enviroment (Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc).
So I would lay out Amazons wants/needs in three categories:
This leaves me with a hutch for Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina.
They also want a place that has strong STEM high school presence, which all three are recognized for.
Or he just meant it in the literal sense--geographically, not culturally. Obviously Amazon has contributed to whatever cultural standards we apply to Seattle, so, given its overall success, why would they want to deviate from that?
The "opposite of Seattle" idea sounds very plausible. But I can imagine different types that fit that bill:
--Sunbelt urban core
--Northeast/Midwest urban core
--Suburban of either
--Toronto
Chicago would allow enormous growth without a ton of hurdles and without raising local prices very much.
Toronto would aid in foreign recruitment, already a huge factor in HQ1.
A Dallas type city has cheap land and would roll out the red carpet.
Some people in Seattle want to make things easier for Amazon. Others, like a city council proposal last week, want to establish a special tax on large employers.
Meanwhile we've been piling on fees for anything they or anyone else want to build. They're in the tens of millions for any major new building, with a big jump if they hadn't filed for a land use permit at a certain point.
I would hope the Seattle City Council will get their heads back in the game and realize that establishing a special tax on large employers is counter-productive, and is one of the reasons Amazon is looking for other options. Just plain stupidity, and why Boeing lost HQ to Chicago, though the State was also involved in that one.. I would hope these folks take a serious look at what they are voting for. But then my hope has nothing to do with their potentially damaging actions.
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