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Maybe a boom of people in the city with well-paying jobs that are favorable towards mass transit might actually swing more funding towards MARTA and making it better and used by everyone.
I get the feeling (or at least I'd like to think) that the emphasis on "creative thinking" in the proposal and with regards to the real estate invites bidders to incorporate infrastructure improvements into their proposals. Like Olympic bids, rather than proposing $1B in incentives, a city might propose a much smaller tax incentive and instead look at a couple hundred million dollar boost to their mass transit systems.
So yeah, I think some of these proposals will specify certain transit improvements in relation to whatever real estate site is selected.
Pittsburgh is growing and is certainly affordable for an eastern city. Amazon would help the economy and it would be great to see a place with such wonderful people, embrace Amazon.
I have read many cities proposing to locate the Amazon HQ2 in underutilized areas in their cities. I know DC is doing the same. I wonder is Amazon would consider locating in these areas. It does give their employees access to tons of affordable housing. The DC area is not affordable in the west. The DC area is affordable in the east though. The median list price for homes in the eastern portion of the DC area for Prince George's County is $295,000. The median for Charles County is $289,400. The median home prices for homes in the eastern portion of DC proper is $294,400 for 20019, $302,600 for 20020, and $274,700 for 20032. This offers an urban option is you prefer to stay in the city and a suburban option if you prefer to move out of the city.
The catch is that it throws the affordable argument out the window because almost every MSA is exactly the same way. Housing is expensive in some areas and cheap in others.
I have read many cities proposing to locate the Amazon HQ2 in underutilized areas in their cities. I know DC is doing the same. I wonder is Amazon would consider locating in these areas. It does give their employees access to tons of affordable housing. The DC area is not affordable in the west. The DC area is affordable in the east though. The median list price for homes in the eastern portion of the DC area for Prince George's County is $295,000. The median for Charles County is $289,400. The median home prices for homes in the eastern portion of DC proper is $294,400 for 20019, $302,600 for 20020, and $274,700 for 20032. This offers an urban option is you prefer to stay in the city and a suburban option if you prefer to move out of the city.
The catch is that it throws the affordable argument out the window because almost every MSA is exactly the same way. Housing is expensive in some areas and cheap in others.
I was admittedly an Atlanta naysayer initially but after further review, I must admit it checks a lot of Amazon's boxes. It is a stronger contender than it's given credit for. One of the things that sets it apart from an isolated city like for example Denver is that in addition to its homegrown talent it casts a wider regional net. It could totally tap into NC talent for example. It's similar to Chicago in this regard.
Tap into a neighboring state? That's not the point. A company like Amazon taps into the whole world's talent pool. The Seattle workforce is probably at least 90% newcomers to the area, at least in the technical and leadership positions. That includes a large foreign percentage.
Tap into a neighboring state? That's not the point. A company like Amazon taps into the whole world's talent pool. The Seattle workforce is probably at least 90% newcomers to the area, at least in the technical and leadership positions. That includes a large foreign percentage.
Not an issue for Atlanta, as it is actually more connected globally than Seattle is.
Amazon made a specific point of stating that the chosen city MUST have good transit and a airport to downtown rail link. That alone wipes out Austin, Indianapolis, Columbus, Charlotte, Raleigh, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Ottawa, Albany, and host of others that have little chance to begin with.
Vancouver and Portland are a write-off. Why get a HQ2 so close and not just expand the current one? The whole point is to create a new tech centre to serve NA and the PNW is about as isolated as you can get in NA. Denver checks a lot of the boxes as does Dallas, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Chicago but I just think that Amazon is looking for a Eastern time zone city. Montreal would have a very hard time finding qualified workers who would be comfortable moving to a French speaking city and Trudeau International is not a very well connected airport. I also don't think NYC has a shot either or they would have simply announced the new headquarters. Amazon is a very liberal company and would want to be in a city/state/province that reflects that and that writes-off Atlanta.
For all the above reasons I think it comes down to Boston, Toronto, Philly, Washington, and Cleveland as an outsider. Philly, Cleveland, and Washington are hurt by their high crime rates and Boston and Toronto by their high cost of living although less so Toronto due to the dollar "subsidy".
Amazon made a specific point of stating that the chosen city MUST have good transit and a airport to downtown rail link.
I don't see where it states that there must be an "airport to downtown rail link."
The basis for your disqualification doesn't appear to exist so at least some of those cities are in contention.
Quote:
Philly, Cleveland, and Washington are hurt by their high crime rates
I also didn't see crime rate mentioned and that said, it's extremely unlikely that the HQ would be in an area impacted by crime differently than any other city.
Tap into a neighboring state? That's not the point. A company like Amazon taps into the whole world's talent pool. The Seattle workforce is probably at least 90% newcomers to the area, at least in the technical and leadership positions. That includes a large foreign percentage.
I absolutely agree with you. Wherever Amazon lands they will attract talent nationally. However, access to regional talent is something that was specifically enumerated in the RFP so obviously it's important to Amazon.
The site I selected has even greater rail transit access. The site is in walking distance to Union Station, Gallery Place Metro Station, and Metro Center Metro Station. Those offer one seat rides to every place in the region including three international airports Dulles, Reagan, and BWI. There isn't another available area in the entire nation with 8 million square feet ready to break ground now with developers just waiting for a tenant than DC has around the area I highlighted. I don't think there is a more prominent area available for 8 million square feet either. What do you think?
well with every regional rail line,NJT, multiple Amtrak lines (62 mins to NYC, Baltimore 74 mins, DC 95 mins), subways, underground trolley (multiple routes) directly below the site in Philly I would argue even moreso but am sure you will disagree (its also right where two highways meet and 95 is one mile away. Also has direct rail one seat to PHL and EWR (BWI for that matter too). Also bus terminals. I honestly think offers more direct one seat rail access then the DC location but we can agree to disagree
Amazon is a very liberal company and would want to be in a city/state/province that reflects that and that writes-off Atlanta.
No, it doesn't 'write-off' Atlanta. The City of Atlanta is about as liberal as they come in the States, and Georgia is very pro-business. Metro Atlanta has one of the largest LGBT communities on the Continent.
You have either never been to the Southeast at all, or haven't been paying attention. This isn't 1950.
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