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View Poll Results: Where?
New York City 16 3.10%
Greater Boston 32 6.20%
Philly 38 7.36%
DC/N. Virginia 50 9.69%
Raleigh/NC Research Triangle 32 6.20%
Austin 48 9.30%
San Francisco/Bay Area/Silicon Valley 13 2.52%
Baltimore 11 2.13%
Toronto 33 6.40%
Pittsburgh 35 6.78%
Chicago 99 19.19%
Atlanta 109 21.12%
Voters: 516. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-08-2017, 12:41 PM
 
Location: East Side, Indianapolis
192 posts, read 240,378 times
Reputation: 276

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank the Tank View Post
While that may be true, Amazon could certainly harm (and already has harmed) home-grown Target and Best Buy from far outside of Minneapolis. To the extent that Amazon runs roughshod over multiple US industries (including retail), your city is far better off having Amazon there to cushion the fallout from companies like Target and Best Buy as opposed to having no cushion at all. For Minneapolis to take your position would be like saying that Chicago should have actively turned away the HQs of Target and Best Buy back in the 1980s/90s in order to protect their homegrown Sears. Seeing where Sears is today, that would have been a patently ridiculous and short-sighted stance of Chicago.



Are those all great? No. However, when balanced against no downtown foot traffic, wage stagnation and high unemployment due to a lack of corporate interest, I would take all of the supposedly negative byproducts of success every single time. The "Mo Money, Mo Problems" complaints are only valid if you actually have money. All of the cities that have economic development problems and clearly *don't* have a gentrification "problem" (and there are far more of those in this country than there are Manhattans and San Franciscos) are not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
It's also patently ridiculous and short-sighted to think that Amazon will not be supplanted by some behemoth a few decades down the road either. Nothing lasts forever. Amazon won't always be king.

Are you saying that the alternative for not landing this HQ would be no downtown foot traffic, wage stagnation, high unemployment and a lack of corporate interest? Pump the brakes...this is getting carried away. Minneapolis, and many other cities as well (mine included) don't have to worry about that in the foreseeable future.

This was announced on Thursday...if the arrow on a city was pointing in the right direction on Wednesday, then the arrow is still pointing in the right direction today, and will be no matter how this goes. This changes nothing for the cities that don't land this, just as it will certainly change the city that does a great deal.

 
Old 09-08-2017, 12:56 PM
 
Location: PNW
2,011 posts, read 3,436,953 times
Reputation: 1403
Mexico City possibly? It will help Amazon expand more into the Latin American market
 
Old 09-08-2017, 12:58 PM
 
Location: PNW
2,011 posts, read 3,436,953 times
Reputation: 1403
Quote:
Originally Posted by BPt111 View Post
Chicago is hungry for economic growth lol they tired of NYC, L.A, ATL, Seattle, Texas, Seattle, Bay Area, Denver, Boston in spotlight
I like how you mention Seattle twice Chicago poached the Boeing HQ from Seattle already though.
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:00 PM
 
774 posts, read 2,488,208 times
Reputation: 737
Quote:
Originally Posted by CentralCarmel View Post
It's also patently ridiculous and short-sighted to think that Amazon will not be supplanted by some behemoth a few decades down the road either. Nothing lasts forever. Amazon won't always be king.

Are you saying that the alternative for not landing this HQ would be no downtown foot traffic, wage stagnation, high unemployment and a lack of corporate interest? Pump the brakes...this is getting carried away. Minneapolis, and many other cities as well (mine included) don't have to worry about that in the foreseeable future.

This was announced on Thursday...if the arrow on a city was pointing in the right direction on Wednesday, then the arrow is still pointing in the right direction today, and will be no matter how this goes. This changes nothing for the cities that don't land this, just as it will certainly change the city that does a great deal.
Of course not - Amazon can be supplanted just like Sears and General Motors and other supposedly impenetrable companies have before it. It behooves any metro area to have a diversified economy that isn't dependent on a single employer or industry.

I think Minneapolis is in a fine position with or without Amazon. What I'm saying is that I'll never understand the general complaints about positive economic development. "Ugh! More traffic! More yuppies that want nice restaurants! Home values will go up! Who the heck wants that, right?" As someone that grew up in an area that has to BEG for economic investment with houses that are straight up worth less today than 20 years ago (without even taking into account inflation) and now lives in an area where economic investment comes even when it's not asking for it, I'll take the latter EVERY single time (even with the increased traffic and other negative byproducts of economic development). As I've said, don't ever look a gift horse in the mouth.
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:21 PM
 
Location: Sweet Home Chicago!
6,703 posts, read 6,394,053 times
Reputation: 9873
Chicago makes the most sense. Excellent transit, huge dense walkable downtown, Two airports, Centrally located, beautiful lakefront and skyline, world class shopping and attractions, modest CoL and a huge talent pool. Plus, new buildings are going up at a record pace, including the massive Vista Tower. > https://chicago.curbed.com/maps/chic...nstruction-map

I'd bet Chicago is on Amazons top 3 list.
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:33 PM
 
Location: USA
2,753 posts, read 3,277,271 times
Reputation: 2192
Hartford is one of the possibilities but since that city is about to file bankruptcy, I doubt it. My guess is Columbus or Atlanta.
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Minneapolis (St. Louis Park)
5,993 posts, read 10,130,567 times
Reputation: 4401
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank the Tank View Post
Of course not - Amazon can be supplanted just like Sears and General Motors and other supposedly impenetrable companies have before it. It behooves any metro area to have a diversified economy that isn't dependent on a single employer or industry.

I think Minneapolis is in a fine position with or without Amazon. What I'm saying is that I'll never understand the general complaints about positive economic development. "Ugh! More traffic! More yuppies that want nice restaurants! Home values will go up! Who the heck wants that, right?" As someone that grew up in an area that has to BEG for economic investment with houses that are straight up worth less today than 20 years ago (without even taking into account inflation) and now lives in an area where economic investment comes even when it's not asking for it, I'll take the latter EVERY single time (even with the increased traffic and other negative byproducts of economic development). As I've said, don't ever look a gift horse in the mouth.
Sorry if it came off that way, but that's not what I was complaining about (traffic, home values, etc.), but was saying that adding the "strain" of 50K high-paying jobs in such a short period of time -- jobs that may not have otherwise been there, and are cumulative to whatever would have occurred naturally -- may be straining on the city. But my biggest gripe with Amazon (besides the fact that I don't like the company or its business model, but I don't want that to muddy the waters of this piece of the conversation) is that I don't like the idea of heavily subsidizing those jobs/development if those jobs/development could occur organically without subsidy. In other words, I'm not saying that those 50K jobs would show up either way, but that the city who "wins" this fight is going to be compromising other things with those taxes/future revenue foregone by reeling in this windfall all at once, instead of organically over time (i.e. natural ebb/flow). Any time you force your hand into something there's usually a rebound effect. For example, I don't want to see the city's police/fire forces dwindle for the next couple of decades because the taxes aren't there to support the current needs. Same with schools (especially schools), healthcare, etc.

If the argument is that the region would have higher tax revenues proportional to the amount of GDP generated or populace, then if that can be demonstrated, I'd support a subsidy to garner that scenario. I don't see that happening.

P.S. to play on your gift horse expression, I'd take it a step further and offer to always look a gift horse in the jock (be future focused).
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:44 PM
 
Location: OC
12,734 posts, read 9,370,423 times
Reputation: 10524
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc View Post
I agree, if you build it, they will come, haha, as they say. So, the airport can grow/evolve, as can public transport. That's a big reason I still think a city like Nashville, or even Indianpolis, has a shot. They can land Amazon, then build out the infrastructure. This is most likely a super long shot though.

I agree that Denver is probably not on their radar. All in all, I think higher education and esteemed university status may win out over most everything else. That puts Boston, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta near the top of the pile....
I think they will lean towards a liberal city, so I would scratch Nashville and Indy. Nashville has Vandy, but I don't consider it a university town.

I would still consider Austin a dark horse as it does check off a few boxes but is in a conservative state, with infrastructure and transportation issues.


Now Bezos seems like a bold and arrogant guy though, so maybe he would do it in Indy just to say "I made that work."

But, I think it will be in a liberal city. Wasn't he outspoken about the bathroom bill in NC?
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:45 PM
 
Location: Louisiana to Houston to Denver to NOVA
16,505 posts, read 26,102,931 times
Reputation: 13275
I'm gonna go ahead and make an impossible case for my city.

Plaza tower is an empty 45 story skyscraper with 485,000 sq ft of space. It sits on a streetcar line, and Amtrak is across the street. That is the proposed terminus for the commuter train from Baton Rouge/MSY.

Our budget shortfall comes specifically from tax breaks so we like giving big companies our tax dollars.

There's no abundance of skilled workers but it wouldn't be hard to get young people to live in New Orleans, they love it. I love it. There's about 6-7 four year universities an hour away. The two best would be Tulane and LSU.

Where building a new airport already and I think we have direct flights to all those cities already. If not, they'd be added. Bike lanes and pedestrian access is one of the easiest parts, there's no shortage of them here.

There's lots of red tape here but Amazon isn't some fancy beer garden who wants to open in a residential neighborhood.
Cultural fit may be odd, I think we'd have to get used to something like this but I also think it people wouldn't have a problem living in the city.

There's not many recreational opportunities like in Seattle but our recreation is in the city. Also pretty affordable.

But it'll never happen.
 
Old 09-08-2017, 01:46 PM
 
Location: OC
12,734 posts, read 9,370,423 times
Reputation: 10524
Quote:
Originally Posted by flamadiddle View Post
Chicago makes the most sense. Excellent transit, huge dense walkable downtown, Two airports, Centrally located, beautiful lakefront and skyline, world class shopping and attractions, modest CoL and a huge talent pool. Plus, new buildings are going up at a record pace, including the massive Vista Tower. > https://chicago.curbed.com/maps/chic...nstruction-map

I'd bet Chicago is on Amazons top 3 list.
I just don't see any reason why it shouldn't be Chicago. What's missing?
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