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I mean Chicago kind of has everything on lock just as Atlanta.
Why is Atlanta winning the poll tough? What makes it better?
Cheaper?
Weather?
Not even close to Chicago in any category, other than having a big airport, which is south of the city in a bad area. Sadly, I lived there for many years and I'm overly thankful to be outta there and back in Chicago.
Atlanta is the epitome of mediocrity, they just have a big group of cheerleaders on this forum. They really have no chance of being an Amazon HQ, IMO, but got to give them credit for the effort....
Last edited by flamadiddle; 09-09-2017 at 08:58 AM..
Wow, everyone loves to speculate!! I honestly think most options are on the table. Although the decision makers certainly have familiarity with metros and sites across the country, especially with their massive expansion of distribution centers recently, they are clearly asking all the individual cities to do the initial groundwork. Primarily it seems they want proposals for specific sites that can be developed quickly and for who can come up with the greatest incentive package. So until every city digs into those details, we really won't have any idea. RFP Deadline is Oct 19.
And even then we may not know too much cause they've asked for everything to be submitted confidentially.
One thing that strikes me is the short timeline they've provided from announcement to deadline. It's a scramble and they're forcing everyone to come up with their best offers in a rather short period of time. I don't think most city's economic development teams can get approvals for tax breaks, subsidies, and so forth in such a short time, but targets can be set I suppose. It will really reveal who wants it the most. They're asking for a lot of coordination in 5 weeks...they want 1 proposal per MSA, and that proposal should outline the best site, working in conjunction with the state and the specific municipality. Multiple sites in multiple municipalities can/should be included, but each proposal must have pinpointed the best choice. This is a lot of work and coordination...states probably supporting multiple MSAs, multiple cities supporting one bid despite only one primary city, etc.
Anyway, again I think it will all come down to the incentives package and the specific sites available. Amazon listed 4 or 5 things as their primary decision drivers, but those other items are things they would already know. These two above are the wild cards that bidders will use to separate themselves. In the end I think there will be just a few cities that truly cough up an amazing proposal. 7 years ago Boeing set the bar with $900 M from Charleston, 3 years ago it was Tesla getting $1.3B from Reno, and now it's Foxconn receiving $3B in Wisconsin. I don't think Amazon will get more than that, but even something north of one billion will probably only be offered from a few places. This could come down to 1 quirky lesser known metro with a humongous offer, and 1 established top tier metro with a shockingly high offer compared to its peers.
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Originally Posted by flamadiddle
Not even close to Chicago in any category, other than having a big airport, which is south of the city in a bad area. Sadly, I lived there for many years and I'm overly thankful to be outta there and back in Chicago.
Atlanta is the epitome of mediocrity, they just have a big group of cheerleaders on this forum. They really have no chance of being an Amazon HQ, IMO, but got to give them credit for the effort....
It's difficult to dismiss Atlanta as a good fit for this, even for the haters.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Originally Posted by amaiunmei
I honestly think Toronto will end up being the winner.
This is not to say that other cities don't have excellent qualities; they do. But, I think Bezos' bigger issue is of a geopolitical nature: he is not sympatico with the current administration and Trump has a propensity for going after people he feels do not show sufficient fealty to him. Trump has openly talked about breaking up Amazon.
I think Toronto gets picked to give Amazon a headquarters outside of the US, away from Trump's influence. It gives Bezos some breathing room to hedge his bets in case Trump really goes after him in the US.
It also helps that Toronto has a moderate local and national government, is close to the East Coast, and has the urban environment that Bezos tends to like.
Those are my thoughts on the situation.
Trump won't be President by the time this happens.
When did Austin initiate a multi-mode transit system and international air service? I don't see it an option otherwise given the parameters.
It certainly isn't much, but I think our rail system started in 2010 or so. International air service technically has been here a very long time (Mexico & Canada), but TATL service to places like London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam is relatively new -- maybe since a few years ago?
My only suggestion is that it won't be anywhere west of the Plains. I think it wouldn't make sense to have another HQ in the West. Texas is the only possibility west of the Mississippi, IMO.
Here are my top choices per region, in no particular order:
South/Southeast
Atlanta
Nashville
Austin
Dallas
Eliminated: Charlotte and Raleigh as NC has far too regressive social policies. New Orleans, Miami, Tampa, Houston and Orlando because of climate issues.
Northeast/Mid-Atlantic
Washington DC
Boston
Philadelphia
Eliminated: New York because it is by far the most expensive and I think Bezos wants a city he can make a bigger impact with.
Midwest
Chicago
Minneapolis
Eliminated- Detroit just because it has far too many significant problems and is too much of a long-shot.
Atlanta is the epitome of mediocrity, they just have a big group of cheerleaders on this forum. They really have no chance of being an Amazon HQ, IMO, but got to give them credit for the effort....
Good thing Amazon wont be considering your personal feelings.
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