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I don't care about alpha omega uber duper super cities or that status of them.
Super duper Alpha Los Angeles is on the west coast. Chicago there just wasn't any news on it. West coast, didn't hear much about it. Same with Miami, for example. You have to imagine, regions were being pummeled with constant news from Amazon about their specific regions...
New York City made more sense but the cost of living, etc. was a reason people may have underestimated it.
I don't think anyone was saying LA or Miami or Chicago aren't omega alpha shenron cities..... It is just the list of 20 cities, LA, Miami, Chicago seemed more towards the bottom (but above the Ohio city, whichever it was, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.) Amazon laid out specific criteria, a lot of contradicting criteria at that, that people interpreted. Some people assumed Amazon was looking for a more eastern location.
I would say from what all I saw, based on my memories of Amazon cities, it seemed like this was somewhat near the order of what most people I saw posting in southeastern forums:
DC
Atlanta
Boston
Austin
Raleigh
New York
Toronto (before the trade war tensions)
Dallas
Chicago
Denver
Miami
LA
Ohio city
Pittsburgh
Nashville
Indianapolis
Well, I don't believe Raleigh received a recent visit, not did Toronto, or Dallas...and the list goes on. I would think it would be one of the very few cities that received a recent visit, one of which, was Chicago.
I didn’t say amazon overlooked Chicago because of mass transit. I said that was one of the criteria people used to determine which would be the most likely. Hence NYC and ATL. Low cost of living (Raleigh, Austin). Tech workers, all of them. Universities, all of them.
And how is my opinion that Chicago seemed like a dark horse in the south and midatlantic regions for HQ2 and rarely mentioned in the media? I was just commenting on how I think it’s ibteresting how different regions felt about which cities had the best odds.
Factoring all of criteria. I think Chicago is a middle of the pack, with LA, and DC, ATL, BOS, Austin, Raleigh and NYC are a good mix for very different reasons. That’s not to say Chicago doesn’t excel at some things those cities to excel at (IE, mass transit)
Atlanta has better mass transit and is more walkable than Chicago? Austin has a low cost of living? LA has a shot being a west coast city? Raleigh has.............? other than being in the same state as you, I am just not seeing it. We all are entitled to our opinions.
Still on C-D and even inferred here by posters is....
Why wouldn't Amazon want to be with so many other corporations? The go to region has to be the Sunbelt. The New South vs the Old pricey North with its worst winters ......
Suburban DC seemed to be the compromise. Still just as much too much sprawl in the South inferred and declined and brrrrrr too cold up there and old. Between some lines. Not truly Urban doesn't work to throw at some cities. It leads to heated arguments and the boast of booming and the go-to region that Amazon will surely note they feel.
That is what gets picked up on in differing post that some say ..... wait a minute. Amazon is still going to be about incentives, deals, strings pulled and still stressed Urban campus. Some Sunbelt States have been big incentive givers to lure corporate relocations and win. But for Amazon many more got in this game too.
One sunbelt city forum was so hung-ho on getting Amazon. A poster said -- looking to see Northern Heads Exploding when it wins ......
Well, I don't believe Raleigh received a recent visit, not did Toronto, or Dallas...and the list goes on. I would think it would be one of the very few cities that received a recent visit, one of which, was Chicago.
This process has been a lot longer than “recent.” There was a list of 20. It is not unreasonable to believe that Chicago was in the middle of the pack. This isn’t anti-Chicago. This was people’s best guess of where Amazon would land.
Maybe you think Chicago, LA and NYC or maybe even Disney World have the best chance because they have the biggest amount of tourist. I thought of Chicago as a dark horse. Do I think Chicago would nott be a good choice for Amazon? Not at all!
I can’t help you that you’re offended other people thought the likely outcome was DC, ATL, BOS, Austin, Raleigh, NYC as front runners. I mean, I never held these beliefs with the thought of potentially offending a Chicagoan nor did I ever think Chicago wouldn’t be a great city for Amazon.
Do you think my thoughts during this time that DC, ATL, BOS, Austin, Raleigh and NYC was anti Chicago? I also thought LA would be even more of a dark horse than Chicago. And it has nothing to do with LA being a dying midwestern city... it would just surprise me. As with Miami. It wouldn’t be my first guess.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justabystander
Atlanta has better mass transit and is more walkable than Chicago? Austin has a low cost of living? LA has a shot being a west coast city? Raleigh has.............? other than being in the same state as you, I am just not seeing it. We all are entitled to our opinions.
I actually don’t live in a state, I live in the District of Columbia.
I never said anything was better than anything else. I never compared Chicago to another city. I stayed strengths of cities. Mass Transit is a check mark in Atlanta’s column. Chicago has better mass transit than ATL, yeah. But ATL still has a mass transit system that it can check the box in the mass transit column.
I think the problem with some of you is you’re taking my comments of other cities strengths and equating it to me saying that XYZ is better than Chicago. That’s not the case.
And FYI. I hate Raleigh. You can look at my post history and see how anti-Atlanta and Raleigh my post can be. Believe me. I rather Raleigh not only not be under consideration but also I don’t like it has consistently ranked as a top contender generally always at the top over this entire process. Within the past couple months, yes. Raleigh hasn’t been visited again. But look at all the rankings list. Raleigh’s up there. And truth be told, it annoys me.
(Also ironic you say we are all entitled to our own opinions. I just stated what I saw was a general consensus in the conversations I saw about the front runners for Amazon. And you’re angry I didn’t notice Chicago as a front runner.)
You Chicago folk are acting like the false stereotypes people have a New Yorkers.
And btw. Many, many people were rooting for Detroit and were surprised Detroit didn’t get the cut for top 20. Definitely not an anti Midwest crusade
Last edited by Charlotte485; 11-01-2018 at 05:00 PM..
This process has been a lot longer than “recent.” There was a list of 20. It is not unreasonable to believe that Chicago was in the middle of the pack. This isn’t anti-Chicago. This was people’s best guess of where Amazon would land.
Maybe you think Chicago, LA and NYC or maybe even Disney World have the best chance because they have the biggest amount of tourist. I thought of Chicago as a dark horse. Do I think Chicago would nott be a good choice for Amazon? Not at all!
I can’t help you that you’re offended other people thought the likely outcome was DC, ATL, BOS, Austin, Raleigh, NYC as front runners. I mean, I never held these beliefs with the thought of potentially offending a Chicagoan nor did I ever think Chicago wouldn’t be a great city for Amazon.
Do you think my thoughts during this time that DC, ATL, BOS, Austin, Raleigh and NYC was anti Chicago? I also thought LA would be even more of a dark horse than Chicago. And it has nothing to do with LA being a dying midwestern city... it would just surprise me. As with Miami. It wouldn’t be my first guess.
I actually don’t live in a state, I live in the District of Columbia.
I never said anything was better than anything else. I never compared Chicago to another city. I stayed strengths of cities. Mass Transit is a check mark in Atlanta’s column. Chicago has better mass transit than ATL, yeah. But ATL still has a mass transit system that it can check the box in the mass transit column.
I think the problem with some of you is you’re taking my comments of other cities strengths and equating it to me saying that XYZ is better than Chicago. That’s not the case.
And FYI. I hate Raleigh. You can look at my post history and see how anti-Atlanta and Raleigh my post can be. Believe me. I rather Raleigh not only not be under consideration but also I don’t like it has consistently ranked as a top contender generally always at the top over this entire process. Within the past couple months, yes. Raleigh hasn’t been visited again. But look at all the rankings list. Raleigh’s up there. And truth be told, it annoys me.
(Also ironic you say we are all entitled to our own opinions. I just stated what I saw was a general consensus in the conversations I saw about the front runners for Amazon. And you’re angry I didn’t notice Chicago as a front runner.)
You Chicago folk are acting like the false stereotypes people have a New Yorkers.
And btw. Many, many people were rooting for Detroit and were surprised Detroit didn’t get the cut for top 20. Definitely not an anti Midwest crusade
I think you meant to say Chicago, and Chicago is far from dying. FAR from dying.
I think you meant to say Chicago, and Chicago is far from dying. FAR from dying.
No I didn’t mean Chicago. I said “I don’t think LA is a dying midwestern city” just like I don’t think Chicago is a dying midwestern city. My point was, I think both are great cities, both would be excellent for Amazon but they weren’t my top 6 guesses and not that of many other people. People keep putting words in my mouth that I think Chicago is a dying midwestern city because I thought it was my middle of the pack guess. FYI. I don’t think Chicago is a dying city.
Jeff Bezos was in the Boston area this past weekend. Was spotted out with his family dining in Cambridge on Saturday 10/27/18. There has been no confirmation of why he was in the area.
No I didn’t mean Chicago. I said “I don’t think LA is a dying midwestern city” just like I don’t think Chicago is a dying midwestern city. My point was, I think both are great cities, both would be excellent for Amazon but they weren’t my top 6 guesses and not that of many other people. People keep putting words in my mouth that I think Chicago is a dying midwestern city because I thought it was my middle of the pack guess. FYI. I don’t think Chicago is a dying city.
And I agree with you.
Well, your posts are generating strong responses because they're making statements about the cities' strengths and weaknesses but without being very familiar with those cities.
On mass transit, for instance, you are severely underestimating Atlanta's weakness on this front, while understating Chicago's strength. It's not just a checkmark. It has a serious impact on the way urban life is experienced. If comprehensive mass transit is indeed a key factor in Amazon's search.
The early predictions had a very simple explanation. The national media is concentrated on the East Coast mostly in NY, D.C. and Boston, and they ranked the cities according to what they were most familiar with. Atlanta and Raleigh are their regional competitors so those cities ranked high as well.
But outside the East Coast media bubble, the rankings start to shift. You're beginning to see the cities with base fundamentals like massive labor pools and existing housing and mass transit infrastructure being talked about.
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I didn’t mean Chicago. I said “I don’t think LA is a dying midwestern city” just like I don’t think Chicago is a dying midwestern city. My point was, I think both are great cities, both would be excellent for Amazon but they weren’t my top 6 guesses and not that of many other people. People keep putting words in my mouth that I think Chicago is a dying midwestern city because I thought it was my middle of the pack guess. FYI. I don’t think Chicago is a dying city. 
