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Not at all...study American history...Jeff Bezos is the closest thing to a modern day robber Baron...he had the Democrats bought off, if Hilary had been elected, the outcome of this real estate drama would have been much less dynamic.
Bezos is under the gun, whether or not his choice of headquarters is affected by that, is up in the air.
I'd advise the richest man in the world to spread some of the coin to flyoverland, before he gets ATT'd/anti-trusted.
It seems as though the criteria that Amazon initially released has been lost in this conversation. There's a lot of "gut" instinct but what about hard facts like the size of the young workforce/college grads? What about public transportation? Shovel-ready sites in a downtown setting? In other words, which city can best replicate the Seattle model among this batch considering the sites each locale is pitching?
I posted this in the other thread right before this discussion was moved, but thought it was important to re-emphasize:
Since this is "straight from the horse's mouth," does this make anyone reconsider their "choices"?
It's interesting, because South Lake Union really hasn't manifested itself in the way I think Amazon wanted it to, though relatively speaking it's still a fairly new experiment.
It seems from your article that they are looking for a more "lived in" urban neighborhood. I haven't looked very closely many of the other cities' bids but I was extremely impressed by the North Branch/Lincoln Yards proposal from Sterling Bay in Chicago. IMO it is the clear frontrunner of the 10 Chicago bids. The location is supreme, and it is intensely connected to all forms of transit: walking, buses, commuter rail, CTA, and soon the 606 and water taxi. While I think the stadium is a bit over the top, it just has so much going for it. It's right between Bucktown and Lincoln Park, two of the best and most urban neighborhoods in Chicago. If Amazon passes it up, I have no doubt another large company will swoop in.
South Lake Union and the Denny Triangle are a work in progress. Thousands of housing units are under construction, as are numerous office buildings, a few laboratory buildings, and some hotels. It'll be very different when the current projects finish, including a noticeably higher evening population. If the boom continues with another year or two of groundbreakings, a ton more projects could happen.
Before I guess which city it goes, some general comments.
1. How Montreal and Vancouver don't make the list is dumb, and very shocking
2. How Amazon chose cities like Columbus, Indianapolis and Miami over Van or MTL is baffling (must've been a great tax credit)
Which cities make it? between Atlanta, Boston or Toronto (in no order)
What is baffling is your continual bias towards Montreal as if it were a premier NA city with a past secessionist movement from Canada.
Not exactly a stable business environment.
If they want a southern city why would they choose Atlanta over Dallas and Miami? 2 cities in states with no wage tax?
DC makes sense if it's within walking distance to Metro.
Can't believe the Twin Cities didn't put forth a decent enough offer to even get on this list. I have a feeling Best Buy and Target had something to do with that.
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So, if I were asked to knock 10 more off the list today, they would be:
Atlanta
Austin, Texas*
Boston
Chicago Columbus, Ohio - with profound regret
Dallas - Cities west of the Mississippi don't make sense to me
Denver - Same as Dallas
Indianapolis - Not big enough, not enough sizzle
Los Angeles - Same as Dallas
Miami - Poorly located strategically
Montgomery County, Md. Nashville, Tenn. - Atlanta is a better choice in the SE
Newark, N.J.
New York City
Northern Virginia
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh Raleigh, N.C. - Same as Nashville
Toronto - Choosing a Canadian city is a risky proposition
Washington, D.C. - NOVA and MOCO seem like better choices logistically.
If this is a horse race, it's gonna be NOVA, MOCO, Atlanta and Boston right down to the wire.
*Although I generally deep-sixed cities west of the Mississippi, I excepted Austin due to it's overwhelming popularity with the tech crowd and its ability to attract them.
Last edited by Iconographer; 01-19-2018 at 06:19 AM..
Wondering what people think about how Amazon is approaching this from the view of impacts on their reputation. (I am not concerned how they should pick a place in flyover country with this who concept of "coastal elites" and what not, as I bucket that with "economic anxiety" as a code word for numerous other things) Look what Amazon has done to Seattle and its housing prices and infrastructure. Does Amazon go to an already high priced and crowded area and risk making it worse or do they go somewhere that can absorb (albeit not painlessly) a pretty decent population and cost increase with less disruption? The idea that people will not move to certain areas for a job is because companies have been following people rather than people following companies. This is part of the reason we have such disparity and issues with COL and housing today is because everything is being clustered in a few places.
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