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Old 09-12-2018, 03:42 PM
 
5,110 posts, read 7,137,361 times
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I guess some are still forced to come to this thread.




Anyway, Amazon would not look bad to pick DC, it offers a lot, but it's extremely expensive and not a balanced decision from that standpoint, but I expect that they or Chicago will get it.
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Old 09-12-2018, 08:30 PM
 
1,705 posts, read 1,388,284 times
Reputation: 1000
Quote:
Originally Posted by pittsburghaccuweather
You can say the same thing about a dozen other cities in the same boat as Pittsburgh. It doesn’t matter to them. Pittsburgh needs to drop its pie in the sky dreams of being a corporate HQ again and focus on being what it can control. Friendly for branch offices and small business startups.

This is how capitalism works. It has been going on for decades now. Survival of the fittest. Life isn’t fair and if you don’t change you get left behind. Those on the far left and the far right refuse to accept that little nugget of truth.

So what is plan B for Pittsburgh? What is the vision of the city headed into the 2020s or 2030s?
Pittsburgh is sort of on a tipping point. Amazon's presence would push Pittsburgh firmly in the Tech hub level. And it's not like Pittsburgh would have been a wrong choice.
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Old 09-13-2018, 06:22 AM
 
6,601 posts, read 8,975,035 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pittsburghaccuweather View Post
Why would it be bad?
Quote:
Bezos proved that people are easily fooled. He’s bait and switch. Do you think he’s made his billions being a good guy, honest and not ripping off others? He seduced a lot people on this board to think Pittsburgh or any other second or third tier city had a chance. It looks like he’s going with the safe bet after all. They threw billions at him to move to the economic engine of the country. Basically a freebie. I say he will sleep well at night and I don’t blame him for making the decision it’s all business. Nothing personal.
You don't think that's a bad look?

I agree with you that it won' really matter in the long run. People aren't going to stop using Amazon any time soon.
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Old 09-13-2018, 06:54 AM
 
3,291 posts, read 2,768,878 times
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It will matter for Amazon's bottom line though. Paying a lot extra for an expensive area, for a huge number of employees, hurts in the long run. and I could see them having staffing issues trying to hire/keep people working for them in an area like DC, with so many other better jobs available.


My theory is that the main driver of this is to find a less expensive area to ramp up/transfer to, because Seattle has gotten so pricey, otherwise they wouldn't bother at all. or they'd just build up a smaller satellite office in NYC with around 1,000 employees to have a real east coast presence.

Last edited by _Buster; 09-13-2018 at 07:09 AM..
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Old 09-13-2018, 05:58 PM
 
Location: Weirton, W. Va.
615 posts, read 393,676 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krogerDisco View Post
Pittsburgh is sort of on a tipping point. Amazon's presence would push Pittsburgh firmly in the Tech hub level. And it's not like Pittsburgh would have been a wrong choice.
Pittsburgh is at a tipping point for what? I didn’t research the employment numbers in the other 19 amazon finalists, but Pittsburgh tech employment is at 3.4 percent of the total jobs in the city. The US average is 3.0 percent. That hardly qualifies us as a tech hub. 0.4 percent more jobs than average.

Pittsburgh not being a wrong choice is nothing more than an opinion. Some love it and others don’t. There are a lot of worse places. By the same token there are a lot of better places. Pittsburgh needs to concentrate on something it can be good at. A place for small businesses and branch offices to thrive.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ferraris View Post
You don't think that's a bad look?

I agree with you that it won' really matter in the long run. People aren't going to stop using Amazon any time soon.
How does it look bad? They were open about the process. It was nothing but a gimmick to obtain tons of free press and advertising. I would say they accomplished it wouldn’t you? I’m sure all along they knew where it was going to go, but it got hundreds of other cities talking about it. I can’t imagine how much of a boost in business it’d been. Once the choice is final the news will be over it for days maybe longer. Then the 19 other losers will talk about why they fell short. Meanwhile they never had a chance to begin with. He’s a salesman spewing rainbows and unicorns. People buy it up. Nobody’s been protesting and everybody is in awe over it.

It looked bad the day it was announced. People couldn’t see what the scheme was. He got a freebie and you and I continue to fund his empire of retail convenience.

BTW Toronto is out of the running for sure. Microsoft is making the amazon site their headquarters. The writing is on the wall.

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Buster View Post
It will matter for Amazon's bottom line though. Paying a lot extra for an expensive area, for a huge number of employees, hurts in the long run. and I could see them having staffing issues trying to hire/keep people working for them in an area like DC, with so many other better jobs available.


My theory is that the main driver of this is to find a less expensive area to ramp up/transfer to, because Seattle has gotten so pricey, otherwise they wouldn't bother at all. or they'd just build up a smaller satellite office in NYC with around 1,000 employees to have a real east coast presence.
Really it will hurt their bottom line? That’s a laugh.

They are getting freebies in taxes and sites. They get to go to DC area tax free. They have three sites in the top wealthiest counties in the nation to place this second headquarters tax free. All they have to do is pay higher salaries to get talent. Big deal. That is a drop in the bucket compared to what they should pay to be in dc. The only people paying taxes in that deal will be his workers.

I’d say that is a great deal wouldn’t you? Wealthiest and most desire able counties in the nation for free. Not to mention endless talent options. I bet they end up saving money and it will be cheaper than what they are paying in Seattle.

Let DC have it. Nothing more than a taxpayer ripoff. You pay more and he gets a free ride in the most elite area of the country.
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Old 09-13-2018, 07:33 PM
 
5,110 posts, read 7,137,361 times
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It's like gravity, how some feel forced to come to a thread this thread...


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Old 09-14-2018, 06:57 AM
 
3,291 posts, read 2,768,878 times
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a
Quote:
Originally Posted by pittsburghaccuweather View Post


Really it will hurt their bottom line? That’s a laugh.

They are getting freebies in taxes and sites. They get to go to DC area tax free. They have three sites in the top wealthiest counties in the nation to place this second headquarters tax free. All they have to do is pay higher salaries to get talent. Big deal. That is a drop in the bucket compared to what they should pay to be in dc. The only people paying taxes in that deal will be his workers.

I’d say that is a great deal wouldn’t you? Wealthiest and most desire able counties in the nation for free. Not to mention endless talent options. I bet they end up saving money and it will be cheaper than what they are paying in Seattle.

Let DC have it. Nothing more than a taxpayer ripoff. You pay more and he gets a free ride in the most elite area of the country.



The fact that you don't think it would hurt their bottom line, makes you a laugh. It would be a MINIMUM of 1 billion more a year in salaries and real estate expenses to go somewhere like DC compared to Pgh. Taxes are NOTHING compared to that, esp. considering PA and PGH are also offering their own incentives (which are not publicly known). and the cost of salaries/real estate in DC may even be a lot more, as DC area is already at a breaking point of land use and prices would skyrocket even more. They would have a harder time retaining talent in DC area with so many other good jobs pulling people away.



You really don't know much about business expenses and related concerns. and sounds like you don't know anything about the NoVA/DC area, which I know a lot about. Tech jobs especially are very very well paid there, and Amazon HQ2 would drive the salaries even higher, if they could even get enough talent to join them. Most people I know would definitely favor working at many other tech jobs available in the area, rather than Amazon. In fact, I didn't realize but I've talked to plenty of people about this, and not even one of them has even passingly mentioned the possibility that they would work for them! The salaries in the area are already high - if you think Amazon is going to go higher by paying 200K for experienced tech people (not even in management), think again. If they do choose the DC area, it would be a huge mistake IMO.

And by the way, still waiting to hear what forces you to view this thread? LOL

Last edited by _Buster; 09-14-2018 at 07:20 AM..
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Old 09-14-2018, 07:49 AM
 
1,705 posts, read 1,388,284 times
Reputation: 1000
Quote:
Originally Posted by pittsburghaccuweather View Post
Pittsburgh is at a tipping point for what? I didn’t research the employment numbers in the other 19 amazon finalists, but Pittsburgh tech employment is at 3.4 percent of the total jobs in the city. The US average is 3.0 percent. That hardly qualifies us as a tech hub. 0.4 percent more jobs than average.
50,000 additional tech jobs should firmly establish Pittsburgh as a tech hub.

Quote:
Pittsburgh not being a wrong choice is nothing more than an opinion. Some love it and others don’t. There are a lot of worse places. By the same token there are a lot of better places. Pittsburgh needs to concentrate on something it can be good at. A place for small businesses and branch offices to thrive.
Pittsburgh should fill Amazon's requirements just fine. It's affordable housing and gradual loss of population make it a better choice.
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Old 09-14-2018, 09:51 AM
 
265 posts, read 150,459 times
Reputation: 374
It's amazing that all of FAANG isn't just beating down the door to center their businesses in Pittsburgh given some of the positions in this thread. Perhaps somebody should send their CEOs a letter letting them know how much they are hurting their companies by not moving her? Good grief.
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Old 09-14-2018, 03:23 PM
 
Location: Weirton, W. Va.
615 posts, read 393,676 times
Reputation: 264
Quote:
Originally Posted by amattaro View Post
It's amazing that all of FAANG isn't just beating down the door to center their businesses in Pittsburgh given some of the positions in this thread. Perhaps somebody should send their CEOs a letter letting them know how much they are hurting their companies by not moving her? Good grief.
It is amazing isn’t it. I don’t know how you can say with a straight face that Amazon would be making a terrible business decision by moving into one of the three most wealthy and desirable counties in the nation where talent supply is endless in favor of Pittsburgh. They are basically getting a free ride to go to DC.

If somebody was going to give you a car for free would you take the Volkswagen over the Rolls Royce? That is what they are trying to argue.

The cheaper salary argument is DOA. It hasn’t worked before and it doesn’t work now. If amazon wants to be the best they have to recruit the best. And you gotta pay to do that. Most people would never move to a cheap city for a cheaper salary. That theory has been debunked over and over. A few may and I think they all
Post here.
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