Amazon Headquarters (Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile: 2014, living, cost of)

[adam36]

Like it or not, there is no way ever that Amazon will go to a state that is on the verge of electing a senator who wants to criminalize homosexuality and disallow muslims from serving in elected office. It seems that many of you on this board think progressivism is patently bad or wrong, but the business leaders in this country don't want to move to a place where they need to worry that the local population might support laws that will work against some of its employees.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by adam36

Like it or not, there is no way ever that Amazon will go to a state that is on the verge of electing a senator who wants to criminalize homosexuality and disallow muslims from serving in elected office. It seems that many of you on this board think progressivism is patently bad or wrong, but the business leaders in this country don't want to move to a place where they need to worry that the local population might support laws that will work against some of its employees.

Well, I guess that knocks most Southern states except Virginia out of the running if that is the case.

[jgn2013]

Originally Posted by jero23

I would say sorta. Texas still in this day and age is still seen as a rabidly anti-LGBTQ and civil rights state hence why you don't see much LGBTQs aside from Houston and to a certain extend DFW. Georgia has only kept this notion at bay because of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce threats, but if another GOP governor with more A'OK with religious freedom statutes then those Metro Atlanta Chamber threats will be null and void.

Dallas & Houston are about the same in terms of levels of progressiveness. The surrounding Dallas/Houston suburbs are definitely more conservative. Austin and San Antonio are fairly left-leaning as well...and I'd probably throw El Paso in the mix. TX's problem is that the cities are probably 60/40 blue but the 'burbs and rural areas are like 80/20 red.

[Reactionary]

adam = "progressivism is patently bad or wrong"

Embrace the power of 'and'.

[jgn2013]

Originally Posted by Justin Scott

Alabama isn't much different than anywhere else. The difference? Alabama has a significant black population percentage thus White Supremacy and Black Empowerment has clashed many times. The other regions of this country never had that issue because their White Supremacy has yet to be "threatened".

Excellent point. CA has a pretty long history of racial conflicts between whites, blacks and Latinos (Zoot Suit Riots, Watts, Rodney King, Reagan vs. the Black Panthers etc), but that tends to go under the radar. Many red and blue states are pretty doggone white, so racial tension doesn't appear to exist. If you ask the typical Utah, Wisconsin or Maine resident about race, they'll have very different responses from the average California, Texas or Alabama resident.

[adam36]

Originally Posted by jero23

Well, I guess that knocks most Southern states except Virginia out of the running if that is the case.

I wonder how much chance NC has given their recent newsworthy legislation. I think the mild climate, good cost of living, and ready supply of degreed individuals keeps them in the running.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by PortCity

An education is an education. IT courses at UA,AU, USA,UAB,UAH,AUM, and etc is no different than studying it in the state of Massachusetts.

No,none are on par with MIT,Harvard or Tufts and not to mention any of the other over one hundred other schools within a 1/2 hour of Boston,and that is just BOSTON.I am not including Yale ,Brown,Dartmouth or Bennington all within easy driving distance

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

Yeah like LA, Seattle, Minneapolis, NYC, Boston, DC, etc. They are all having a hard time surviving.

Originally Posted by annie_himself

So progressive cities experience racial tension because they are liberal or because they have had recent racial issues make national news?
This issue isn't liberal vs conservative so that argument isn't relevant but I'm confused by your point.

You have racial tension when you have sizable factions of different races and cultures. They can't help but clash, because they are different. Seattle and Minneapolis are immediately disqualified, even though they do have issues with refugees there. LA, NYC, DC and Boston have documented proof of racial tension, are you living in a cave?

The reason those cities (LA, NYC, Boston, DC) are doing well is because the economy is big enough to keep decent people there, even though there a lot of backwards liberals running around. The economy was born well before the "progressive" policies took over.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by Zenstyle

Forget about it, B'ham, and all of Alabama. The crew that Amazon wants to attract can't be found in the babble belt. When your high schools "teach" creationism over evolution, that's the death knell for attracting a young (and yes, PROGRESSIVE) highly educated workforce.
To ameliorate this, you might convince your young high school women to pursue coding, rather than football cheerleading.

stereotype much?

https://www.womenwhocode.com/birmingham

[Reactionary]

I'm going to have to agree somewhat with those that tout the Boston area schools. I've attended both Harvard and UAH. While UAH is a good school, wait for it... Harvard is better.

And while this is the Bham forum, I'd like to tout the Huntsville area. While Huntsville is too small (unless maybe you include Florence and most of North Alabama), Huntsville does punch above its weight in fulfilling many of Amazon's requirements. The area is known for STEM, especially engineering, and we already have drone technology (the Army UAV program).

Another plus is the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant which can provide plenty of power. The site proposed is pre-approved for large commercial operations, is on I65, is near the airport (with daily flights to the listed places), and the State / local governments will offer a credible bid.