[JayCT]

You know what I find interesting, over on the Massachusetts forum there are a total of 9 posts made discussing this. Here on the Connecticut forum we have a separate thread with 40+ posts already on it. Either we are making a big deal over it or no one in Massachusetts cares. Jay

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You know what I find interesting, over on the Massachusetts forum there are a total of 9 posts made discussing this. Here on the Connecticut forum we have a separate thread with 40+ posts already on it. Either we are making a big deal over it or no one in Massachusetts cares. Jay

I honestly think there are mixed feelings in MA about it...plus the reality is that Greater Boston is doing just fine without HQ2. Amazon has a huge presence in the area already.

[HumpDay]

Aww...I was more than certain that Waterbury would be up there *sarcasm*.

It should be no surprise that Boston, NYC, Philly, Pittsburgh, and D.C. are the only ones in the Northeast that are considered since they're world class cities. I still have my money on Atlanta, Chicago, or D.C. Boston and NYC are way too expensive and attracting 50,000 workers in an already crammed area where there is hardly any room for development is out of the picture if I was Bezos.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Atlanta will still be the winner.

Raiding HD staff will be their M.O. Similar skill sets (global logistics).

Not really. Amazon is a tech company. More than half the people in their HQ are software engineers. Some Home Depot paper pusher isn't going to be doing next generation Alexa voice recognition and all the other bleeding edge tech Amazon does.

Atlanta has problems. Tech is in the northern 'burbs where people live in gated communities and keep the poor people far away. Downtown is something of a wasteland. That isn't the urban vibe that is part of the Amazon corporate culture. If you locate in the northern 'burbs, the airport is an enormous PITA since it's south of the city and there's a traffic jam.

I'd put Philly as my non-obvious dark horse. Great commuter rail & subway infrastructure. The American Airlines hub airport. A vibrant downtown and an Ivy and Drexel across the river from it. A shovel-ready site close to the rail hub. High end burbs on commuter rail with good school systems. The issues are the obvious monster ghetto problem and high taxes since Philly has a city tax and property taxes are worse than Connecticut (I know, hard to believe but take a look at the Main Line gold-plated suburbs).

It kind of depends on what they're willing to pay for labor costs to get their urban hipster corporate culture. New York would be crazy. Boston, DC, and LA almost as crazy.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by HumpDay

Aww...I was more than certain that Waterbury would be up there *sarcasm*.

It should be no surprise that Boston, NYC, Philly, Pittsburgh, and D.C. are the only ones in the Northeast that are considered since they're world class cities. I still have my money on Atlanta, Chicago, or D.C. Boston and NYC are way too expensive and attracting 50,000 workers in an already crammed area where there is hardly any room for development is out of the picture if I was Bezos.

Pittsburgh is world class city ?

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Not really. Amazon is a tech company. More than half the people in their HQ are software engineers. Some Home Depot paper pusher isn't going to be doing next generation Alexa voice recognition and all the other bleeding edge tech Amazon does.

Atlanta has problems. Tech is in the northern 'burbs where people live in gated communities and keep the poor people far away. Downtown is something of a wasteland. That isn't the urban vibe that is part of the Amazon corporate culture. If you locate in the northern 'burbs, the airport is an enormous PITA since it's south of the city and there's a traffic jam.

I'd put Philly as my non-obvious dark horse. Great commuter rail & subway infrastructure. The American Airlines hub airport. A vibrant downtown and an Ivy and Drexel across the river from it. A shovel-ready site close to the rail hub. High end burbs on commuter rail with good school systems. The issues are the obvious monster ghetto problem and high taxes since Philly has a city tax and property taxes are worse than Connecticut (I know, hard to believe but take a look at the Main Line gold-plated suburbs).

It kind of depends on what they're willing to pay for labor costs to get their urban hipster corporate culture. New York would be crazy. Boston, DC, and LA almost as crazy.

Newark would be good fit

[JGBigGreen]

There is plenty of tech in downtown/mid town Atlanta and it is far from a wasteland these days. There has been significant development surrounding Georgia Tech that would be attractive to Amazon type employees. It reminds me a lot of South Lake Union before the Amazon boom transformed that area of Seattle. Also, even if they locate in the norther burbs, the MARTA is an easy ride to Hartsfield. Plus Georgia Tech is going to be more attractive to an Amazon than either Penn or Drexel. While I think DC is probably the front runner, I would not rule out Atlanta still being a contender.

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Not really. Amazon is a tech company. More than half the people in their HQ are software engineers. Some Home Depot paper pusher isn't going to be doing next generation Alexa voice recognition and all the other bleeding edge tech Amazon does.

Atlanta has problems. Tech is in the northern 'burbs where people live in gated communities and keep the poor people far away. Downtown is something of a wasteland. That isn't the urban vibe that is part of the Amazon corporate culture. If you locate in the northern 'burbs, the airport is an enormous PITA since it's south of the city and there's a traffic jam.

I'd put Philly as my non-obvious dark horse. Great commuter rail & subway infrastructure. The American Airlines hub airport. A vibrant downtown and an Ivy and Drexel across the river from it. A shovel-ready site close to the rail hub. High end burbs on commuter rail with good school systems. The issues are the obvious monster ghetto problem and high taxes since Philly has a city tax and property taxes are worse than Connecticut (I know, hard to believe but take a look at the Main Line gold-plated suburbs).

It kind of depends on what they're willing to pay for labor costs to get their urban hipster corporate culture. New York would be crazy. Boston, DC, and LA almost as crazy.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Newark made it

Some say they only made it because Audible.com, which is owned by Amazon, is HQ'd there and one plan would be to have the two of them in the same building.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You know what I find interesting, over on the Massachusetts forum there are a total of 9 posts made discussing this. Here on the Connecticut forum we have a separate thread with 40+ posts already on it. Either we are making a big deal over it or no one in Massachusetts cares. Jay

I'm not surprised. We LOVE any story that can possibly be interpreted as, "We are losers that the rest of the world shuns". In Mass they seem to have a very different self-image. Boston is the city after all that turned down the Olympics.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Pittsburgh is world class city ?

Compared with Hartford, absolutely.