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Old 12-20-2016, 11:58 AM
 
1,413 posts, read 1,278,756 times
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Good news for Michigan and the Detroit area. The distribution center is expected to employ 1,000-1,500 workers.

Amazon to open distribution center in Livonia, hire 1,000
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Old 12-20-2016, 12:34 PM
 
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I did a google image of the address and it looks like a perfect spot ripe for redevelopment.

Good news for Livonia and the inner ring suburbs near there (Redford, Garden City, Westland).

Always best when someone with deep pockets (i.e. Amazon) can come in and clean up a mess with limited public involvement.
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Old 12-20-2016, 02:48 PM
 
Location: Metro Detroit
1,786 posts, read 2,644,391 times
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That's an old GM/Delphi site. A huge vinyl chloride plume that exists beneath it and extends south into the surrounding neighborhood (note the groundwater treatment system in the satellite photo, on the southwest corner of the lot). I believe the cleanup is at least partially funded by CERCLA. I wonder how deeply EPA is involved in this redevelopment. I also wonder what kind of liability Amazon is going to inherit, on the property.

But I do agree that it's a great location for it as the infrastructure is there and the site is ripe for redevelopment. Some worry that they won't be able to fill positions because of low unemployment, but maybe some Michiganders have forgotten that this is a good thing. Jobs that can't be filled by locals is the kind of thing which drives people to move into your state. While 30k a year isn't exactly a stellar salary, one partner earning that while another earns 25k doing something else creates a healthy middle class household.
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Old 12-20-2016, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,702 posts, read 79,395,586 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geo-Aggie View Post
That's an old GM/Delphi site. A huge vinyl chloride plume that exists beneath it and extends south into the surrounding neighborhood (note the groundwater treatment system in the satellite photo, on the southwest corner of the lot). I believe the cleanup is at least partially funded by CERCLA. I wonder how deeply EPA is involved in this redevelopment. I also wonder what kind of liability Amazon is going to inherit, on the property.

But I do agree that it's a great location for it as the infrastructure is there and the site is ripe for redevelopment. Some worry that they won't be able to fill positions because of low unemployment, but maybe some Michiganders have forgotten that this is a good thing. Jobs that can't be filled by locals is the kind of thing which drives people to move into your state. While 30k a year isn't exactly a stellar salary, one partner earning that while another earns 25k doing something else creates a healthy middle class household.
Maybe some of the people who have left the job market and are no longer considered unemployed, will decide to go back to work.
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Old 12-20-2016, 10:56 PM
 
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That and a lot of college-aged kids living at home looking for a sustainable part-time/nights/weekends job.
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Old 12-22-2016, 12:07 AM
 
Location: Detroit
3,671 posts, read 5,846,351 times
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Hopefully the pay is good. Glad to see them open up in Michigan. Hopefully they hire more.
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Old 12-22-2016, 09:11 AM
 
Location: Ann Arbor MI
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Originally Posted by Geo-Aggie View Post
While 30k a year isn't exactly a stellar salary.....
was that number in the story? I just gave it a brief glance.
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Old 12-22-2016, 09:23 AM
 
Location: Metro Detroit
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I don't know if I read that in the linked story or another one, but yeah - that's the average pay of an Amazon warehouse worker - so about $15 an hour. Not great, but certainly nothing to scoff at for unskilled labor. With stable work (as Amazon will surely provide) and I assume potential for overtime and advancement, that is a great job for somebody looking for a stable, simple lifestyle.

That being said, I'm a huge proponent of the idea that wage stagnation and corporate greed have killed the American middle class; had wages kept up with cost of living, a warehouse job like this should be paying $20-25 an hour while the warehouse middle-manager would be making 100k a year instead of 60k a year, but such is life when runaway capitalism and corporate greed make ever-increasing investor profits a priority over providing a comfortable lifestyle for those actually performing the work, but hey - us modern middle class proles gotta pad our 401k balances, because what's a pension? Never heard of one. And social security stability? Nah, we got a military to subsidize. That's our priority. Murica.
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Old 12-22-2016, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Ann Arbor MI
2,221 posts, read 2,222,383 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geo-Aggie View Post
.....but such is life when runaway capitalism and corporate greed make ever-increasing investor profits a priority over providing a comfortable lifestyle for those actually performing the work, but hey - us modern middle class proles gotta pad our 401k balances, because what's a pension? Never heard of one. And social security stability? That's our priority.
That is where the whole thing gets a bit complicated. Amazon is over 65% institutionally owned in Mutual Funds, ETF's etc. So a lot of those "investor profits" are small time folks and there 401K's IRA's, etc. So then the complicated question becomes how much are you willing to mortgage your future so an Amazon employee can get paid more?
Heck if an Amazon employee has a 401K he/she may be profiting from some other sap making $15 an hour.
I don't have any answers but its complicated. Way more complicated than "runaway capitalism and corporate greed making ever-increasing investor profits a priority " when those investors include a ton of little people and their mutual fund 401K's
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Old 12-22-2016, 01:52 PM
 
Location: Metro Detroit
1,786 posts, read 2,644,391 times
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If Amazon starts paying their warehouse employees $20/hr and their stock tanks by 30% because of it, the <1% of my 401k balance made up of Amazon shares would be a worthy sacrifice for a healthier liquid economy. My 401k balance won't make its way into the economy for 30-40 years (and if yours will, you should be saving more in bonds). Inflating my 401k balance for exponentially increasing corporate bonuses and career-investor purposes isn't as important to me as the wages of my neighbors. I save in a 401k because someday I'll be old and Americans are terrified of collectivism, so I will need to supplement my income in order to live. Investing purely for passive wealth or "residual income" has been one of the most harmful things to happen to America in the last 100 years.
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