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So many personal assumptions going on here! Apparently any statement or result can make some people think "it was all a sham." And any expression of interest can mean a city is a front runner. Also people have taken vague guidance from the RFP and extrapolated specific meanings on their own.
I'm guessing just like everyone else, but I think most people are mistaken about the location priorities too. My impression is that it's mostly about two things: 1. Where they can recruit the best people both nationally and globally and get people who won't go to Seattle, and 2. What places will allow easy growth on the scale they anticipate. And of course they want to do this somewhere with decent transit and the ability to walk to work, both very central to HQ1.
If anyone actually believe that Amazon went into the HQ2 search truly with no idea where they were going to locate, then they are a bit naive. It was the Northeast, specially NYC and DC, where Bezos is very connected to the wealthy powerful and political people.
Maybe if Chicago stepped in and offered an incentive package three times that of the other choices then there could be a chance he would jump on that.
It was a sham because Amazon knew their top choice city/cities, but it wanted to pretend to have an "open search" in order to gain market research and data from other cities and to see which city would pony up the most money. So unless Atlanta sold itself to Bezos, it didn't stand a chance, same with 17 out of the 20 other cities on that final list.
And before anyone gets their panties in a knot, I am not taking a shot at Atlanta or anywhere else, its just the truth. We all adults here, not children. Does anyone honestly think Amazon went about this choice in a wholesome manner / unsure of where they were going to open HQ2?
P.S. as a New York residents, I would rather HQ2 go somewhere else, not for the reasons people are complaining about, but because HQ2 would have been much more impactful for Philadelphia or Chicago than New York.
If anyone actually believe that Amazon went into the HQ2 search truly with no idea where they were going to locate, then they are a bit naive. It was the Northeast, specially NYC and DC, where Bezos is very connected to the wealthy powerful and political people.
Maybe if Chicago stepped in and offered an incentive package three times that of the other choices then there could be a chance he would jump on that.
It was a sham because Amazon knew their top choice city/cities, but it wanted to pretend to have an "open search" in order to gain market research and data from other cities and to see which city would pony up the most money. So unless Atlanta sold itself to Bezos, it didn't stand a chance, same with 17 out of the 20 other cities on that final list.
I'm sure they had preconceptions, and I'm sure data gathering was at least an intended side effect.
But there's no evidence to say that a long list of cities wasn't considered, aside from conspiracy theory type stuff.
Atlanta clearly was in the running. Amazon made it clear Chicago clearly was in the running and many links said it was in the top 4 or 5.
But the hype on C-D pushed for Atlanta in their forum to here. DC was a top contender from the beginning as Bezo's home. He grew up in part I believe in Miami on the list. Really if a comment on Atlanta Amazon past hype was nothing .... best to not fan it.
This is all past. Only reason to open the thread was Amazon ... only possibly reconsidering NYC and cities and their states .... reinforcing their offer still open. No one promoted Atlanta again did I read. Some other forums had their Amazon threads reopened. Atlanta's were closed with many post deleted first.
Got heated sure in forums. Just some other cities too. It was a long fight for Amazons win. Some in C-D for their arrival and even for Apple as ther city a best choice hype too. Few Northern cities expected Apple though.
Why we need a comment to have it seen AIWAYS as hating a city to many? That gets old too. Read a lot of that being hate toward Atlanta in their forum especially. Even in the Chicago and IL forum ..... were former residents politically hating. But it was far more politically motivated then city itself.
Atlanta merely HAS MORE competition from other Southern cities more today then ever .... as Northern cities have had ongoing for decades now. So it needs to understand you will not in it all anymore. Sadly, each city that last the Amazon hope. Had a flaw, something less appealing, or just not having a home Bezo's had there already. Nashville was the underdog THAT DID get a great consolation prize. Other cites still got claims of a couple-thousand Amazon jobs too. Some mere lessened them to distribution centers in threads.
Some cities had great options offered and were boasted of on C-D. What you do in a thread on the topic. Atlanta's just felt most confident it seemed. Sometimes over-confident. That was basically what lead to some strife to bickering.
Most agree .... that Amazon in claims of reconsidering? Are just a ploy to scare those putting up obstacles to its NYC plans. Just one can't say they could not be. Cities merely said .... don't forget us again. Nothing about desperation.
Lots of things get old thrown at cities in threads. As posts by some .... see others as overly negative toward their fav city.
Nashville mayor has signed an executive order that will help LGBT owned business and making the City the first city in the South to recognize LGBT-owned businesses in this way. Nashville is becoming a true progressive city to the core, one that many didn't imagine and I think strides like this will continue to bring big Business like Amazon to the City. The city may be In a red state but it's definitely a liberal progressive city to the core... https://www.washingtonblade.com/2019...ed-businesses/
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,547,924 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp
I seriously doubt Amazon will abandon their NYC plans. Its not a simple lemonade stand on the side of the road that can move two houses down.
Agreed.
They wanted NYC and DC, no smokescreens here.
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