Amazon is looking for a second HQ. Why not, Pittsburgh? (Dallas: estimated, metro area)

[gg]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

Another reason to utterly oppose Amazon coming here.

Yes god forbid we have more jobs! Goodness people sure are getting spoiled rotten. It really is shocking. It reminds me when people were protesting the Whole Foods in East Liberty. They torn down this old delapodated dump and got all those spoiled people brand new places and the all the trustfunders go out and protest Whole Foods renting a bigger place. Talk about spoiled people. Yeah, who needs jobs, better schools, a growing economy? Guess we don't. Pittsburgh is a shell of its former self. Maybe people should think about progressing and stop trying to hang on to the near past. Change can be good. I know the yinzers are hoping for Amazon, because that means they have jobs. The lazy people? Not so much.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by gg

Yes god forbid we have more jobs! Goodness people sure are getting spoiled rotten. It really is shocking. It reminds me when people were protesting the Whole Foods in East Liberty. They torn down this old delapodated dump and got all those spoiled people brand new places and the all the trustfunders go out and protest Whole Foods renting a bigger place. Talk about spoiled people. Yeah, who needs jobs, better schools, a growing economy? Guess we don't. Pittsburgh is a shell of its former self. Maybe people should think about progressing and stop trying to hang on to the near past. Change can be good. I know the yinzers are hoping for Amazon, because that means they have jobs. The lazy people? Not so much.

I'm not lazy.
My posts show a constant attack on hand-outs to the lower-class (railing about the absurdly high-cost of "affordable housing" projects), and also against the corporate welfare given to developers to build more and more luxury developments for the exclusive use of our new techie Ãœbermenschen.

I don't try to hang on to the past. I've been here for 9 years. I have no family ties here (other than my son being born here).

As much as I'm against only looking to the interests of the lower class, I'm also against focusing solely on the interests of the upper class.

I believe that I'm an advocate for the interests of the working class. We're ignored here. Partly because a majority of working-class folks are so conditioned by Pittsburgh's cultural expectations and mindset that they are eerily silent politically.

The fact of the matter is that Amazon would absolutely destroy the working class in Pittsburgh.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by gg

Getting tired of all the shootings downtown all the time.

How many people have been shot in downtown Pittsburgh this year?

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by Merge

How many people have been shot in downtown Pittsburgh this year?

Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh - Public Safety - Interactive Violence Dashboard Reports - Gun Violence Data

In 2018 (up to April 1st), there seems to have been 3 shooting incidents (with 4 shots fired total) within the 'Golden Triangle' neighborhood.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh - Public Safety - Interactive Violence Dashboard Reports - Gun Violence Data

In 2018 (up to April 1st), there seems to have been 3 shooting incidents (with 4 shots fired total) within the 'Golden Triangle' neighborhood.

My question was how many people have been shot downtown this year.

I have an issue with the kind of drama queen mentality that leads a poster to make a statement like "Getting tired of all the shootings downtown all the time."

That's unnecessary and it makes me wonder about the agenda of the person who posted it.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

I believe that I'm an advocate for the interests of the working class. We're ignored here. Partly because a majority of working-class folks are so conditioned by Pittsburgh's cultural expectations and mindset that they are eerily silent politically.

The fact of the matter is that Amazon would absolutely destroy the working class in Pittsburgh.

It is gross exaggeration to suggest Amazon would DESTROY the working class. First, the construction of all of Amazon’s new buildings could support a robust construction industry, the improvement of working opportunities could drive up low end wages in the city (lots of receptionist, cleaning, food service and maintenance comes with new corporate facilities). It’s all how Peduto and the state manage the change. There will always be at least one person that doesn’t adapt to the change and falls back, but fair and equitable distribution of opportunity is possible. I don’t believe it is a given fact that a white collar boom fails blue collar workers.

[eschaton]

There would be good and bad involved with Amazon coming here.

The good would be:

1. Everyone who is a homeowner would see solid appreciation. I'm not just talking about people in trendy neighborhoods either. If the city is really going to see an influx of 50,000 Amazon jobs over a decade - along with possibly some 200,000 additional jobs which are created to cater to these Amazon techies - there would be a rising tide which would lift all boats. Very few Amazon employees would move to Etna, for example, but people who might have otherwise moved to another neighborhood might choose Etna instead.

2. Wage growth would be in the short-to-medium term very good, because the area would start out with a labor shortage. Again, it's not just tech. For example, all of those Amazon employees are going to put big demand on city bars and restaurants, which will cause more to open. But initially we won't have the local labor pool (or housing stock) to house all of these additional service workers. So what you'd see is the different restaurants competing for workers, upping wages to help compensate.

3. The local construction industry will likely be very healthy for the next two decades or so - first building all of the Amazon buildings, and then later trying to play catchup in terms of having enough housing supply in the local market.

4. Finances of the local municipalities and school districts would be very secure.

The bad would be:

1. Rental prices would spike initially, as there's no way that the city would be able to construct apartments fast enough to accommodate all of the Amazon employees. This will be really bad for those in market-rate housing who aren't seeing an increase in take home pay.

2. Rapid increases in the assessed value of homes could displace a lot of longer-term homeowners.

3. All of those additional workers would mean our transit infrastructure would be horribly strained. Big redesigns would likely be needed of both our road system and our transit system, necessitating significant public investment.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Eschaton, I honestly can’t fathom Amazon would be able to achieve 50k people in Pit in less than a decade. I don’t believe they’re going to move en masse their workforce ala Exxonmobil. I believe it’s long term expectations of growth combine with some relocations. I think unlike many cities where growth is indeterminate and plagued with a lot of guessing from the local governments (aka southern city growth), Amazon would be very conscientious to work with the city to facilitate structural upgrades to smooth out the process and be able to modulate their level of migration. One of the benefits of being an established large organization. I’m not saying it will be all roses and butterflies for everyone, but it stands a chance to be easier on Pittsburgh’s infrastructure than if it were thousands of small companies growing rapidly without a good barometer of how the city would be shifting and no one to talk to about how to mitigate the externalities.

[_Buster]

I think the first 10 years would be really good for Pittsburgh, as they ramped up their local workforce from hundreds to let's say around 10K -15K. Their would be some rental pricing pain of course as with any increase in demand, and could be some traffic and transit issues. But it would also spark local employers to pay more to retain others who might be tempted to join Amazon.

After that and as they keep ramping up it is just too far afield to say whether it would be good or bad overall - it could go either way depending on how government deals with them and what deals were made to bring them in. But whatever your personal opinion, Pittsburgh would definitely be a more upscale metro area.

[New Waver]

I can respect people's concerns about the effect Amazon may have on the Pittsburgh economy. However, in my opinion, anybody that is downright opposed to Amazon choosing Pittsburgh for HQ2 is not very smart. That's being nice. If they can think of a better way to grow this economy in such a short period of time, I'm all ears. Population growth in the metro has been stagnant for years. Is there a guarantee that Amazon will be a cure all for the area's woes? Of course not. I'm willing to take the chance despite the perceived horror stories out of Seattle.