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I guess the question "what has Amazon done for you" has been in the back of my mind because I did come up with a few answers.
1. Amazon Prime. It was worth it to me just for the shipping. As a bonus I have Prime Video which is now one of my major entertainment sources and helped me convince my wife to drop cable. We're now out from under the TWC/Spectrum/Charter thumb and don't really miss it. The Video service is also helping with the adoption of 4K. 2. Audible. The best source I've found for audiobooks. 3. They bought Whole Foods and reduced prices on hundreds of organic food items. 4. PrimeNow delivery has been a huge time saver with a toddler in the house. They also deliver Whole Foods items. In a pinch they've saved me trips to buy small gifts, or to get items I've needed to pick up for camping trips, vacations etc. Nothing like avoiding an extra trip when you're trying to get out of the house. 5. Amazon Alexa - Added voice control to my home lighting, hvac, tv/roku/entertainment system. 6. Amazon Tap - Since it's an Alexa device I can tell it to "play relaxing music" and carry it to my son's room because he likes to go to sleep to the music. I don't believe there's any monthly charge for a classical or ambient music playlist.
The answer to the original question could be very dependent on where you live, your age, your job, etc. If you live in Raleigh, close to downtown, your perspective won't be the same as someone who lives in Chapel Hill or Clayton. Property values closer to Amazon would see a bump, more amenities, restaurants, entertainment, schools in the proximity and alternate city transportation options would follow Amazon. If you're in Durham or Chapel Hill you may feel Amazon would weight the triangle too much towards Raleigh. If you're commuting on I-40 you could have to deal with more traffic. If you're already looking to move to Raleigh, Amazon could make the move more expensive. There's a lot of reasons to be on either side of this discussion.
Personally I don't have any reason to not want Amazon here. I generally have positive feelings about the company and I think what they are proposing wouldn't hurt my quality of life. I live within 15 mins of my office via greenway bike ride so traffic isn't really a fear. I think there would most likely be a QoL benefit. I don't think that anyone needs to defend their answer to wanting them here or not, and I don't think there is a wrong answer to the question.
You are fortunate.
Those who need good transit and those who will be gentrified out of the city will suffer terribly.
Everyone will begin to hate Amazon when it destroys the local businesses and raises prices like the bully it is.
Do you even know how Amazon works? You do realize it's not just Amazon selling on Amazon right?
Stop being such a bully yourself.
This is true. But local businesses used to compete with stores across the street or down the road. Now they have to compete with international retailers. A lot of products on Amazon are made outside of the country. It is a lot harder for local businesses to stay in business because of AMazon's large consortium of retailers that aren't local.
Those who need good transit and those who will be gentrified out of the city will suffer terribly.
Everyone will begin to hate Amazon when it destroys the local businesses and raises prices like the bully it is.
A perfect example of another differing perspective. If you're looking for new job opportunities and upward mobility you'll likely have a different perspective than someone nearing the end of their career or retired.
Living close to work is a priority for me and it required compromises. I'm anti-sprawl/pro-smart growth and the choice of moving further from work would leave me more susceptible to traffic factors beyond my control.
There are a high number of houses under $300K within 5 miles of downtown Raleigh. There are actually a lot of sub $200K and even sub $100K homes within that 5 mile area. I'm not as concerned with the negative aspects of gentrification when you have such large portions of the City so far below the median home value. Would it be so bad to "gentrify" the large number of NCSU students living in slums and moving them into apartments closer to campus?
Last edited by OberlinSouth; 06-25-2018 at 09:28 AM..
Would it be so bad to "gentrify" the large number of NCSU students living in slums and moving them into apartments closer to campus?
Absolutely. Students wouldn't be able to afford to live near campus. Because any new construction would be market rate. Otherwise, they wouldn't be profitable for a developer. Are NCSU students prepared to pay $800 per bed per month?
That's the whole effect of gentrification. Low-income residents get moved out because of the higher rents. Any new construction will be more expensive. Unless subsidized by the government. But then no one wants to talk about social services and higher taxes.
So what you’re saying is this is totally coming down between Raleigh, Indianapolis, Nashville, Austin & Columbus?
Indianapolis is out, it's too cold and too close to Seattle. It's in the middle of the country which makes international travel to Europe longer and more complex.
Nashville, while has better weather, again is center of the country. It doesn't support the goal to have an East Coast presence where you can take a 60 minute puddle jumper to DC, or 90 min to NYC. Or travel by train, etc to major East Coast cities. Amazon execs want to have breakfast in DC, lunch in NYC and dinner at home. All in the same time zone as well.
Austin, again, geography problem. Adds 3 hours to any European flight. Makes the major East coast cities inaccessible. In addition, it's already got too many tech companies and competition.
Columbus? Uhh... yeah, a depressed, rust belt city? No.
Excluding NYC, DC, Boston, Nova, Atlanta... Raleigh is the obvious choice:
1. #1 Real Estate market (that report was a massive give away), the affordability factor is huge.
2. Three major academic institutions.
3. Established high end workforce in RTP
4. A city that is basically a canvas for Amazon to paint over
5. International airport, easy to access (no bridges,serious traffic etc, like JFK, LGA, DCA). China non-stop coming. More Euro flights coming
6. A 'Blue' tinged culture politically
7. Diversity
8. Easy access to NYC, DC, Atlanta...
9. 'Decent' public school system. Wake County needs to obviously build more schools and pay their teachers more, but overall it's solid enough. Not to mention many private school choices for the higher ups.
10. Beaches 2 hours away (again see why Indianapolis, Nashville, and Columbus are out).
11. Culture, plenty of concerts, theater, etc, in the Triangle area.
I could go on and on, but the reality is Raleigh provides everything Amazon would want aligned with the goal of 'city assimilation'.
Absolutely. Students wouldn't be able to afford to live near campus. Because any new construction would be market rate. Otherwise, they wouldn't be profitable for a developer. Are NCSU students prepared to pay $800 per bed per month?
That's the whole effect of gentrification. Low-income residents get moved out because of the higher rents. Any new construction will be more expensive. Unless subsidized by the government. But then no one wants to talk about social services and higher taxes.
You just answered the question. "Subsidized by the government." NCSU should be providing more on-campus housing options. Would it hurt NCSU to do a public/private partnership on a high rise apartment building on Hillsborough Street? They're building Townhomes at Lake Raleigh? Who thought that was a good idea? Why not a dorm with a Lakefront view in that spot?
There's a whole different world between "bed per month" units and what Amazon employees would be looking for. There is room for both product types in the area. At some point you'll hit the cap on what students will pay and the market will determine what that is. We shouldn't supress development to protect slum lords.
There is a tremendous amount of under-developed or substandard building space inside or in the immediate vicinity of the beltline. It's just my personal, unscientific opinion, but I think that at our current rate of absorption it will take 150-175 years to renew our existing housing stock. Gentrification is a healthy part of city growth. The alternative is decay.
Indianapolis is out, it's too cold and too close to Seattle. It's in the middle of the country which makes international travel to Europe longer and more complex.
I wasn't aware that weather was part of Amazon's decision making matrix. Source?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewWaveDad
Nashville, while has better weather, again is center of the country. It doesn't support the goal to have an East Coast presence where you can take a 60 minute puddle jumper to DC, or 90 min to NYC.
Really?
Where is this goal stated?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewWaveDad
Amazon execs want to have breakfast in DC, lunch in NYC and dinner at home. All in the same time zone as well.
Ditto.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewWaveDad
Austin, again, geography problem. Adds 3 hours to any European flight. Makes the major East coast cities inaccessible. In addition, it's already got too many tech companies and competition.
And how is that different from Raleigh? Or Seattle, for that matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewWaveDad
Columbus? Uhh... yeah, a depressed, rust belt city? No.
Umm, the Columbus metro is growing 1.6% per year and has an unemployment rate of 3.4% (lower than Raleigh's). Thats hardly a depressed city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewWaveDad
Excluding NYC, DC, Boston, Nova, Atlanta... Raleigh is the obvious choice:
LOL, in other words, "excluding all the obvious, better suited cities, Raleigh is the obvious choice. Hilarious!
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewWaveDad
I could go on and on, but the reality is Raleigh provides everything Amazon would want aligned with the goal of 'city assimilation'.
My theory is this whole 2nd headquarters thing is an enormous publicity stunt, which has been incredibly successful. Amazon has known all along where it is going. It's like a nationwide episode of House Hunters.
You just answered the question. "Subsidized by the government." NCSU should be providing more on-campus housing options. Would it hurt NCSU to do a public/private partnership on a high rise apartment building on Hillsborough Street? They're building Townhomes at Lake Raleigh? Who thought that was a good idea? Why not a dorm with a Lakefront view in that spot?
There's a whole different world between "bed per month" units and what Amazon employees would be looking for. There is room for both product types in the area. At some point you'll hit the cap on what students will pay and the market will determine what that is. We shouldn't supress development to protect slum lords.
There is a tremendous amount of under-developed or substandard building space inside or in the immediate vicinity of the beltline. It's just my personal, unscientific opinion, but I think that at our current rate of absorption it will take 150-175 years to renew our existing housing stock. Gentrification is a healthy part of city growth. The alternative is decay.
I agree with you. Revitalization is a good thing. But what is almost always the case, there will be some negative impact.
I live next to the UMD campus. There was a housing shortage on campus Then there was this wave of private student housing developments. These weren't your average student bed housing. These were market-rate "luxury" student housing projects with rooftop pools, game rooms, gyms, etc. Some students complained that though there were more housing options, most were too expensive.
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