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And the remaining large companies start offering promotions previously denied to employees (for lack of competition) to keep them from walking or have to raise the starting wage for jobs to keep jobs filled, thus further driving up the demand for houses nearby.
Good point. It will start a cycle here. Also Amazon moving to the DC area is going to drive people to this area as well anyway but that is going to take longer than Apple opening up a campus here ironically.
Of course it won't. But Apple moves here and then so does Facebook across the street to steal employees. Then Google. It's a process that is more realistic. Same end result though.
I lean to the negative, but not enough to vote. If Amazon comes to the triangle, my $200k home will be worth $600k, and I won't be able to afford to live here. I could just sell out, huge profit, and move to the mountains in a paid-for house, right around the time I retire.
I sort of feel the same way - I think it would bring mostly negatives for those choosing to live here. Since I want to be out of here in no more than 11 years, the benefit to me is a higher selling price for my house. Didn't vote either way in the poll.
I definitely see the downsides and understand why some don't want it, but I think it would be good on the whole as long as the incentives were not too aggressive. I like that they want an urban campus and think they could help build out downtown plus push for better transit. Would increase the tax base and help attract more amenities.
Backing up the conversation a bit to talk about the IT market here. If Amazon does establish here, there are some pundits who believe that this area doesn't have the numbers to accommodate the 50,000 jobs Amazon is bringing.
While that's likely true, I doubt Seattle had that many IT professionals in the area when Amazon started out, either. As the company has grown, people from all over the country have moved to Seattle to pursue the opportunity.
The same would happen here. Amazon and Apple would create their own environments, so to speak. It doesn't matter if the area has the talent, in numbers, now. Once Amazon and Apple announce they are coming, there will be an influx of people ready to compete for those IT jobs.
While that's likely true, I doubt Seattle had that many IT professionals in the area when Amazon started out, either.
Ever hear about this little company called Microsoft...?
Amazon was founded in 1994. This Brookings report circa 2001 notes that Seattle's tech employment base in 1997 was about tied for 4th place nationally, and the area had 70% more tech jobs per capita than the US average ("location quotient"). According to employee #2, access to talent was indeed one of the top factors for choosing Seattle in the first place.
The entire rationale for a new campus is that they want to recruit from a fresh labor pool; if relocations alone could fill all of these jobs, they'd just expand in Seattle.
Ever hear about this little company called Microsoft...?
Amazon was founded in 1994. This Brookings report circa 2001 notes that Seattle's tech employment base in 1997 was about tied for 4th place nationally, and the area had 70% more tech jobs per capita than the US average ("location quotient"). According to employee #2, access to talent was indeed one of the top factors for choosing Seattle in the first place.
The entire rationale for a new campus is that they want to recruit from a fresh labor pool; if relocations alone could fill all of these jobs, they'd just expand in Seattle.
That doesn't refute my supposition. The fact that Microsoft was there meant that they were a huge draw for IT. Amazon took advantage of the pool that was there.
I haven't heard the details behind why Amazon is looking for a new headquarters, but what is intriguing is the idea they are looking almost exclusively at the east coast. That doesn't speak to a depletion of resources in the Seattle area, but just the idea that Amazon wants an additional presence, somewhere else.
wait a minute ... there's a net in-migration of 44 per day. So that's like 2 years of growth. Much more manageable.
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