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I guess I'm just mostly surprised, because both Crystal City and Long Island City are both places that have been touted as up and coming for over a decade. I lived in Crystal City over 15 years ago and near LIC almost 10 years ago. While they have both built up lots of fancy apartments and some office buildings, the other stuff has not caught on. Amazon will no doubt have a huge influence on these areas.
I agree that they definitely opted for culture over cost. I've heard that the Apple decision is on hold until the election too.
LIC has grown a lot even in the last couple of years. I lived there about 6 years ago and went back in February and hardly recognized the place. They have actual grocery stores now (well, you know, actual grocery stores by nyc standards).
I'm just hoping this doesn't cause my favorite bar in LIC (for which I am still looking for an acceptable substitute in raleigh) to close due to the inevitable skyrocketing property values.
The grocery stores were there when I left NYC in 2016. It's just not a place that people really hung out in unless they specifically lived or worked in the neighborhood.
The grocery stores were there when I left NYC in 2016. It's just not a place that people really hung out in unless they specifically lived or worked in the neighborhood.
That doesn't matter. Amazon's first large office was in an old hospital on a hill in the middle of nowhere. Their second campus was in South Lake Union which was just like LIC before they moved in. Then came Microsoft Facebook and Google to poach talent and its totally different now. As expected they went with being close to large happening east coast locations in blue states.
Expenses will be higher but each location offers convenient access to 2-3 major airports with flights continually taking off for literally every destination in the world. It also provides them with an easier launching point into Europe.
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Long Island City makes perfect sense in light of this. But getting there for employees....
Long Island City makes perfect sense in light of this. But getting there for employees....
They will most likely offer a private bus service like many big tech companies already do on the west coast not sure if that is a thing here or not yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they look into starting a private ferry for employees given the location.
Surprised they weren’t more interested in lower cost cities. I just stayed in Crystal City and it was dead.
It is dead. It's mostly an office district with huge vacancies. Having Amazon there will surely liven things up a bit. I used to go to the gym there on the weekends and it was a ghost town.
It is dead. It's mostly an office district with huge vacancies. Having Amazon there will surely liven things up a bit. I used to go to the gym there on the weekends and it was a ghost town.
It's always been a ghost town on the weekends, but during weekday regular hours it's crazy busy. Lots of activity. Remember, it's mostly government or government contractors, they work exactly eight hours a day zero overtime and zero weekends.
They will most likely offer a private bus service like many big tech companies already do on the west coast not sure if that is a thing here or not yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they look into starting a private ferry for employees given the location.
Well if that's their plan (bus) I hope they've taken a good hard look at the geography of the area and current traffic...not to mention the stigma of "the bus" at least for Long Islanders. Ferries? Great idea, if you happen to live near the water....again, a look at the geography of the area would tell them that most people aren't going TO travel to a ferry (commute #1) on winding local roads, and then do a second commute on the ferry.
There are some unique geographical factors in the NYC metro that making commuting logistics an issue; it took us a while after moving here to NC to remember that "getting over the bridge/through the tunnel" did not have to be part of our trip planning any time we want to go somewhere. Don't miss it!
I prefer splitting between the two mentioned locations over the original concept of dropping the full ball of wax on the Triangle.
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