[SLO]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

We're all just speculating, including those who think (for whatever reason) that Chicago or Philadelphia have the edge.

RE: #1 The RFP specifically stated "strong technical talent." Technical talent is generally defined as those who specialize in the STEM fields.

RE #2 I'm on my phone now, so I don't have access to the links. But there was recently an article that featured comments from one of the executives, Jeff Wilke (sp) who stated they're looking for a location different from the Pacific NW to attract a different employee. Again, It doesn't get much more different from Seattle than Atlanta or Dallas.

There was also a Bloomberg article where some Amazon insiders leaked out that the reason they started the whole RFP thing is because there was disagreement on a location. While the executives liked Boston, the employees wanted an environment where they can actually afford a decent suburban living without having to constantly deal with a fast paced environment. Bloomberg could be wrong, but it's pretty credible source and I'm sure there's some truth to that article.

BTW, both Atlanta and Dallas offer decent urban living these days with the amenities that Amazon desires. This is not 1997, they're completely different cities today.

RE #3 Yes, that is pure speculation on my part. Businesses do like to keep things simple and avoid duplicating things if possible. If they just can negotiate a bigger volume based discount with one airline (versus having to deal with a bunch of different airlines), it may be a plus.

BTW, I could be wrong, but I don't think Alaska Airlines has the flight frequency that Delta has nor the international connections Delta has (although they may go to more domestic locations).

I tend to agree, I don't think those cities of Dallas or Atlanta would be disqualified because of transit, maybe some assurances that investment is increasing. That single item if it were equal, a place like Dallas may have a huge upper hand. I've had DFW as my top speculated choice all along. I don't think Amazon is in for a project like Detroit and for whatever reason I keep thinking they don't necessarily want to be on the east coast.