Amazon HQ2

[Mentallect]

Red state flyover country complaining about a few “Supercities” concentrating wealth need to fully fund higher education and public transportation, stop passing Bathroom Bills and stop electing racists.

[urbancore]

I can't help but wonder if this will further push people out of cities like NYC and DC to Austin. It's not 25k employees in each town, the multiplier is much higher, like x 4 (from what I've read). I have a new client relocating from Brooklyn. They love the vibe and the our home prices for what you get.

Of course it won't make a huge difference, but in our small market, even 100 additional buyers coming in from expensive cities makes a difference...they gobble up properties all over the urban core....at prices they consider "cheap".

[Mentallect]

Originally Posted by Dcbrickley

I can't help but wonder if this will further push people out of cities like NYC and DC to Austin. It's not 25k employees in each town, the multiplier is much higher, like x 4 (from what I've read). I have a new client relocating from Brooklyn. They love the vibe and the our home prices for what you get.

Of course it won't make a huge difference, but in our small market, even 100 additional buyers coming in from expensive cities makes a difference...they gobble up properties all over the urban core....at prices they consider "cheap".

Home prices rising too high too fast is the fault of local elected leaders who allow the NIMBYs to dictate housing policies instead of passing legislation for the greater good. Density, more public transportation, fewer height restrictions, etc. Jobs are always good, always, especially high paying jobs, but if public policies fail to address housing issues, it is not Amazon's fault. It is the voters fault. They vote for the same weasels, then complain.

[Mentallect]

Incentive welfare given to Amazon is not available to its competitors. This is how monopolies operate. Amazon will not win the public relations battle when stealing from school children. Some say the incentives pay for themselves. That is a lie. Neither region needed Amazon. If Amazon did not come, others would come, create jobs, and not get bribes by corrupt politicians and idiots. Cuomo needs to be recalled as governor.

[enragedcamel]

Originally Posted by Dcbrickley

with all due respect Genral, transportation/homeless will never be "solved". What large western cities in the world have those 2 issues under control?

London is fantastic. Metro + bus gets you to most places in a very reasonable amount of time given the massive sprawl. The city is also extremely walkable, and very bike-friendly.

[enragedcamel]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

Incentive welfare given to Amazon is not available to its competitors.

I'm actually really surprised no one has raised a legal stink about this. If a city creates laws/policies and behaves in such a way to benefit a single company, surely that's reason enough to sue?

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by enragedcamel

London is fantastic. Metro + bus gets you to most places in a very reasonable amount of time given the massive sprawl. The city is also extremely walkable, and very bike-friendly.

This list shows London as 7th worst congestion in the world. I imagine visiting most any large city is much different than finding affordable housing and commuting (whichever method you choose) to work each day. Second link shows housing as second most expensive. I would say London is the exact opposite of a city that has traffic and housing solved. And it can’t be solved unless you end supply and demand. There is no way to provide enough housing to everyone that would want to live in any popular place at an affordable price. It’s a fools errand.

https://moneyinc.com/the-20-most-exp...-in-the-world/

http://inrix.com/scorecard/

[enragedcamel]

Originally Posted by Dcbrickley

This list shows London as 7th worst congestion in the world. I imagine visiting most any large city is much different than finding affordable housing and commuting (whichever method you choose) to work each day. Second link shows housing as second most expensive. I would say London is the exact opposite of a city that has traffic and housing solved. And it can’t be solved unless you end supply and demand. There is no way to provide enough housing to everyone that would want to live in any popular place at an affordable price. It’s a fools errand.

https://moneyinc.com/the-20-most-exp...-in-the-world/

http://inrix.com/scorecard/

You're right, congestion is a problem in London... for people who insist on driving. My point was that not driving is a very, very viable choice in London. From that perspective, I would argue that they have transportation problems largely solved.

I mean, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can't force it to drink it. London has excellent public transportation. The fact that many people continue to use their personal vehicles is what leads to congestion.

[AwesomeSAView]

Sooooo, I was rooting for Austin to get the HQ2, but my question is why did Nashville get the 5,000 jobs over Austin???
Incentives?
Don't get me wrong, I have visited Nashville and it kinda reminds of Austin.
Major college town, booming economy, tons of young party people, etc .

So any reason, Amazon selected Nashville for the mini HQ??

[Dale]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Sooooo, I was rooting for Austin to get the HQ2, but my question is why did Nashville get the 5,000 jobs over Austin???
Incentives?
Don't get me wrong, I have visited Nashville and it kinda reminds of Austin.
Major college town, booming economy, tons of young party people, etc .

So any reason, Amazon selected Nashville for the mini HQ??

They're laughing at me, but I truly think it came down to the 'feels.'

Amazon is such a bull****** about these critical indices it was purported to be looking for.

[The ATX]

Amazon probably wrote Austin off after they read the Mayors letter at the beginning of the process. The Mayor pretty much implied that they would not be welcomed with open arms. I'm surprised Austin was even one of the 20 finalist cities. I suspect that was only done to ramp up the incentive wars among the real finalists.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Sooooo, I was rooting for Austin to get the HQ2, but my question is why did Nashville get the 5,000 jobs over Austin???
Incentives?
Don't get me wrong, I have visited Nashville and it kinda reminds of Austin.
Major college town, booming economy, tons of young party people, etc .

So any reason, Amazon selected Nashville for the mini HQ??

Reason: Hundreds of millions in incentives! Combined, Northern Virginia, NY and Nashville offered over a billion in incentives to woo Amazon. Basically, they paid for HQ2, HQ3 and HQ3.5. This type of economic development is not sustainable. Dangerous.

Amazon already has a significant presence in Austin (I think it's around 7,000 employees). Plus, Austin was not offering any incentives.

Amazon knew where it was going all along. This whole thing was a charade. Amazon received intel on over 230 cities across the U.S. and Canada - worth billions; for free - by bidding HQ2 out to the masses.

Also, how do you define "major college town?" Nashville is great. But, I would not consider Nashville a "major" college town by any means.

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Reason: Hundreds of millions in incentives! Combined, Northern Virginia, NY and Nashville offered over a billion in incentives to woo Amazon. Basically, they paid for HQ2, HQ3 and HQ3.5. This type of economic development is not sustainable. Dangerous.

Amazon already has a significant presence in Austin (I think it's around 7,000 employees). Plus, Austin was not offering any incentives.

Amazon knew where it was going all along. This whole thing was a charade. Amazon received intel on over 230 cities across the U.S. and Canada - worth billions; for free - by bidding HQ2 out to the masses.

Also, how do you define "major college town?" Nashville is great. But, I would not consider Nashville a "major" college town by any means.

Ahhhhh,
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY! HELLLLLLO,,,,,

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Ahhhhh,
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY! HELLLLLLO,,,,,

And who is Music City USA?
Nashville or Austin???

I just saw the CMA Awards being telecast from where?
Nashville

Just saying....

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Ahhhhh,
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY! HELLLLLLO,,,,,

You're initial post was clearly trolling - especially based on your SA post history. Vanderbilt is not on par with UT, and Nashville is so much more than a college town and a city with young drunks. There is plenty of room in the U.S. for two (and more) music cities.

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by The ATX

You're initial post was clearly trolling - especially based on your SA post history. Vanderbilt is not on par with UT, and Nashville is so much more than a college town and a city with young drunks. There is plenty of room in the U.S. for two (and more) music cities.

Sorry, NOT trolling, just stating facts!

And like I said before, I was ROOTING for Austin for HQ2, a so called front runner according to major news networks!
Why am I even explaining myself????

IT IS WHAT IT IS......

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by The ATX

You're initial post was clearly trolling - especially based on your SA post history. Vanderbilt is not on par with UT, and Nashville is so much more than a college town and a city with young drunks. There is plenty of room in the U.S. for two (and more) music cities.

And I NEVER said Nashville was JUST a college town with young drunks....

YOU DID.

Read MY post again.

Again FACTS...

Take YOUR anger out on AMAZON, not me......

[KevinFromTexas]

I'm not really mourning this Amazon thing. It's not as though Austin needed it. We aren't exactly crying out for an economic boost. The corporate welfare thing was a turn off for me. Was I cool with the idea of Austin getting it? Sure, but I would have wanted it to be driven by Austin's merits and talent pool, not a corporate goodie bag we plopped on the table.

It's for the same reason that I'm sour on the idea of major league sports where they are constantly hanging it over your head that they might up and leave if they don't get what they want, which is usually some brand new facility even when their current one is adequate. I hate the idea of being held hostage by corporate strongmen looking for a handout. I'm glad Austin resists that more than some other places do.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by The ATX

You're initial post was clearly trolling - especially based on your SA post history. Vanderbilt is not on par with UT, and Nashville is so much more than a college town and a city with young drunks. There is plenty of room in the U.S. for two (and more) music cities.

My only qualm with this statement is that Vandy isn’t on par with UT. Although UT has substantially more students and staff, Vandy has a slightly larger endowment (and a substantially higher endowment per capita — of students plus staff — than UT) and ranks significantly higher than UT according to most ranking systems not only as an institution, but across most academic departments as well. Vandy is simply a much better institution. There’s a reason why it is considered among the “Southern Ivies” also called the Kudzu League.

[papertowelroll]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

My only qualm with this statement is that Vandy isn’t on par with UT. Although UT has substantially more students and staff, Vandy has a slightly larger endowment (and a substantially higher endowment per capita — of students plus staff — than UT) and ranks significantly higher than UT according to most ranking systems not only as an institution, but across most academic departments as well. Vandy is simply a much better institution. There’s a reason why it is considered among the “Southern Ivies” also called the Kudzu League.

This is similar to comparing UT to Rice.

Who has a better business school? UT. Who has a better law school? UT. Who has a better engineering school? UT
Who has a better pharmacy school? UT. I mean the only professional program where Vandy is better is medicine, and obviously UT is just getting started there.

Even in liberal arts I bet than plan-II ranks higher than Vandy. But when you talk about "general rankings" UT is at a massive disadvantage compared to a private school simply because it has 50,000 students and has to automatically accept many in-state students. However, most of the selective programs within UT are quite elite, moreso than Vandy.