Quote:
Originally Posted by YSL
I know it's the uncool thing to say, since it already has too much, but New York makes the best sense.
...
The Hudson Yards development in Manhattan would make the best sense.
|
Cost of doing business in Manhattan is very high, though. A lot of tech work that serves Manhattan, even for well-paid software engineers, get pushed to New Jersey if it starts to eat up any significant square footage.
I think if they chose the NY area they'd look at Jersey City or, maybe, downtown Brooklyn.
But I personally think they're going to avoid cities that are more expensive than Seattle. I agree that they'll look at New York, but they are at the stage that they need to hire a lot more experienced engineers, too, and even at Amazon salaries, anyone above 30 isn't going to be nearly as excited about New York as 20-something hipsters with no spouse, no kids, and still starry-eyed about the world. While there are still a few people my age (43) among the software workers I know who would gladly move to New York, there is always the caveat of "if I was paid enough to be able to enjoy it" and that "enough" is usually $200k for childless people and $300k for people with kids. Some of Amazon employees will absolutely be paid those kinds of numbers. But nowhere near a majority of them will. The same applies to San Francisco, although I think the fact that it's on the West Coast and violently competitive for talent already rule it out from being shortlisted. I think Chicago stands a good chance, and that the Research Triangle, Atlanta, Philly, maybe Denver, and one or more of the big Texas cities will also get hard looks. Boston might, but stringing together enough square footage would be a challenge, it's also more expensive than Seattle and Amazon is big enough it will make it even more expensive, and it's international airport connections are relatively sparse compared to a lot of other contenders. Minneapolis might make the first cut, but I think its culture is too similar to Seattle's - I think Amazon will want progressive, but of a different culture than Seattle, and Seattle and the Twin Cities have a lot in common culturally - for some companies that might be a selling point, but I think Amazon is looking to diversify in that sense to give employees more of a choice. I think this will be a competition between one Texas city (which one, I don't know - maybe whichever one promises the most transit), Atlanta, Philly, and Chicago. Denver, Cleveland (people forget it has heavy rail transit), the Research Triangle, and Miami could be dark horses, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Prev
Linear Mode
