Amazon HQ2 thread

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by Marv95

I'm not shocked about Miami. It's one of the "sexier" spots on the list. Arguably the best weather-wise despite hurricane threats.

Out of the 20 who can benefit from it the most? Who needs an Amazon and who doesn't? And why?

In this order:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Newark
3. Columbus
4. Indianapolis

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Marv95

I'm not shocked about Miami. It's one of the "sexier" spots on the list. Arguably the best weather-wise despite hurricane threats.

Out of the 20 who can benefit from it the most? Who needs an Amazon and who doesn't? And why?

In terms of percentage increase in GDP and wealth? Probably Columbus or Raliegh if you exclude Northern VA, Maryland, and D.C. as a pre-existing metropolis.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Marv95

Out of the 20 who can benefit from it the most? Who needs an Amazon and who doesn't? And why?

I would say Pittsburgh would probably benefit the most. Maybe also Newark?

Dallas, Atlanta, Raleigh, DC area, Denver, Austin, Boston, Toronto and maybe even Nashville, Indy and Columbus are doing fine without it, although those latter 3, proportionately, would see a lot of impact from it due to their smaller sizes.

[M. Brown]

I'd like to hear the reasons for Detroit not being on the list. There are cities on this list that don't have mass transit and have a much lower metro population. Detroit not making it to the second round is sort of a slap in the face IMO when there are cities that seem to meet less of the criteria than Detroit did.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by M. Brown

I'd like to hear the reasons for Detroit not being on the list. There are cities on this list that don't have mass transit and have a much lower metro population. Detroit not making it to the second round is sort of a slap in the face IMO when there are cities that seem to meet less of the criteria than Detroit did.

Agreed.

Like it said earlier, it had to be because of the perception issue.

[iheartthed]

This seems like a deliberate FU to Michigan. It is the only state in the top 10 that didn't get a spot on the finalist list.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Here's a map of the geographic distribution.

Amazon.com’s ‘HQ2’ finalists include New York, Chicago, L.A., Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Washington

[OhioGuy]

No San Francisco/Bay Area, Portland, San Diego, or Vancouver either (or Seattle which bid for it). Only West Coast city to make the cut is LA. Seems likely Amazon doesn’t want two HQs on the West Coast.

Baltimore was also excluded. Maryland’s only hope is MoCo.

[Steely Dan]

^^ i love how the creator of that map graphic couldn't even be bothered to include our neighbor to the north, like it doesn't even exist.

toronto is just hanging out there in white space.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Finally worth re-opening this thread.

Amazon Chooses 20 Locations as Finalists for New Headquarters

With apologies to David Letterman -
From the home office in Seattle, Washington, here are the Top 10 most likely cities (from the Top 20) to land Amazon HQ2:

NVA / DC (don't think Montco MD is in)
Philly
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Nashville
Raleigh
Atlanta
Austin
Nashville

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^^ i love how the creator of that map graphic couldn't even be bothered to include our neighbor to the north, like it doesn't even exist.

toronto is just hanging out there in white space.

I was just thinking that myself. I suppose they have to crank out a map like this on extremely short notice so it might not be the fanciest thing around.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Am I the only one who is shocked at Miami being on it?

Originally Posted by iheartthed

LA was a shocker too, but Miami is a head-scratcher... for me. NYC makes sense in some ways, but not on cost. Miami doesn't make sense to me for any reason. That was a true dark horse.

Not shocked at all. I think it has had a much better chance from the get-go than people probably understand.

Diagonal opposite geographically from Seattle... in what has become the hub of access to Latin American commerce and wealth in the hemisphere. Miami and Florida will do whatever Amazon wants and have the $ to do so. High-speed rail being developed along with all of the massive real estate development and population influx. Major international airport.

And Bezos is Cuban and grew up in Miami.

[C.]

Originally Posted by CIA

10 Shortlist predictions

Philly
Newark
NYC (although they will not be ultimately selected)
Boston
DC
Atlanta
Austin
DFW
Denver
Chicago

Nailed it!

A few longshot predictions

San Diego, Des Moines, Houston, Louisiana, Alberta, Tampa-St. Pete, and Montreal

Failed here though

[The North One]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

Agreed.

Like it said earlier, it had to be because of the perception issue.

Perception with whom? Not everyone is an old boomer stuck in scarred suburban stigma. Younger people have much less of a problem moving to other cities that have had image problems. Especially if said a city is old, interesting, cheap and within a large metro.

It's kind of obvious they want a presence in DC or Boston if this HQ promise even gets completely fulfilled, who knows, we all it's a horse and pony show.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Not shocked at all. I think it has had a much better chance from the get-go than people probably understand.

Diagonal opposite geographically from Seattle... in what has become the hub of access to Latin American commerce and wealth in the hemisphere. Miami and Florida will do whatever Amazon wants and have the $ to do so. High-speed rail being developed along with all of the massive real estate development and population influx. Major international airport.

And Bezos is Cuban and grew up in Miami.

The only reason people discounted it was because its prone to Hurricane.

But if that's not important to Amazon, then it does change things somewhat.

[C.]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^^ i love how the creator of that map graphic couldn't even be bothered to include our neighbor to the north, like it doesn't even exist.

toronto is just hanging out there in white space.

lol

Watch Toronto win it.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by The North One

Perception with whom?

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

The thing with Detroit is that they obviously didn't lose out because of its lack of transit (because otherwise, how do you explain Raleigh, Nashville and Indianapolis?).

Detroit's just a hard sell with its perception (rightly or wrongly) of being a crime-ridden, bankrupt, impoverished, has-been hellhole.

As M Brown said earlier, I'd be interested in hearing an explanation from Amazon. I could be wrong.

But to have Raleigh, Nashville and Indianapolis, Columbus and even Pittsburgh make the list, Detroit deserves that much.

[C.]

Detroit never had a chance. No way you'll attract talented employees to Detroit.

[killaviews]

I have to think Amazon already has its pick, and this is more of a show. How could they not know? There a lot of planning that has to into opening a major office this year, and I imagine they made the decision and are currently planning with a location in mind, unless something goes crazy wrong.

The list of 20 is too broad as well. It's like house hunters where there are three different types of homes in three different neighborhoods. No one shops like that. The people already picked the house they want and are under contract.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by killaviews

I have to think Amazon already has its pick, and this is more of a show.

I doubt it, I think they probably had this top 20 list already (with maybe a tweak here and there after reading the proposals), but now the real horse race begins. These cities now have to sweeten their offers and make their final push.