Amazon HQ2

[gabetx]

As nice as this would be, the area encompassing Pleasant Valley, Riverside, Wickersham, and Elmont is pretty small. On top of that, the amount of congestion there is already bad, especially without immediate highway or mass transport options. Riverside is already a 24 hour street and has heavy traffic well into the evening hours. On top of that, the amount of transients that live under the bridge on Riverside right here and in the woods, this area would require "The Ark 2".

With that said, the area is centrally located and is very close to both downtown and the airport. The area is also gentrifying quickly and there are numerous high budget apartments and residences going up in the area. It would be interesting to see this area transform into something like depicted.

[clubtokyo]

CNN - "People who prefer warmer weather and less rain can go to HQ2 Austin, rather than HQ1 in Seattle. it would certainly make a lot of sense," said Madhavan.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/11/tech...ies/index.html

[KevinFromTexas]

The funny thing is Seattle only gets about 3 inches more of precipitation than Austin does - 37 to 34 inches, though, they easily get mores snow than we do. So basically we probably get about the same amount of rain.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

The funny thing is Seattle only gets about 3 inches more of precipitation than Austin does - 37 to 34 inches, though, they easily get mores snow than we do. So basically we probably get about the same amount of rain.

Right. It doesn't always rain in Seattle, and Austin is not a desert.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

The funny thing is Seattle only gets about 3 inches more of precipitation than Austin does - 37 to 34 inches, though, they easily get mores snow than we do. So basically we probably get about the same amount of rain.

The difference is the frequency and intensity. Seattle gets it's rain from a sprinkler. Austin gets it's rain from a fire hose.

(not always, but y'all get the idea)

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by paul78701

The difference is the frequency and intensity. Seattle gets it's rain from a sprinkler. Austin gets it's rain from a fire hose.

(not always, but y'all get the idea)

That's a very good analogy.

[clubtokyo]

As someone who lived in Seattle, yes the rain is more constant, its not about total amount of water, its the constant overcast and light rain. Annoying and depressing. And I actually like rain! but not Seattle rain.

[The ATX]

If one were to take Sutton's and WCC's holdings along with the Villas of Town Lake site that Sutton recently sold, that would make for a huge boot shaped (99 Trinity would be the heel) chunk of land from the IHOP at I-35 down to Red River over to the parkland along the river. That's room for eight towers, and six towers are already or have been planned for that real estate. Although traffic would be a nightmare at Amazon's quitting time.

[GoldenBoot]

I think this is a mute point...Austin is a real long shot at securing Amazon's HQ2. Too many negatives hover over any bid by Austin.

I believe Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, or Washington, D.C. will be selected as the project's location.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

I think this is a mute point...Austin is a real long shot at securing Amazon's HQ2. Too many negatives hover over any bid by Austin.

I believe Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, or Washington, D.C. will be selected as the project's location.

Too many? I can only really think of one of the criteria that could be an issue. Public transportation.

DC is the only one of those that you mention that has a huge pull in the software development realm. The others have some tech due to their size, but they don't have the cache of the Bay Area, Seattle, Austin, DC, Boston. Anecdotal, but, most recruiters contact me about jobs in those cities. Some from NYC, because of it's sheer size. There are also a fair number looking to fill jobs in the Raleigh-Durham area.

[brando]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

I think this is a mute point...Austin is a real long shot at securing Amazon's HQ2. Too many negatives hover over any bid by Austin.

I believe Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, or Washington, D.C. will be selected as the project's location.

Agreed. I think the public transportation and car traffic will cross it off the list rather quickly.

Plus, the Governor, Lt. Governor and Texas Senate are going to push to pass another bathroom bill in 2019. Why would you walk into that if you were Amazon?

[Novacek]

Anyone who crosses off Austin for traffic and then mentions DC has never been to DC.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Anyone who crosses off Austin for traffic and then mentions DC has never been to DC.

I'm actually writing this from DC, where I've been for a week on client meetings. This place is just a hash for drivers. The DC transit system is light years ahead of ours -- both light and regional rail, buses all over the place, and all the standard traffic management strategies for dealing with high capacity surface roads and interstates. And it doesn't touch the rush-hour scrum at all. While DC may check a box for "good transit" and "urbanism," the on-the-ground reality for a huge Amazon HQ will be no better than ours.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by brando

Agreed. I think the public transportation and car traffic will cross it off the list rather quickly.

Plus, the Governor, Lt. Governor and Texas Senate are going to push to pass another bathroom bill in 2019. Why would you walk into that if you were Amazon?

Probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I could almost imagine Abbott backing away from his bathroom bill support in the event Bezos and Amazon made a big point about it. Bezos likes to be a change agent. That is why he bought the Washington Post. He has Texas bonafides. 50,000 Amazon jobs in the Metroplex would likely soften up support from the DFW delegation to the Texas Senate and House for anti LGBT legislation. Meanwhile the DFW area has lots of underutilized light rail and a growing commuter rail network. There are several large transit adjacent parcels in the DFW area that would be ideal for an Amazon HQ2. DFW can adequately supply Amazon's workforce requirements. They've had no problem attracting tech savvy workers to the area. I don't think Austin has a real shot at this because of our lack of transit and even more limited express highway offerings. We just could not handle the additional traffic.

[drummer]

Yeah, DC traffic is horrible on a lot of levels. The public transportation is pretty good, but that alone isn't reason enough to have Amazon there. Folks who work for Amazon are going to want to consider conveniences, prices of homes/apartments, general quality of life/leisure, etc. I'm sure Amazon is considering a huge list of things as they look at bids coming in.

Austin could be a good fit in spite of its shortcomings, which are many...and public transportation is a big one. However, there are a lot of perks as well - which other cities have in other forms, of course. Others have mentioned Dallas (which I think would be better than Houston, personally). San Antonio lacks the airport advantage, but ABIA can always expand. DFW airport is a huge advantage for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Houston obviously has this advantage in IAH as well. Who knows? Everyone is just speculating (myself very much included). It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Is there any word on when they're looking to make a decision?

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I could almost imagine Abbott backing away from his bathroom bill support in the event Bezos and Amazon made a big point about it. Bezos likes to be a change agent. That is why he bought the Washington Post. He has Texas bonafides. 50,000 Amazon jobs in the Metroplex would likely soften up support from the DFW delegation to the Texas Senate and House for anti LGBT legislation. Meanwhile the DFW area has lots of underutilized light rail and a growing commuter rail network. There are several large transit adjacent parcels in the DFW area that would be ideal for an Amazon HQ2. DFW can adequately supply Amazon's workforce requirements. They've had no problem attracting tech savvy workers to the area. I don't think Austin has a real shot at this because of our lack of transit and even more limited express highway offerings. We just could not handle the additional traffic.

FWIW I think our current politics will be one of the biggest knocks against any Texas city. Our taxes are low and regulation is lax but the bathroom bill and sanctuary city fight would be potentially insoluble cultural problems for a company like Amazon.

[Novacek]

DC is perhaps the most extreme example of needing to distinguish between the city and the metro (since the city vs. metro are in different regimes/states).

I suspect that any "bid" from DC wouldn't be in the city itself, it would be in the surrounding metro area. The height limit in the district combined with lack of greenfield development opportunities seem to require it (if Amazon wants a contiguous campus able to expand to such a size).

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by paul78701

Too many? I can only really think of one of the criteria that could be an issue. Public transportation.

DC is the only one of those that you mention that has a huge pull in the software development realm. The others have some tech due to their size, but they don't have the cache of the Bay Area, Seattle, Austin, DC, Boston. Anecdotal, but, most recruiters contact me about jobs in those cities. Some from NYC, because of it's sheer size. There are also a fair number looking to fill jobs in the Raleigh-Durham area.

In addition to poor public transportation:
-Traffic/lack of good mobility infrastructure
-City has no city manager (thus, lack of direction/vision)
-City may not offer enough (if any) incentives
-City is loosing it's business-friendly mentality
-City is smaller in overall size
-City has a smaller airport (albeit growing) - but, it's not a hub
-etc., etc., etc.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

In addition to poor public transportation:
-Traffic/lack of good mobility infrastructure
-City has no city manager (thus, lack of direction/vision)
-City may not offer enough (if any) incentives
-City is loosing it's business-friendly mentality
-City is smaller in overall size
-City has a smaller airport (albeit growing) - but, it's not a hub
-etc., etc., etc.

I feel like you're reaching for negatives.

- Traffic is an issue in most any sizable city.
- City officials change all the time. I'm sure Amazon understands that. I'm sure the city can still manage to put together a proposal without a city manager.
- Incentives are to be determined, you can't call that a negative just yet.
- It's hard to say that Austin is losing it's biz friendly mentality compared to other cities. That seems subjective and likely not a problem Amazon would be hindered by with any sort of proposal coming from the city.
- The airport and city size clearly meet the requirements Amazon was asking for.

Austin is still one of the best areas in the country to find, hire, and retain tech talent. That alone puts it on the short list. It seems to be Amazon's most important criteria.

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by paul78701

I feel like you're reaching for negatives.

- Traffic is an issue in most any sizable city.
- City officials change all the time. I'm sure Amazon understands that. I'm sure the city can still manage to put together a proposal without a city manager.
- Incentives are to be determined, you can't call that a negative just yet.
- It's hard to say that Austin is losing it's biz friendly mentality compared to other cities. That seems subjective and likely not a problem Amazon would be hindered by with any sort of proposal coming from the city.
- The airport and city size clearly meet the requirements Amazon was asking for.

Austin is still one of the best areas in the country to find, hire, and retain tech talent. That alone puts it on the short list. It seems to be Amazon's most important criteria.

Agreed. I guess if Austin and Texas for that matter are such a mess then Amazon will be moving the Whole Foods headquarters and their software development center somewhere a bit more desirable! The HQ2 search has been years in the process and I'd bet my paycheck they already have chosen the location.