Amazon Chooses 20 Locations as Finalists

[curbsideprophet]

Amazon Chooses 20 Locations as Finalists for New Headquarters

www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/technology/amazon-finalists-headquarters.html

[mbcdefg]

AMAZON’S TOP 20

Here are the 20 locations chosen by Amazon as the finalists for its second headquarters.



Atlanta

Austin, Tex.

Boston

Chicago

Columbus, Ohio

Dallas

Denver

Indianapolis

Los Angeles

Miami

Montgomery County, Md.

Nashville

Newark

New York

Northern Virginia

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Raleigh, N.C.

Toronto, Canada

Washington, D.C.

[SwimDeep]

Come on Atlanta!!

[bowies]

We didn’t make it, thank you Jesus!

[fuckyourcouch]

Didn’t they already have a finalist list?
I don’t even care anymore. This is the longest “and the winner is...” ever.
Pick one and let me know when it’s over.

[pugz]

KC got cut. Probably good since we have a housing shortage

[05heel]

I’m just amused that Charlotte is out and Raleigh is in. Ha!

[raangoli]

I'm glad to see Newark on the list!

[wawa]

Jan 18, 2018 9:39:27 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

3 finalists in the DMV area?? goodness, don’t let them come to NoVa, please. housing is already ridiculous.

we were just talking about this - I mean, dude does live here.  And we have real transit*, unlike many on that list of 20.  (dysfunctional though it may be...it exists, which is more than you can say for say...columbus)

I think DMV is a top contender.

*eta: outside of buses.  Everywhere has buses. 

[morecoffeeplease]

Jan 18, 2018 9:39:27 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

3 finalists in the DMV area?? goodness, don’t let them come to NoVa, please. housing is already ridiculous.

And traffic!

[Deleted]

Jan 18, 2018 9:39:27 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

3 finalists in the DMV area?? goodness, don’t let them come to NoVa, please. housing is already ridiculous.

Seriously. I was thinking that Atlanta, Dallas, DC, MoCo, NoVa, and LA all sound awful from a traffic standpoint. I don't know enough about the other areas.

[bowies]

Amazon shits all over its employees and the turnover is insane, so good luck to the metro that gets cursed with that!

[2curlydogs]

Oh, thank god. We already are screwed enough with this FoxConn thing.

[robyn]

Jan 18, 2018 9:43:39 GMT -5 pugz said:

KC got cut. Probably good since we have a housing shortage

We were never in the running, although I didlove Mayor James' campaign. I pretty much love everything he does though, so there's that. But a city with zero public transportation other than a novelty street car and an inefficient bus system was never going to capture Bezos' attention. 

[onomatopoeia]

Jan 18, 2018 9:46:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Jan 18, 2018 9:39:27 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

3 finalists in the DMV area?? goodness, don’t let them come to NoVa, please. housing is already ridiculous.

Seriously. I was thinking that Atlanta, Dallas, DC, MoCo, NoVa, and LA all sound awful from a traffic standpoint. I don't know enough about the other areas.

Boston is too, along with already insane housing prices and a housing shortage.  There were a few smaller cities in MA that applied that I actually thought would be better than Boston and I was rooting for them (I live MA) - more the central and northern parts of the state.  

[lilibet]

Indianapolis doesn't have the mass transit infrastructure to handle this. I'm really surprised they haven't been cut from the list yet.

[goldengirlz]

Jan 18, 2018 9:40:08 GMT -5 fuckyourcouch said:

Didn’t they already have a finalist list?
I don’t even care anymore. This is the longest “and the winner is...” ever.
Pick one and let me know when it’s over.

DD and I have been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I couldn’t help but compare this process to the mad hunt for Golden Tickets. Now we get to find out which cities blow up into big violet balloons.

ETA: But really this is just a dog and pony show to see where they get the best tax breaks.

[morecoffeeplease]

I’d say dc if they opened in ward 8 but it’s in ward 6 so I’m definitely not sold.

[seeyalater52]

Jan 18, 2018 9:54:34 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

Jan 18, 2018 9:46:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Seriously. I was thinking that Atlanta, Dallas, DC, MoCo, NoVa, and LA all sound awful from a traffic standpoint. I don't know enough about the other areas.

Boston is too, along with already insane housing prices and a housing shortage.  There were a few smaller cities in MA that applied that I actually thought would be better than Boston and I was rooting for them (I live MA) - more the central and northern parts of the state.  

Yeah, Boston would be insane. I am kind of sad Providence dropped off, it would have been perfect. I also would have loved to see the Central MA locations aren't in the running, that would have been good too. But please not Boston. 

[andwhat]

Jan 18, 2018 9:56:27 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

Jan 18, 2018 9:46:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Seriously. I was thinking that Atlanta, Dallas, DC, MoCo, NoVa, and LA all sound awful from a traffic standpoint. I don't know enough about the other areas.

this is why I think it will be the NoVa location if it comes to this area. I’m pretty sure the proposal is out in loudoun, which would kiiiiind of alleviate some of the traffic issues. but so much for loudoun being “more” affordable. you won’t be able to buy a townhouse out there for under 600k.

I can’t even imagine what it would do to those of us closer to the city. sigh.

PLUS, what a monopoly on tech salaries. will other local companies push their bands up to stay competitive? or is everyone going to have to try and work at amazon just to keep up with the rising COL?

coming to an already HCOL area all but forces us to become San Fran, ugh.

Does mass transit go to Loudoun?

I was really hoping for PG County, but if I had to pick from the list I would want MD or DC

[katfco]

I’m surprised Columbus is still on the list. They have a distribution facility, but it’s not that big a city, comparatively.

[Deleted]

Jan 18, 2018 9:56:27 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

Jan 18, 2018 9:46:36 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Seriously. I was thinking that Atlanta, Dallas, DC, MoCo, NoVa, and LA all sound awful from a traffic standpoint. I don't know enough about the other areas.

this is why I think it will be the NoVa location if it comes to this area. I’m pretty sure the proposal is out in loudoun, which would kiiiiind of alleviate some of the traffic issues. but so much for loudoun being “more” affordable. you won’t be able to buy a townhouse out there for under 600k.

I can’t even imagine what it would do to those of us closer to the city. sigh.

PLUS, what a monopoly on tech salaries. will other local companies push their bands up to stay competitive? or is everyone going to have to try and work at amazon just to keep up with the rising COL?

coming to an already HCOL area all but forces us to become San Fran, ugh.

Seriously.

H and I have said that we would move back to DC if we could make a combined 300k or something, but our current salaries plus student loans just makes it too much. You just have to go SO far out to find reasonably priced housing, and we don't want to spend our whole lives commuting. There are some not great things about where we live now, but we should be able to afford a modest house within a 15-minute drive of our jobs. That's hard to give up.

[onomatopoeia]

Jan 18, 2018 9:58:35 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jan 18, 2018 9:54:34 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

Boston is too, along with already insane housing prices and a housing shortage.  There were a few smaller cities in MA that applied that I actually thought would be better than Boston and I was rooting for them (I live MA) - more the central and northern parts of the state.  

Yeah, Boston would be insane. I am kind of sad Providence dropped off, it would have been perfect. I also would have loved to see the Central MA locations aren't in the running, that would have been good too. But please not Boston. 

The more I think of it, the more I wonder if this was simply strategic on Amazon's part to name some of these cities. Like, they would be insane to actually pick Boston, IMO. High taxes, high salaries, shitty public transportation and traffic, inaccessible housing...I love Boston but I just don't see how it would be a good choice.

But by naming Boston as a finalist, Amazon gets almost all of NE super excited about the possibility and invested in the company. It's basically free advertising, regardless of whether to not they'll actually ever come here.

[carmenere]

Jan 18, 2018 9:47:28 GMT -5 bowies said:

Amazon shits all over its employees and the turnover is insane, so good luck to the metro that gets cursed with that!

My aunt used to work as a therapist in Seattle and she said every single amazon employee she saw was miserable in their job.

Governor Deal said he would call a special session of the General Assembly if a city in GA made the list. I’m sure he’s going to bend over for them.

[shortstax]

Jan 18, 2018 10:00:17 GMT -5 katfco said:

I’m surprised Columbus is still on the list. They have a distribution facility, but it’s not that big a city, comparatively.

It's one of the 15th largest cities in the US, though.   But, I bet the lack of efficient public transportation will kill this deal. 

[winecat]

blergh. Denver is still on the list.

[wawa]

Jan 18, 2018 10:07:07 GMT -5 @stilljustash said:

Jan 18, 2018 9:59:43 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Does mass transit go to Loudoun?

I was really hoping for PG County, but if I had to pick from the list I would want MD or DC

the silver line is going out there, yes.

I would prefer the MoCo location if it comes here.

me too, if only because i'm assuming it's not going to be located at an endline station (they said white flint early, but that was never officially confirmeed as the final bid), so it'll be more efficient in terms of transit access. 

[aurora]

Jan 18, 2018 10:06:35 GMT -5 winecat said:

blergh. Denver is still on the list.

I am surprised by this. I would think they would want somewhere farther from Seattle (i.e., East coast, or at least East of the Mississippi).

[cville]

They're the corporate equivalent of LeBron.

[tres3]

Jan 18, 2018 9:54:52 GMT -5 lilibet said:

Indianapolis doesn't have the mass transit infrastructure to handle this. I'm really surprised they haven't been cut from the list yet.

Nashville doesn't have transit but we are voting on a huge transit project in May.

I think from a logistical stand point Nashville and Indy make a lot os sense. Relatively cheap educated labor, land still available, revitalized downtowns, etc.