I will cry if they pick Denver. This city is already enough of a shit show.
Ok, I don't want them in Denver, solely because of the air quality concerns... but let's stop with the hyperbole. Denver is not a shit show. In most regards (public transportation, traffic) it is *much* better than other large cities.
I will cry if they pick Denver. This city is already enough of a shit show.
Ok, I don't want them in Denver, solely because of the air quality concerns... but let's stop with the hyperbole. Denver is not a shit show. In most regards (public transportation, traffic) it is *much* better than other large cities.
It's pretty bad... it took me 2.5 hours to pick up my kids last night and I was only on the highway for about 5 miles of that. My evening commute has nearly doubled in the last two years. That's a pretty significant increase in a very short period of time. Denver is continuing to grow at a very rapid pace and the highway system and overall infrastructure can't handle it.
I want Amazon to come to Austin so that in a few years my property value will go up a bunch and we can move to California. Transit is super terrible here, but I could see Amazon putting private buses on all of the shiny new toll roads we've got.
Do we really think public transportation will be a major factor? Tech bros tend to lean libertarian and hate public transit - see what has happened with Google and other tech companies in the Bay Area and private transit for employees.
(Link to a story just yesterday about people throwing rocks at and breaking the windows of Apple and Google buses)
ETA: Also, the shuttle buses in Silicon Valley have less to do with “tech bros” not wanting to mix with commoners and more to do with the complete dearth of good public transit options in the South Bay. They’re catering to the desires of young people who want to live in the city, not the ‘burbs.
It’s worth noting too that the large tech companies don’t just employ engineers; there’s a ton of support staff. Even the people who staff the gyms and kitchens have to commute to the campus somehow.
Also, maybe it's just me, but I think Amazon's time will be up soon enough. Not because I'll probably cancel my Prime membership soon because I'm no longer getting anything out of it while other companies are upping their game, but because they've jumped the shark in terms of the shopping experience. Eventually a lot more people are going to be annoyed by the cheap (in price and in quality) stuff that pops up all over the search results.
I mean, I guess they can just buy a lot more companies like they did with WaPo and Whole Foods and still be successful but who knows.
I tend to agree. Amazon has forced other companies to have better customer service (Target had free shipping in December, Gap has free returns) which is a good thing and why I've never felt the need to join Prime.
Get thee a Target Red card. Free shipping and 5% off. You can set it on auto-pay so you don't have to remember to pay it.
I love Target in person, but their website still really sucks compared with others. Amazon has much faster shipping. I think I live near a Amazon distro center because I never have a problem with 2-day shipping. Maybe like one out of 50 orders might be past 2 days.
Every time I’m reminded that the rest of the country considers our transit “good” I want to cry. I think a major employer like Amazon moving here might actually be the final straw in the complete disintegration of our transit system. It’s basically on life support as is.
Yesterday I walked to work because it was faster than taking the metro and I wasn’t comfortable with the state of the roads for my bike. My commute is ~3 miles and it was a 55 minute walk. The last time I used transit it took me 62 minutes. I would love to use it when the weather is too bad to bike, but I can’t justify the cost when it is actually slower than just walking.
Yep---I commute by DC metro from the end of a line into DC and it's a shit show and EXPENSIVE. I pay over $17 a day for my commute that takes 70 minutes on a good day and has taken 3 hours on a bad day.
I do like the new (not that new anymore) GM. He seems to be trying with a system that has no resources. I keep trying to find a job in the suburbs near my home so I can ditch the commute, but unfortunately there aren't many.
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.
Yes, but that new system goes in every direction but ours. There are people south on 65, people! People that will use public transportation! *Signed, lives down 65 but can't work in Nashville because the commute is insane
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.
Yes, but that new system goes in every direction but ours. There are people south on 65, people! People that will use public transportation! *Signed, lives down 65 but can't work in Nashville because the commute is insane
We used to live south of Nashville but moved to town because the commute was becoming outrageous.
Ok, I don't want them in Denver, solely because of the air quality concerns... but let's stop with the hyperbole. Denver is not a shit show. In most regards (public transportation, traffic) it is *much* better than other large cities.
It's pretty bad... it took me 2.5 hours to pick up my kids last night and I was only on the highway for about 5 miles of that. My evening commute has nearly doubled in the last two years. That's a pretty significant increase in a very short period of time. Denver is continuing to grow at a very rapid pace and the highway system and overall infrastructure can't handle it.
I really don't want to argue about perception and reality today, but I have to make the point that your perception does not match what is being done infrastructure-wise by CDOT et al. I see this all the time with my job. There are major infrastructure changes starting that when they come online will alleviate a lot of pressure.
Yes, but that new system goes in every direction but ours. There are people south on 65, people! People that will use public transportation! *Signed, lives down 65 but can't work in Nashville because the commute is insane
We used to live south of Nashville but moved to town because the commute was becoming outrageous.
My last job was a minimum 1.5 hours each way, parking at the stadium and taking a shuttle to the office. Never again. Brentwood is a hard limit for me, preferable Franklin.
We used to live south of Nashville but moved to town because the commute was becoming outrageous.
My last job was a minimum 1.5 hours each way, parking at the stadium and taking a shuttle to the office. Never again. Brentwood is a hard limit for me, preferable Franklin.
Dang.. we were just doing Franklin to Green Hills commute and it was bad enough for us to move.
I don't think Amazon has reached its peak yet. I think they are making the shopping part irrelevant. They have their own production company now (producing music and TV). They opened a restaurant delivery service. They are going to continue to add more and more parts to their business that have nothing to do with shopping for products.
I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call the shopping piece “irrelevant” but they’re definitely looking to diversify. Rumors have been out there for months now that they want to get into the healthcare business and compete with PBMs.
Every time I’m reminded that the rest of the country considers our transit “good” I want to cry. I think a major employer like Amazon moving here might actually be the final straw in the complete disintegration of our transit system. It’s basically on life support as is.
Yesterday I walked to work because it was faster than taking the metro and I wasn’t comfortable with the state of the roads for my bike. My commute is ~3 miles and it was a 55 minute walk. The last time I used transit it took me 62 minutes. I would love to use it when the weather is too bad to bike, but I can’t justify the cost when it is actually slower than just walking.
I'm really curious if the supersecret incentive packages offered included properly funding WMATA so the metro access they were touting would be worthwhile.
Also it's not so much that we consider the transit system good - as that it EXISTS. Other cities are looking at building their transit access from scratch for this proposal and even with the feds watering down NEPA that's a long lead item.
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.
I would like to think that if it came to Chicago that the influx of money to the city would be used to reopen mental health centers and schools that were closed on the South Side. But...Rahm.
I think there is little chance Indy gets selected, but it does have an old GM plant right downtown (walking distance) available. Super close to the airport, too. I’m not sure how much they’d need public transit then.
I don't think Amazon has reached its peak yet. I think they are making the shopping part irrelevant. They have their own production company now (producing music and TV). They opened a restaurant delivery service. They are going to continue to add more and more parts to their business that have nothing to do with shopping for products.
I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call the shopping piece “irrelevant” but they’re definitely looking to diversify. Rumors have been out there for months now that they want to get into the healthcare business and compete with PBMs.
I don't think Amazon has reached its peak yet. I think they are making the shopping part irrelevant. They have their own production company now (producing music and TV). They opened a restaurant delivery service. They are going to continue to add more and more parts to their business that have nothing to do with shopping for products.
I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call the shopping piece “irrelevant” but they’re definitely looking to diversify. Rumors have been out there for months now that they want to get into the healthcare business and compete with PBMs.
I think there is little chance Indy gets selected, but it does have an old GM plant right downtown (walking distance) available. Super close to the airport, too. I’m not sure how much they’d need public transit then.
I wonder about housing prices around that area. I'm not super familiar as we've only ever looked at more north/northwest areas. I know 465 can be nuts around that side at times but maybe there's a way to adjust starting times so amazon traffic isn't just adding to an already existing mess.
I live in the land of Amazon. Y'all we have public transit and it sucks donkey dick. The planning folks here can't get out of their own damn way. Seriously. A major area here needs to get light rail and they are discussing not having it finished until 2030. It should have been one of the first areas to even get the rail. There is one major highway that runs through Seattle and 2 that are alternates. We are locked in like hell between mountains and water.
I'm hoping that they don't choose Raleigh. I would like to move back one day.
And may the odds be ever in your favor if you do get the Amazon HQ. I've said that they need to create their own town. Seriously.