@ajl and other Austin folks may just die. The traffic there already sucks.
OMG, YES!
You should change that sign you posted to Waco instead of Dallas. Dallas has its' own traffic issues. Plus there was a housing shortage for a while in Plano. And please don't go and ruin Fort Worth.
My money is still on Chicago. I think Bezos has been taking with Boeing.
I do think we have a major advantage over the other Midwest cities with a decent mass transit system and 2 international airports, including 1 massive one, plus a fairly reasonable cost of living for a big city.
What I am learning from this thread - is there anywhere that doesn't have a housing shortage or HCOL or traffic issues?
They have LA on the list, but I would be surprised if they came here, only because Amazon Studios just signed a huge lease on a different location for their operations - it would seem silly to have 2 separate ops in LA, though I suppose the lease could end by the time the new campus is built.
Omg, please not Austin. I seriously think it would be the final nail to this city. Real estate is already inflated here as it is and we're already ruining the east side of town. Fuck no.
What I am learning from this thread - is there anywhere that doesn't have a housing shortage or HCOL or traffic issues?
They have LA on the list, but I would be surprised if they came here, only because Amazon Studios just signed a huge lease on a different location for their operations - it would seem silly to have 2 separate ops in LA, though I suppose the lease could end by the time the new campus is built.
On that list, probably Columbus, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh are the best in terms of COL/traffic/housing (although I recall reading the river issue makes Pittsburgh traffic worse than it should be for a city of that size). I don't know enough about Raleigh to comment.
This whole time, I've thought that Amazon could be really attractive going to a smaller city that still has good amenities. It would be appealing for the boost to the economy. I would think it could be good for recruiting - hey, come work for us in this location where you can buy a house for less than a bagillion zillion dollars and won't have to commute for nine hours a day!
But nobody listens to me because they are dumb dumbs.
What I am learning from this thread - is there anywhere that doesn't have a housing shortage or HCOL or traffic issues?
They have LA on the list, but I would be surprised if they came here, only because Amazon Studios just signed a huge lease on a different location for their operations - it would seem silly to have 2 separate ops in LA, though I suppose the lease could end by the time the new campus is built.
Actually, Columbus has tolerably low cost of living and traffic isn’t too bad. It would be nice to keep it that way.
What I am learning from this thread - is there anywhere that doesn't have a housing shortage or HCOL or traffic issues?
They have LA on the list, but I would be surprised if they came here, only because Amazon Studios just signed a huge lease on a different location for their operations - it would seem silly to have 2 separate ops in LA, though I suppose the lease could end by the time the new campus is built.
On that list, probably Columbus, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh are the best in terms of COL/traffic/housing (although I recall reading the river issue makes Pittsburgh traffic worse than it should be for a city of that size). I don't know enough about Raleigh to comment.
This whole time, I've thought that Amazon could be really attractive going to a smaller city that still has good amenities. It would be appealing for the boost to the economy. I would think it could be good for recruiting - hey, come work for us in this location where you can buy a house for less than a bagillion zillion dollars and won't have to commute for nine hours a day!
But nobody listens to me because they are dumb dumbs.
I think that too, but my assumption is that in the end they’re going to choose a big city, but not New York or LA, and will want to pick somewhere in the Midwest so as not to seem to “coastal.” So my bet is Chicago because we have a lot of amenities that will appeal to them, especially the large airport, which I don’t think should be discounted. We also have a lot of major universities that they can directly recruit from, though I don’t know if that’s a consideration.
My money is still on Chicago. I think Bezos has been taking with Boeing.
I do think we have a major advantage over the other Midwest cities with a decent mass transit system and 2 international airports, including 1 massive one, plus a fairly reasonable cost of living for a big city.
I don't know much, but a friend in Seattle who knows a little was saying that they were getting a little nervous about weather patterns with airports and Chicago was one that they were modeling shutdowns at the airports to see if that would disrupt their services. I assume they are doing that with all potential locations.
I wonder if they take into consideration the fact that everyone knows it sucks to work at amazon, so really they should choose a city that people would actually want to move to to compensate for their miserable work life
I do think we have a major advantage over the other Midwest cities with a decent mass transit system and 2 international airports, including 1 massive one, plus a fairly reasonable cost of living for a big city.
I don't know much, but a friend in Seattle who knows a little was saying that they were getting a little nervous about weather patterns with airports and Chicago was one that they were modeling shutdowns at the airports to see if that would disrupt their services. I assume they are doing that with all potential locations.
I would assume so also. It is a legitimate concern if you’re looking at cities that experience harsher winters.
I don’t care one way or another if they come here. Traffic already sucks. I don’t think the techies would move to my neighborhood, it’s not cool enough, so I don’t know if it would affect my home price.
We were the first to get an Amazon Books store outside of Seattle and I go there every day. They have the best coffee and serve pastries from a local shop including cruffins - croissants in muffin form with seasonal jam inside. So if amazon means more cruffins, bring on the Amazon!
I wonder if they take into consideration the fact that everyone knows it sucks to work at amazon, so really they should choose a city that people would actually want to move to to compensate for their miserable work life
I thought it mostly sucked to work in the warehouses and much of that is being automated all the time, right? I thought the IT/programmers/management liked their jobs, no?
I wonder if they take into consideration the fact that everyone knows it sucks to work at amazon, so really they should choose a city that people would actually want to move to to compensate for their miserable work life
I thought it mostly sucked to work in the warehouses and much of that is being automated all the time, right? I thought the IT/programmers/management liked their jobs, no?
I feel like we discussed an article on here at some point about the awful work life balance st all levels with Amazon. Competitive pay, but an exp citation of 100 hour work weeks and no work life balance type stuff at basically every level.
I wonder if they take into consideration the fact that everyone knows it sucks to work at amazon, so really they should choose a city that people would actually want to move to to compensate for their miserable work life
I thought it mostly sucked to work in the warehouses and much of that is being automated all the time, right? I thought the IT/programmers/management liked their jobs, no?
I only know people who work at Amazon Studios, but people are pretty happy. There are some growing pains happening, but not because its Amazon - the Studios started with a start-up vibe and now they are growing and becoming more corporate which isn't going over well.
But, work/life balance isn't mentioned as an issue, and people are pretty well compensated.
On that list, probably Columbus, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh are the best in terms of COL/traffic/housing (although I recall reading the river issue makes Pittsburgh traffic worse than it should be for a city of that size). I don't know enough about Raleigh to comment.
We are still MCOL in Raleigh. We are in a high priced spot, and our 1200 sq ft condo is worth 400-415k. Houses in our former upper middle class neighborhood with sought after schools and minimum one acre lots go for 400-500k. Houses inside the beltline in the sought after school district are 375k to a couple million. You can get outside the beltline or in neighborhoods with smaller yards and smaller houses much cheaper. Traffic here is bad on the interstate but it's relative. When we lived in north Raleigh, we took streets through town to get home rather than the interstate and outer loop. I say traffic is relative b/c when I go to Charlotte or other cities I'm like, oh yeah, Raleigh traffic is tolerable.
As to transit, we could do much better. DH may take the bus tomorrow b/c roads are bad due to weather and he'll be able to get on a bus within a couple blocks of our place and off within a half mile of his office, so not bad. I have friends that do park and rides, and we used to do a park and ride into Raleigh when we lived in Durham. It's still not great or widely used though. We are supposed to have some improvements in bus systems and light rail. DH has to go to DC a couple times a year and walks to the Amtrak station from our house. While we have public transit options, we were very conscious of options when we bought our current place.
So I think Raleigh has a fair shot. I don't think we'll ultimately get it, but we do have a lot of what they've said they want.
Nooooo! It's funny I heard people on my flight talking about how nice the Raleigh traffic was the last time I was out and I in my head I was like, "oh hell no." But that is based on what I have experienced my entire life in the area. And of course, I think housing prices are ridiculous for what you get but here I sit in an over priced area. ETA: I thought the Triad area would have been perfect for Amazon. That area could use a boost for sure.
I imagine they'd almost have to pick the south side, right? There's a ton of open land down 85 and it's a straight shot to the airport.
OR they could go into the City. There are all those railroads in the City and the City is also very close to the airport. I am selfish and don't care about the traffic because I lie in the city and work on the Southside.
I wonder if they take into consideration the fact that everyone knows it sucks to work at amazon, so really they should choose a city that people would actually want to move to to compensate for their miserable work life
I thought it mostly sucked to work in the warehouses and much of that is being automated all the time, right? I thought the IT/programmers/management liked their jobs, no?
From what I've heard from friends who have worked there, they work you hard until you burn out, but it doesn't matter because there will always be someone there to replace you.
ETA: as someone above said, they are very well compensated
I would think Austin doesn't have water resources for many more people.
Can you elaborate on this?
The Edwards Aquifer can only support so many people. Austin doesn't have great water access. Atlanta struggles with this too. They've tried suing TN for access to our rivers to feed Atlanta.
The Edwards Aquifer can only support so many people. Austin doesn't have great water access. Atlanta struggles with this too. They've tried suing TN for access to our rivers to feed Atlanta.
San Antonio draws water from Edwards Aquifer, not Austin. We get our water from the Colorado and Lake Austin.
Catlawdy, - there's a reason I lived where I did in Raleigh. No need to get on the Beltline or 40. They could put it in RTP for sure since it's already the most condensed traffic area. But I like Raleigh the way it is. Years ago I complained to my DH about transplants and he pointed out that he was a transplant. I was like, oh yeah. The complaint was all traffic based.
Post by wesleycrusher on Jan 18, 2018 18:40:09 GMT -5
susquehanna We are in Pittsburgh also, and for us personally, it seems like amazon coming would be great for us- we own a home in the city, DH works in software engineering, we have a 7 min commute to work not on any highway, so more traffic isn't an issue.
The Edwards Aquifer can only support so many people. Austin doesn't have great water access. Atlanta struggles with this too. They've tried suing TN for access to our rivers to feed Atlanta.
San Antonio draws water from Edwards Aquifer, not Austin. We get our water from the Colorado and Lake Austin.
I still don't think Austin has enough water to continue its growth unfettered. I know it changes, but when I lived in Austin, Lake Travis was full of islands it was so low.
susquehanna We are in Pittsburgh also, and for us personally, it seems like amazon coming would be great for us- we own a home in the city, DH works in software engineering, we have a 7 min commute to work not on any highway, so more traffic isn't an issue.
Bigger picture though...I'm torn.
This is pretty much our situation in Denver. We live in the city, DH is a software engineer (and I'm in UX, so double the nerdery), we have one car and he takes public transit or bikes year-round depending on the weather (and I work from home)...