So much of this makes me chuckle, Amazon is getting more free advertising from this ruse than they could ever have hoped for.
Some documents need to be originals. Fax copies don’t always stand up, legally.
I’m not interested in Toronto, so my question about customs was for those so worried it has to be near an intl airport, their assumptions about volume of travel.
@doschicos, thanks.
Yes, the largest trading partner, in both directions. 
Chrystia is an intelligent and interesting woman. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her several times as we have mutual friends. She is very good at her job.
Quality of life is important in attracting the tech employees. I do not see some of the conservative cities mentioned offering the liberal atmosphere desired. And- do the current residents want their dominant lifestyle messed with?
Agree most people will not be border crossing often. It could be quicker than the flight from Seattle to many American cities. And many of the current Canadian employees in Seattle may want to transfer, providing a core of people knowledgeable about how things work in the Amazon world. Most of the employees I imagine will be doing research- improving products and creating new ones. They will not be traveling. Even much customer service is done online- we are talking an internet based company after all.
Minneapolis would be a good fit but doesn’t need Amazon. Great place in summer! Amazon employees tend to be focused on work for long hours. You can bundle up, but you can only take off so many clothes in the hot south.
Amazon certainly will not release details of proposals- it is a private company and has no need to. It gets to decide where it wants to open HQ2 based on whatever factors deemed a best business decision. I hope they include what is best for employees and not just the corporate bottom line.
“Some documents need to be originals. Fax copies don’t always stand up, legally.”
Ok, but it still doesn’t take three weeks. Many companies have offices all around the world and that doesn’t seem to prevent them from doing business. Plus, millions of people have to travel to other countries on business all the time. This notion that it will be some terrible burden on Amazon employees that they may have to go through customs several times a year is ridiculous.
My city put in a bid. It’s laughable to think Amazon would ever come here.
Have you mailed a package from the US to Canada? Many Canadians set up a US PO box and drive over.
Phila is intriguing for the easy travel to NYC and DC, two and three hours by car, just as easy by train. So considering the insane idea of moving people to Revere, (and that lovely link about Phila being somewhat ready,) I could swing some votes in that direction.
It doesn’t matter what “plans” Boston claims about their site. They are far from “go.” I drove past Suffolk Downs daily and it’s a industrial location, across from a gas tank farm. I’m not sure there’s an updated environmental impact study. The track seems to still be open. What I’ve read of the proposal seems details more suited for a manufacturing or distribution center than an elite R&D and marketing site.
And the time it would take to turn the neighborhood into some luxury planned community is nuts.
Btw, the lure needs to be more than one great name U or two. Boston metro has Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU, BC, NEU, Babson. A little further to UMass and its consortium, plus WPI. I’m likely even forgetting some.
@lookingforward - that is what SLU 'hood looked like. Shipyards, RE blight, nasty traffic. The city (and Paul Allen who bought that industrial wasteland) remediated most of it. It took a looong time though. The traffic is still a major cluster - duh, because back in the days no one expected the area to house so much. It is chicken and egg problem…
BB, same with Route 1a there, (It’s not even Rt 1,) two lanes in each direction, not a great road surface. It leads from the city to basically nowhere, (the NH beach area and further north, but not, say, another “city.”) I don’t know if Amazon has a multi-year or decade neighborhood revitalization goal. And frankly, in New England, we’re not exactly quick about getting civic improvements done.
NE and Seattle have a lot in common when it comes to Big Digs. I highly doubt Amazon would want to invest in any co-development…
"Have you mailed a package from the US to Canada? "
Yes, I have actually. I’ve mailed stuff to relatives living in BC, so distance and borders. I’ve also ordered goods from Canada via shipping that wasn’t expedited. It took less than a week. With expedited shipping you can get in 1 or 2 days. I’ve also ordered stuff from Europe and Asia, and have shipped things to friends and relatives in South America and Asia. None of it took 3 weeks or even 2 weeks.
And this is just little old me doing personal stuff looking to do it cheaply without the benefit of corporate shipping contracts. Besides, if anyone is the expert on shipping items and expediting, it is Amazon.
'I want Philly to have more jobs, to rebuild inner city schools, and to keep our history. ’
All the cities want that, but if they give away all their resources to win the bid, then there is no money to rebuild the city. Amazon isn’t interested in waiting for urban renewal and it doesn’t want to pay for it. They want it all given to them. I hope they do pick Atlanta or a Texas city. If they want to pick Toronto, go for it and see how many of their executives want to pay taxes to two countries. I don’t care.
I think at the beginning, there will be a big drain on resources of the chosen city. Not all of those recruited are 22, some are in their 30’s and have children who need to go to school, and need doctors and dentists and rec soccer teams to play on. None of their salaries will have been taxed yet, but they’ll be driving their cars on the streets of the city, wearing them down and making potholes.
“I think at the beginning, there will be a big drain on resources of the chosen city.”
It’s not like, poof, 50K employees, is it? There will be a ramp up phase I would think.
They wouldn’t be paying taxes in two countries.
Yes, it would ramp up slowly. this came from the Boston Globe
"Of course, Amazon wouldn’t plop down that many workers overnight. It has said it plans to start off much smaller and expand over the course of about 10 to 15 years.
And the company describes 50,000 workers as a maximum number; it’s possible fewer would end up being hired. The company puts the total for its existing Seattle headquarters at 40,000-plus."
You’d be stunned at how fast they will ramp up. As I said, there are over 10,000 open job recs in Seattle right now. (Making me nuts – I’m looking for a new contract with anyone but Amazon in Seattle, but Boolean logic to eliminate them doesn’t work on most of the sites with job listings – so I’m wading through/skipping past many Amazon listings).
Anthony Bourdain’s newest episode tonight is on Pittsburgh. Talking about the tech industry, robotics, Carnegie Mellon, young people with high salaries moving in. Interesting in light of this thread and the video the city put together for their proposal. It’s one of the better videos I’ve seen of the handful or two I’ve watched thus far:
http://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2017/10/19/Pittsburgh-Amazon-promotional-video-HQ2-bid-entice-official-bid-future/stories/201710190122
It also talks about how Pittsburgh is enjoying a renaissance but how it isn’t reaching down to all levels and the problems that causes.
I’ve also watched a few of the videos. They’re all good but I like the way Pittsburgh told its story.
Youtube had a link to Pittsburgh’s press conference on the city’s HQ2 submission. Some interesting questions were asked.
Pittsburgh sounds good to me, too. It has excellent universities. Elite universities may produce excellent brains but very small, too small to man a 50,000 emplyee corporation. Both Carnegie Mellon and U of Pitt are of a good size. I also like that they are not on the eastern seaboard, too. It is too crowded already.
I watched this episode and, as a 35-year resident of Pittsburgh, I can confidently say it was a steaming pile of you-know-what. Missed the boat entirely on capturing present-day Pittsburgh.
Full disclosure: I hate Anthony Bourdain.