^^^Texas has no state income tax
If I was Amazon management, I’d think about the natural disasters of late and the potential for more. To me, that would rule out FL. Business disruptions are not good. Yes, they can happen anywhere but certain parts of the country are more prone.
The only two states that don’t impose some kind of state corporate or gross receipts tax are Wyoming and South Dakota and it’s not going to be them.
As far as no personal income tax you have:
AK
FL
NH (does have an investment income tax)
NV
SD
TN (does have an investment income tax)
TX
WA
WY
FL had its first big hurricane in a dozen years. Scripts brought a lab to Jupiter. Housing is nice and available down here.
Up thread, someone mentioned Detroit; what an asset to that city!
Heard it would be Orlando if it’s in FL. They are on one of the safest FL list since they are inland/central and part of northern FL. Its also a thriving place that’s for sure. It’s also one of the top places where people are choosing to move to.
My bet is not Pittsburgh, Denver (my least fav airport to fly in or out of,) Detroit, etc.
And not west coast or west, as that’s their current main presence.
I don’t think the primary mission is to revitalize any city, if it causes issues for employee satisfaction. (Workers will still want safety, some “destination city” atmosphere, cute housing.) Nor do I really think ease of fliying is a primary point, as few actual employees will move about. That will be more about execs and top marketkng staff.
At one point, I thought south of Boston. Choice of Logan or Providence airports when folks do travel. Lure of Boston. Mansfield, right off 95 and 495?
But really, if I had to. my bet at this instant would be just off the 128 corridor or out 495, the brain trust there, multiple main routes into the city or down to Providence, on to NYC. Or up to Canada.
Problem? Weather. So Austin or Atlanta?
I think Georgia has a good chance.
Any large company looking for an HQ should consider educational quality - both in terms of attracting bright, capable new talent but also in terms of being an attractive place to raise young families. A lot of the places mentioned don’t seem to fit that bill.
New England weather isn’t a big deal, IMO. We deal with it all the time without much issue.
However, what about the Nashville area?
NOT Florida, including Tampa where we retired to. Weather- high heat and humidity. Transportation is horrible here- hopefully talk of a light rail system will finally get going. Schools. The only thing going for Florida is the lack of a state income tax and incentives. I can’t see any young CS people wanting to live here compared to other places although the downtown area (evacuation area for hurricanes) will get the medical school basic sciences near the teaching hospital and there are young adult activities around.
California living expenses are so high- there is a reason Silicon Valley firms are opening offices in the Seattle area. Any city getting them can be prepared for housing to become much more unaffordable for the rest of the population. Either Amazon workers will change a city’s culture or be low second choice. They do have jobs in several cities away from Seattle but no major campuses.
Florida may not tax income, but it taxes everything else - services, property, entertainment tickets. My driver’s license in Florida was $55, to replace it when lost was $32, while in Colorado it is $15 (I think). I found groceries cost much more in Florida, and gas. Colorado has a low income tax (5%) and pretty low property taxes.
I think Texas will win. Colorado will not fold on tax breaks to get the business. Georgia does weird things with tax breaks too.
I would love Detroit to get it. You gotta root for Detroit.
As for Colorado (Denver) – the infrastructure is already inadequate, the result of these low taxes and a state of denial that the state is booming. I can’t imagine what it would be like if a company with 50,000 people moved in.
^^Well, I think every state is hoping some of those 50,000 people won’t be moving in, that many of them will already live there.
The NYT disagrees with me and thinks it will be Denver.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/09/upshot/where-should-amazon-new-headquarters-be.html
Oh geez, not Atlanta. We have too many people already. I’m rooting for Detroit. Amazon could do so much good there; I would think that would be appealing.
@LakeWashington - in post 16 you mentioned “The negative is the relatively high income inequality level in Philadelphia (true of Atlanta, also).” ~~~ i’ve never been to Philadelphia, and don’t quite know what this means. Can you explain what that means and why it would hurt Atlanta too? I’ll learn something new today. thx!
Doesn’t Seattle have a high income inequality level - probably caused by Amazon and the other tech giants there. They pay their people high salaries while there is a large homeless impoverished sector. All big cities have this problem to some degree.
Just wanted to add that most people don’t know that Amazon already has a tech office in Cambridge with hundreds of employees and growing. Another reason to go with someplace near Boston.
I’d like to see it west of Boston, in that 495/128 area.
route 128 used to be the tech area (way before silicon valley). Intel is still there -most others moved west.
Amazon is already putting a mid-sized distribution facility in NYC, so I would be surprised if another site was chosen in this area.
Doschicos, imo, the issue west of Boston is how even big roads clog in a bad snowstorm. I’ve been out 495 at the worst, where it can dump fast.
But the tech savvy brains and the Boston lure are there. And plenty of housing options, shortening a commute.
My bet is this has to be a business decision, first. Not about bringing opportunity to a challenged area. A company like Amazon is primarily about highly skilled employees, as opposed to, say, a manufacturing company coming in. Or an Amazon distribution center. No offense intended. But that’s why Austin and Atlanta could work. Some nice area outside Chicago. Etc. Maybe Minneapolis.
Montreal has put in a bid for HQ2. They actually meet all the criteria that Amazon has specified. The only problem is that they would have to operate in French.