Don’t remember if I posted this before, but D1 and future SIL are looking to buy in the DC area. But they are getting married at end of Sept, and have been too busy to house hunt. D feels like it is s race against the clock, and it will get harder/pricier to buy as soon as Amazon announces. They plan to start shopping the week after the wedding.
We once drove through Atlanta during an ice storm on our way back from Florida. That - and the traffic issues when we checked it out for potential relocation - convinced us it was not the right place for us. Not sure if Amazon agrees…
And talking of Amazon, not only do they have the smoke issues right now, DS sent a link on crane operators going on strike and some other construction workers walking off the job in solidarity. But I’m still thankful every day that he got the job there. And looking forward to our second Amazon Parents Day next month. Remarkably similar to college Parents days.
Seattle feels almost post-apocalyptic right now, it is so smokey. Visibility is limited, and I saw many commuters today wearing masks against the smoke. And 90 degrees today with most people not having AC. It has not been a great week to live in Seattle. Sounds like we should get some relief starting tomorrow, though.
We will. But not from Amazon traffic. 
Adding 50,000 employees anywhere will cause traffic messes, even in cities with great public transportation.
Given the infrequency of snow/ice in Atlanta, they don’t have the amount of equipment to clear the roads that the northern cities do. So snow/ice has a greater effect on the roads as they can’t clear it as efficiently as up north.
Many of the cities are hoping that some of those 50k employees are already citizens, so it’s not adding 50k more cars to the commute but redirecting some cars that are already there.
But many of those coming from elsewhere may have significant others with vehicles and taking jobs, (or carpooling kids) adding to the commute It all adds to the congestion.
One of my initial concerns, a few dozen posts ago, was whether locals really DO have a shot at these jobs. Many of these wonder companies aren’t looking for you, me, or our kids. We aren’t their designers, software pros or project managers. We aren’t the ones building infrastructure or supplying the materials, running happy hours or selling/renting places to live. But we get to support the costs.
Fortunately, in some cities, like Atlanta, there is a very strong technology community, and many strong candidates coming out of undergrad and grad programs, like GT.
Yes Atlanta has quite the burgeoning tech community.
@twoinanddone : Was “citizens” a clever substitution for “residents” ? 
I’m still pulling for the Detroit-Windsor proposal even though not listed among the final 20 locations.
So as I sit on my deck, drinking a cappuccino and scrolling through College Confidential…on a perfect summer day here…I think ‘there’s nowhere else I’d rather live’. The Chicago area has so many things going for it.
- Great schools like University of Chicago, Northwestern, UIUC, Notre Dame, Michigan, etc
- O’Hare for national and international travel
- Mass transit
- Quality of life amenities...diverse neighborhoods, restaurants, museums, professional sports teams, etc
Frankly, I have no idea how it stacks up to other cities in terms of Amazon’s priorities. I’m not sure how I’d feel if Chicago is chosen. As with almost everything, there would be pros and cons. All I do know is that I’m enjoying my Midwestern life.
@88jm19 I wonder if the proposed site is within Chicago city limits? While there are a lot of good college options , K-12 is lacking IMO.
But Amazon is not recruiting K-12 students & there are plenty of solid private schools in the Chicago area for the sons & daughters of Amazon employees if that is their preference.
We all know they aren’t recruiting K-12, but those are things employees consider when relocating to a city. Some employees don’t want to spend a grip on private schools especially when they are going to get taxed to death in chicago.
K-12 is probably lacking in Cook County, but the suburbs have a lot of choices. There are strong magnet schools within the city limits, but I don’t know if elementary school supply meets demand.
Atlanta has several snow events every winter but isn’t “paralyzed”.
The Jan 2014 event would have paralyzed any major city because it was effectively an icestorm. We had an extended period of very cold weather that froze the ground (sections of my driveway rose up 1" or more) in the weeks prior to the storm. The day before the storm it was sunny and relatively warm, in the 50s, which warmed the surface of the roads. In the morning of the storm, very cold air in the low 20s moved into NW ATL and snow started falling. That snow melted on contact with the warm road surface then refroze as a layer of ice once the melting had cooled the road enough. As a result, that much-joked-about 2-3" of snow turned into a 0.1-0.2" layer of solid ice very quickly (assuming a standard 10:1 snow:liquid ratio).
The unique combination of a thin surface warm layer sandwiched between very cold air and cold subsurface ground caused the disaster. At my house NE of ATL we had no problem driving around because the air temp stayed in the low 30s – so no refreezing of the melted snow on the roads.
@88jm19 Yes, that’s why I asked about the proposed sites. I actually found an article and while most are in Cook County some are not.
Many Chicago commuter suburbs have excellent public school systems and major mass transit options. It was only winter that drove me away after 40 years.
Even Maine gets paralyzed in a bad ice storm. I will never forget the Ice Storm of '98! I was 26 weeks pregnant and had two young children. I was trying to work part time. FIL passed away as the storm was beginning, so we were trying to figure out how to get out to Wisconsin. We were without power for five days. It was hard to get around because a lot of roads were closed due to downed power lines. We can deal with two feet of snow, but ice is tough.