There had been talk of the Raleigh, NC area, but thankfully that has died. Apple is coming in and that will be good, but Wake County has rubber stamped development over the past 20 years and infrastructure has not kept up. Insane traffic and over crowding of schools should be enough of a deterrent.
On the flip side, we have a plethora of colleges, a big airport, and RTP (tech area) so I can see the draw. There are so many areas in need of jobs, it would be nice to have it go and help their economy – Kentucky and West Virginia come to mind.
No I didn’t mean anything by ‘citizens’ rather than ‘residents’, just thinking that governments are concerned about their citizens having job opportunities and paying taxes and voting for them as mayor and councilmen and governor. Anyone can become a resident of most cities and states within 30 days. Georgia is very particular about documentation.
Amazon claimed it was looking for the perfect city for its employees or to attract young techies - athletics and outdoor life, public transportation, airports, restaurants, schools (both k-12 for families and colleges to provide all those employees). I think in the end a tax break will override the school system or subways. Those new, young engineers and programs don’t all need a 3 bedroom house in a good school system on day one. Most of them would prefer to live in a condo with bars and restaurants within walking distance. I was in Dallas a few years ago and was really surprised at how dead the downtown was after 6 pm. So different than Denver with some sporting event or concert going on every day, so people all over the streets.
How this has all played out, IMO, shows that Amazon is going for the best tax breaks and doesn’t really care about the rest of the things they asked for in their request for proposals. It will have no problem attracting talent to any city that submitted a proposal.
@droppedit The first story I linked is about untreated roads with an inch of snow this past January and the problems it created.
I have family in Atlanta and have lived in the south and know it is similar in other cities. Bottom line, it’s not just ice storms they can’t handle. It’s any snow at all. A few inches of snow in Atlanta means the city effectively shuts down. They just don’t have the equipment to handle road prep and clearing. The point being, even though winters might be more temperate, even a small amount of winter has a big impact in Atlanta that would just be par for the course somewhere else.
" so no refreezing of the melted snow on the roads."
@TwinMom2023 it would be nice if it would go to one of those place but unfortunately both of those places are ranked pretty low regarding education and there aren’t a ton of universities. Now if they were to relocate to Northern KY, that would make sense because there are a lot of universities in the tristate(Ohio, ky, ind) and there’s a ton of affordable housing with great schools.
The thing that gets missed with Chicago, almost all of the proposed sites have easy access to pubic transportation both within the city and suburbs. The thing that makes Chicago attractive (not just to Amazon but to many companies) is that the younger staff love living and working in the city and as they advance in both career and life there are options. If children and schools become a priority there are multiple nationally ranked school districts within a 30 minute or so train ride. People often forget, even living in Chicago you can still have just a long commute as from some/most suburbs so you can really have the best of both worlds.
If they were to pick one of the suburban locations in Chicago, wouldn’t it be challenging to get there via public transportation? The Metra doesn’t run to Oak Brook,for example.
My bet is the suburbs are out. There is a reason McDonalds moved from Oak Brook to Chicago (my wife worked there) and in my opinion it is due to the changing desires of the workforce. Living anywhere (other than Oak Brook) was a tough commute and now almost everyone (city or suburb dweller) has a much easier commute and can choose the lifestyle/amenities they want in their home community.
The same can be said for the the Schaumberg location, great if you live in the area but a nightmare from anywhere else. A city location hits about all of what Amazon is looking for.
If a suburban location was chosen, I would guess they could provide a shuttle service to/from a Metra line or perhaps the RTA would create a Pace Bus route.
Atlanta is also too red. Bezos and the Trump administration have a hate/hate relationship and Bezos isn’t going to invest anywhere that is pro Trump. My guess is Chicago, Columbus or Pittsburgh. All are more politically moderate, have access to infrastructure, and have both high-quality 2-year and 4-year institutions that will support the growing workforce.
The 50K people don’t all come at the beginning, so the location will be able to grow as Amazon grows. The train may not be currently running to Oak Brook, but that’s the kind of infrastructure request that cities will agree to develop as part of the incentive package.
Anyone from the tri-state (NY, NJ, CT) think Newark, NJ has a good shot? I know it’s not as well known/regarded as the other cities on the list, but it has a major international airport and a port with access to the Atlantic/Hudson River. Commuters would have access to a wide range of areas – multiple train lines run throughout NJ + to NYC, Hoboken & Jersey City (the latter 2 cities hosting tons of post-college singles and young-marrieds). Also on the AMTRAK NE Corridor line from DC to Boston. Plus 3 interstates in the area.
Also a blue state for Bezos, plus many high quality universities in the tri-state area.
Do you think the issues with the violent crime rate in urban Chicago will factor in on where they pick? Taxes may be an issues too, my inlaws live suburban Chicago and really complain about the local/state taxes.
Speaking of DC and of snow, I remember school being closed after a light dusting, 3" or less. With so many people there from all over the world, many people didn’t know how to handle any snow. Probably better now, but still.
@3scoutsmom The violent crime rate is a terriblething, however a lot of Chicago area residents would tell you that certain areas of the city contribute to most of the violent crime stats. And not to make light of it, but I would expect it’s a problem in most large metropolitan areas. Time of day also affects how safe an area feels.
As for taxes, yeah no one likes them. Just an observation, but older residents often dislike paying higher property taxes for the schools, once their children have left the school system…especially if you live in a district with a lot of enrichment programs and special amenities. My husband and I remind ourselves that people buy homes in our area because of the schools. We appreciate the fact that we didn’t need to send our children to a private school with a $12,000 per child, per year, cost. << I used that figure based off the tuition at a nearby private school.
How these two factors will play into Amazon’s decision is unknown. Also, I haven’t compared crime stats or taxes with the other cities that have been mentioned. I’m choosing the ‘wait and see’ approach to this topic.
Columbus would be a great location. It doesn’t have the mass transit but Ohio has great schools K-12. The housing is VERY AFFORDABLE. You would also have Ohio State, UC and Case Western for recruiting.
re post # 723. Kentucky schools have never been known to be “great”. Nor that region. Plus- not an attractive area for young tech workers. Detroit area likewise. Amazon needs a city with an existing attraction for younger, college educated people- there needs to be entertainment, sports… It is not the company’s job to help out areas needing jobs. They need existing amenities, not those that will come in even less than five years.
@wis75 Northern KY is basically Cincinnati. There are are plethora of good schools in Cincinnati and northern KY has a few as well. There are two professional sports team, and college basketball is huge(UC, Xavier and UK). It’s a non issue because it didn’t make the cut, but northern Kentucky is nothing like the rest of the state.
KY resident here. Our most recent legislative sessions have passed laws that jeopardize education, LGBTQ rights, and other quality of life issues that I suspect would not be appealing to this type of Amazon workforce. We have a large Amazon workforce in the state already with distribution centers, but those jobs are minimum wage type jobs with lots of turnover. I would think they will be trying to attract career employees to the new HQ and I can’t imagine them even considering KY. Totally agree with @wis75.
Yes you are right regarding the recent legislation but as a long time former cincy resident I think a Cincy/No Ky location would be fantastic. The area has a lot to offer.
@wis75 That’s exactly why Newark NJ might be a good choice. Plenty of options in the area to live, including NYC, Hoboken, and Jersey City – full of singles and young married couples. Plenty of options for commute by rail, bus, car.
The area has the amenities of NYC, the NJ beaches and the NY/NJ ski areas, within an hour away. Plus it’s on the major Amtrak line for the east coast from DC to Boston.
