PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[Nova08]

Someone more or less mentioned in this thread, "what's Amazon's real agenda / what's their angle?"

I think Amazon already had 3-5 sites narrowed down. They want to shake those cities down as much as possible so they created this bidding war. If another few options pop up in the process, great, but chances are the original 3-5 will pony up more incentives now than if Amazon had only approached those handful of cities.

Also, it's worth noting, the points mentioned in the article are contradictory to Amazon's key qualifications. The article points to employee desire for a suburban location where cost of living is much lower and housing options are much more diverse.

[Boku]

Someone with a personal preference may be spreading rumors to sway the decision in their favor, or it could be designed to up whatever financial incentives these cities will be offering. Or, as sayitaintso said, it could be that Boston has already been decided and it's simply a shakedown.

Whatever it is, Philly still has to bring it. I'll be disappointed but Schuylkill Yards was designed long before this Amazon stuff, and I'm excited for it.

[Jsiegel]

Originally Posted by Boku

"Other reported contenders are Minneapolis, San Diego, and Denver."


"While other cities may ultimately win out, Boston is being considered for its proximity to Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an airport with nonstop flights to Seattle and Washington, D.C., and a lower cost of living than many other big cities, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter."

What a joke.

While I still could see Boston as a front-runner based entirely on proximity to Harvard and MIT alone, this article is complete fluff. Of course it's being "considered", so are probably 10 other cities. That's the idea.

But Boston is way more expensive than most US cities, closer to SF or NY than anywhere else. That they cited its relative affordability completely undercuts the article's validity. Unless Amazon is going on gut rather than facts, Boston should not be their first choice.

Every issue they have with Seattle they'll have with Boston, just repeating the same mistakes.

[Knight Hospitaller]

I"m sure that I'm too biased to be reliable, but, for the life of me, I cannot think of a better candidate than Philly, if preconceptions are excluded. I've been to Austin, and I see the draw, but it's still a second-tier city with a regional airport. There's not a more "plugged in" major metro than Philly with reasonable COL.

[Jsiegel]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

I"m sure that I'm too biased to be reliable, but, for the life of me, I cannot think of a better candidate than Philly, if preconceptions are excluded. I've been to Austin, and I see the draw, but it's still a second-tier city with a regional airport. There's not a more "plugged in" major metro than Philly with reasonable COL.

Same and completely agree. I think perception of other cities may be our biggest challenge which is why I hope Amazon makes their choice based purely on facts. If so, no other city comes close.

The speculating articles are all hysterical too: SD, Denver? Please, they're not choosing another small city in a western location.

The idea that a city needs to already have high job growth is also a weird, red herring since a. 50,000 jobs IS job growth, b. people will move from Mars to work at the new Amazon HQ. People move to work for FB, Google, Apple, etc, it's not even close to all homegrown talent.

Plus Philadelphia's central northeast corridor location makes it a perfect geographical draw.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Chicago is a great city too, but I don't see that as an option either, unless it was a complete relocation, like Boeing. There's no sense in choosing flyover country if you've got a Left Coast presence. East coast is the only thing that makes sense, and puts them half way to Europe.

[Jsiegel]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Chicago is a great city too, but I don't see that as an option either, unless it was a complete relocation, like Boeing. There's no sense in choosing flyover country if you've got a Left Coast presence. East coast is the only thing that makes sense, and puts them half way to Europe.

Totally agree. I think outside of Philly, Chicago is the only city that checks every box, unless of course they're explicitly looking for an East Coast presence.

Then only Philly makes sense. That you can fly to NY and DC from Boston is a fairly meaningless stat when you can take a train to those cities from Philly in far less time.

[summersm343]

Where should Amazon build HQ2? We let the data decide

After crunching the numbers, here are the top 10 metro areas for Amazon’s HQ2:

Toronto
Ottawa, Ont.
Boston
Philadelphia
Chicago
Atlanta
Washington, D.C.
Charlotte, N.C.
Montréal
Vancouver, B.C.

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-build-hq2-let-data-decide/

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Where should Amazon build HQ2? We let the data decide



https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-build-hq2-let-data-decide/

Those cities are ranked in that order according to the average of the 5 metrics used in that article:

1. Toronto
2. Ottawa, Ont.
3. Boston
4. Philadelphia
5. Chicago
6. Atlanta
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Charlotte, N.C.
9. Montréal
10. Vancouver, B.C.

And interestingly, the ranking is followed by this:

Most of the top metro areas ranked especially well in education, tech talent, taxes, and transit. The biggest drag for most of the top 10 was housing prices, with Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, Washington, and Vancouver all falling in the bottom 30 percent of the home price rankings.

So which city would that leave at the top of the list? Hmmmmm.

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Those cities are ranked in that order according to the average of the 5 metrics used in that article:

And interestingly, the ranking is followed by this:



So which city would that leave at the top of the list? Hmmmmm.

Besides Philly, it would leave Chicago and Atlanta, currently the top two options in the eyes of many. Philly definitely has a solid shot though if they put together a good package that highlights in depth all the potential advantages of the city.

[Knight Hospitaller]

That list seems very reasonable, except for Ottawa. Left Coast Vancouver fits in the "one of these things is not like the other" category. Charlotte is a potential sleeper, given proximity to the research triangle.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

That list seems very reasonable, except for Ottawa. Left Coast Vancouver fits in the "one of these things is not like the other" category. Charlotte is a potential sleeper, given proximity to the research triangle.

Does NC's research triangle specialize in drone technology, software technology, and logistics management. Those would seem to be the areas where they would want to continue to stay on the cutting edge.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-boston-2017-9

Keep sipping the koolaid-- the fix is in--Amazon using this process to shakedown Boston

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...boston-in-search-for-second-headquarters

If Amazon is having political and social issues with Seattle I doubt that Boston would offer them any great change or relief. Boston's mayor has already said that he wasn't interested in being part of a bidding war (maybe just a smoke screen). In trying to check out sites in other cities I don't see any that are close in to a central business district (and has good public transit) as SY's/30th. St Station. Like all of us I don't know what Amazon really wants, but if its space to grow and have their own urban campus, and in general be a great location, I don't think anything beats the 70-95 acres that 30th. St. can offer.

BTW-----concerning Amazon in Europe, Seattle is only 2 hours further away from London then Philly, if that matters to anyone.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by jjv007

Besides Philly, it would leave Chicago and Atlanta, currently the top two options in the eyes of many. Philly definitely has a solid shot though if they put together a good package that highlights in depth all the potential advantages of the city.

But I was referring literally to that list, meaning that Philly would be left as #1 if housing prices dinged the 3 cities above it, which were among those ranked in the bottom 30% for that metric.

[Knight Hospitaller]

I say run an algorithm and let Alexa decide.

[Mr Saturn64]

^I don't think we'd win that...

In all honesty, I would not be surprised if they pick Toronto. It's already got almost 3 million people, has a major airport, universities, and, if you've looked at the skyscraperpage diagrams, has an absolute shitload of development going on. That, and it has a reputation as a young and cosmopolitan city in general.

I could see Montreal, but if they're going for Canada, Toronto is the better option. Plus, there may be a bit of a language barrier. (I don't know, I've never been there.)

I see the appeal of Boston but if city executives (especially as high ranking as mayor) are seemingly opposed to the idea, and it's already frickin' expensive to live in, then we can maybe scratch that off the list of candidates. If Boston didn't have FAA height restrictions because the airport is so damn close to the city, they'd have a crap-ton of skyscrapers.

Chicago is a pretty good option, but the only downside is being in, as they say, "flyover country." They do have O'Hare, loads of universities, and it's already an enormous city, so it is a pretty good candidate.

Atlanta and Charlotte aren't exactly the places that strike me as candidates, but who knows? Atlanta is one of the biggest metro areas, and Charlotte's growing pretty fast. Atlanta has the world's busiest airport and Georgia Tech, and Charlotte's got a pretty big airport.

And, of course, the best option is Philly, for reasons discussed in the last few pages. There's nothing to say that hasn't been said.

I'd say the most likely are Chicago, Toronto, and Philadelphia.

[summersm343]

An open letter to Amazon: Here's the pitch for Philadelphia

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/...ladelphia-for-headquarters-20170913.html

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by summersm343

An open letter to Amazon: Here's the pitch for Philadelphia

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/...ladelphia-for-headquarters-20170913.html

I've reached my article limit. Can someone pull the article or summarize? Thx.

[Boku]

Originally Posted by summersm343

An open letter to Amazon: Here's the pitch for Philadelphia

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/...ladelphia-for-headquarters-20170913.html

Huh, and here I thought Inga hated Philly.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

I've reached my article limit. Can someone pull the article or summarize? Thx.

It's as close to a love letter that Inga will ever pen about Philadelphia. Even so, she has to refer to Philly as a "gritty around the edges former manufacturing town", making us sound like some rust belt ghost town, and the fact that she's originally from a "large-ish city 90 miles to the north" as though that had anything to do with anything.
Other semi-put downs like "Two decades ago, when the city was on the ropes, and its very survival in question, no one here would have dared to engage in this sort of public chest-thumping. It’s not that Philadelphia didn’t have its charms; it’s just that the layers of neglect made them hard to see" damn us with faint praise, even though she goes on to say that we have rebounded. She also has to mention the wage tax.
An Open Letter to Inga:
Inga, STFU. You're not helping.