Amazon HQ2 thread

[Kenmore]

i couldn't imagine putting one of those things in my home, hard pass

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by cjreisen

Yeah opening yourself to 30 million in the entirety of Canada versus the 100 million+ on the east coast seems like no comparison?

This isn't 1950. Talent is mobile these days and has been for decades. If anything a Canadian location would be more beneficial. Canada is more open to immigration, very successful in integrating immigrants, can approve foreign tech candidates in 12 days, and there's far less of a backlash to immigrants.

Tech is talent driven and access to quantity/quality talent (both foreign and domestic) is one of Toronto's trump cards.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

Did you guys hear the story about Amazon's Echo-Alexa secretly recording a private conversation in the home of a Portland family and then sent the conversation a random person in their contact list that lives about 175 miles away.

Amazon has determined that this is a rare incident.

That story is legit and worrisome. I've had an echo for about a year and a half, and it's been pretty useful. But three or four times during that period when there was no conversation taking place in the room, Alexa began babbling about something completely random which was rather alarming.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by The ATX

That story is legit and worrisome. I've had an echo for about a year and a half, and it's been pretty useful. But three or four times during that period when there was no conversation taking place in the room, Alexa began babbling about something completely random which was rather alarming.

It's always listening to hear those trigger words. The potential abuse in the future from either Amazon or somebody that knows how to exploit a weakness [hackers or some government somewhere] is worrisome.

I don't have this exact device, nor would I want it, but I do have the Fire Stick remote with voice activation.

[bnk]

Chicago not only has inexpensive housing it has heavy rail subways, L tracks and commuter Metra rails in spades.





https://www.myajc.com/news/local/transit-likely-key-amazon-hunt-for-hq2/3avw5wfqvWtIamMEWY81bO/


Transit likely key in Amazon’s hunt for HQ2

osted: 12:00 p.m. Friday, May 25, 2018


SEATTLE — Felix Gudino spends hours behind the wheel each day, and traffic, he said, has gotten worse in the past few years as Amazon gobbled up more and more downtown real estate.
Gudino is an Uber driver, and the crush of tech workers downtown has been good for business, but a pain for fellow motorists. Vexed by some of the worst traffic in America, Seattle has a $54 billion transit expansion package underway, but it’ll take years before new rail lines will help relieve Seattle’s congestion.
“Seattle wasn’t ready for them,” Gudino said of Amazon and the region’s tech boom.
Mobility is a significant issue in Seattle, and Amazon made transit a priority in its hunt for a second headquarters location, where it plans to locate 50,000 workers. But congested roads might be metro Atlanta’s biggest liability in its bid for HQ2.
Amazon observers say the company will likely seek a site with strong transit links in a city with a broader transit network than Seattle’s....




...

though Atlanta ... will have to shake its reputation for miserable congestion.
The state of Georgia lagged peer states on infrastructure spending for years. Metro Atlanta has limited heavy rail service compared to the breadth of the region and hasn’t extended its heavy rail network for nearly 20 years,

...

Atlanta ranked fourth-worst in the U.S. for traffic congestion by transportation firm INRIX, and only New York and Los Angeles were worse among the Amazon shortlist citie

...

[mhays]

Something like 1/4 of the current HQ1 workers drive alone. Close to half use transit. About 20% walk or bike. Most of the candidate cities have much lower transit commute shares. But a few such as Philly, Chicago, and Boston could do it with their central location options.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by bnk

Chicago not only has inexpensive housing it has heavy rail subways, L tracks and commuter Metra rails in spades.





https://www.myajc.com/news/local/transit-likely-key-amazon-hunt-for-hq2/3avw5wfqvWtIamMEWY81bO/


Transit likely key in Amazon’s hunt for HQ2

osted: 12:00 p.m. Friday, May 25, 2018


SEATTLE — Felix Gudino spends hours behind the wheel each day, and traffic, he said, has gotten worse in the past few years as Amazon gobbled up more and more downtown real estate.
Gudino is an Uber driver, and the crush of tech workers downtown has been good for business, but a pain for fellow motorists. Vexed by some of the worst traffic in America, Seattle has a $54 billion transit expansion package underway, but it’ll take years before new rail lines will help relieve Seattle’s congestion.
“Seattle wasn’t ready for them,” Gudino said of Amazon and the region’s tech boom.
Mobility is a significant issue in Seattle, and Amazon made transit a priority in its hunt for a second headquarters location, where it plans to locate 50,000 workers. But congested roads might be metro Atlanta’s biggest liability in its bid for HQ2.
Amazon observers say the company will likely seek a site with strong transit links in a city with a broader transit network than Seattle’s....




...

though Atlanta ... will have to shake its reputation for miserable congestion.
The state of Georgia lagged peer states on infrastructure spending for years. Metro Atlanta has limited heavy rail service compared to the breadth of the region and hasn’t extended its heavy rail network for nearly 20 years,

...

Atlanta ranked fourth-worst in the U.S. for traffic congestion by transportation firm INRIX, and only New York and Los Angeles were worse among the Amazon shortlist citie

...

time to move on dude, they aren't coming to Chicago, lol

[skyscraperpage17]

The Atlanta newspapers have really been trolling hard lately with all of the Amazon HQ2 clickbait articles.

I just wish they would make a decision already. It's getting old at this point.

Besides, some cities without ready-to-move-in space will automatically be taken out of consideration soon anyway, because if a decision isn't made by the end of the Summer, there's no way they'll have time to build new construction and meet Amazon's 2019 schedule.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

The Atlanta newspapers have really been trolling hard lately with all of the Amazon HQ2 clickbait articles.

I just wish they would make a decision already. It's getting old at this point.

I just realized this discussion thread is 142 pages long!

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

time to move on dude, they aren't coming to Chicago, lol

While I'm still wagering on the D.C. area, I actually think Chicago's likelihood has been improving over time.

[mhays]

Chicago seems like an excellent candidate. They'll be hard to beat if (*) the goal is the ability to quickly develop 8 msf in an urban, highly-transit-served location in an area that doesn't and won't have high housing prices. They also bend over backwards for big corporations.

* We still don't know what those goals are, with both the RFP and the shortlist leaving clues but keeping the door wide open. It's possible that much of the soul searching has been happening after they see what's out there, not before.

[Doady]

Chicago's transit ridership is very similar to Seattle's. Despite all that rail, Chicago's transit system isn't actually that great.

Urban Area Population Boardings    Per Capita (2017)
Chicago    9,140,000  589,351,900  64.48
Seattle    3,403,724  219,013,600  64.35

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Doady

Chicago's transit ridership is very similar to Seattle's. Despite all that rail, Chicago's transit system isn't actually that great.

Urban Area Population Boardings    Per Capita (2017)
Seattle    3,403,724  219,013,600  64.35
Chicago    9,140,000  585,896,100  64.10

Yes, but it's a much more massive system if you include Metra, South Shore, as well as city and suburban bus systems.

Point being, if Amazon's goal is to get a ton of people into one spot, there are only about 3 or 4 regions in the US where that can happen, and Chicago is one of them.

[chicubs111]

Chicago odds has been improving for sure over the passed months..we have been getting little tidbits of information that have been declaring that Amazon is looking for an urban location... That itself will cross off two of the three DC locations...Chicago offers the most bang for your buck compared to many of the other cities while still getting the large stage international city appeal... Top 5 IMO will be Boston, Dc, NYC, Philly, and Chicago.

[IrishIllini]

^ Of your top five I think the only city that offers more than Chicago is NYC, but it's also considerably more costly. NYC is NYC, but most of what the city offers can be found in DC, Philly, Boston, and Chicago (albeit to varying degrees). You just don't get to say you live in NYC while doing any of it.

I wouldn't assume Atlanta or Dallas are out of the running. I don't know much about their bids and they're not the best matches based on the RFP, but I'm sure there are incentives.

[chicubs111]

^ I concur... NYC obviously has everything Amazon wants...but the cost of NYC is its big achilles heal in this race.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

I wouldn't assume Atlanta or Dallas are out of the running. I don't know much about their bids and they're not the best matches based on the RFP, but I'm sure there are incentives.

I would. If transit it as important as they say it is. both cities lose.
I tell you, it's coming to Philly. Book it.

[Doady]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Yes, but it's a much more massive system if you include Metra, South Shore, as well as city and suburban bus systems.

Point being, if Amazon's goal is to get a ton of people into one spot, there are only about 3 or 4 regions in the US where that can happen, and Chicago is one of them.

The stats I posted already include Metra and Pace for Chicago, as well as the suburban systems for Seattle. The only numbers missing are for Kenosha Transit, East Chicago Transit, Gary Public Transit Corporation, V-Line, and South Shore Line. I will add the South Shore Line to the numbers.

The article suggests Amazon wants to locate HQ2 in a city that has better transit than Seattle, and I am not convinced Chicago fits that criteria.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by Doady

The stats I posted already include Metra and Pace for Chicago, as well as the suburban systems for Seattle. The only numbers missing are for Kenosha Transit, East Chicago Transit, Gary Public Transit Corporation, V-Line, and South Shore Line. I will add the South Shore Line to the numbers.

The article suggests Amazon wants to locate HQ2 in a city that has better transit than Seattle, and I am not convinced Chicago fits that criteria.

I think the point he's making, and I could be wrong, is that Chicago has the potential to move far more people on its current system than Seattle does.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

I would. If transit it as important as they say it is. both cities lose.
I tell you, it's coming to Philly. Book it.

I can't speak for Dallas, but Atlanta's sites (especially The Gulch) are easily the bet fit for what Amazon's requested, outside of Chicago and Philly.

And it (The Gulch) is very well connected by MARTA. It's not like the employees who will want to ride transit or live in an urban environment will be living way out in Alpharetta any way.