Amazon HQ2 thread - Page 160

the urban politician · #**3181** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 3:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pico44

but Philly has two wild cards I think. Location, as I've stated, and politics. Bezos is a passionate democrat, and Pennsylvania is our biggest swing state. Add 50,000 progressively minded young adults and you move the needle of the entire country. Remember, they made this announcement not so long after Trump came to power. This might not be business strategy, it might be political strategy.

You wingnut liberals are hilarious....

themaguffin · #**3182** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 3:18 PM**

"wingnut liberals?"

Oh bless your heart.

initiald · #**3183** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 3:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JManc

And these tech companies aren't all about prospective employees from the top colleges. I went to a state university and had Facebook reach out to me for a really great opportunity. If you're 23 with no experience, then yeah, where you went to school matters but after a while, employers don't give a shit.

Yeah. I've never encountered the idea that "Oh, I see you have the 10 years experience we required, but they guy with 5 years experience went to a better school, so..."

suburbanite · #**3184** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 4:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Lol, Chicago is just catching up with Chicago on those numbers, we've never really had rents that high downtown and even now it's not quite that except in the brand new full amenity luxury buildings. I'm leasing out huge 4BD/2BA brand new units one block from the Pink Line and a 10 minute ride to the West Loop and a 15 minute ride to the Loop for $2250. Chicago is not as expensive as you think it is. My 3Bds range from $1550-$1750 and my 2 Bds range from $1250-$1450. So yeah if you want a carwash in the parking garage, a full time sushi chef on the amenity level, and a doggie bidet in the dog run, then yeah you can pay up to $3/SF/Mo for apartments here, but 95%+ of the market is wayyyyy below that.

I think in Toronto we just tend to use a much tighter definition of downtown. When I say a downtown two bedroom rents for $3000 I mean a condo rental where I walk 10 minutes to my office at Bay and Wellington. Just browsing for apartment rentals, West Loop high-rise 2 beds seem to be going for $2700-$3200 as well.

iheartthed · #**3185** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 4:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays

No they wouldn't. Outside of the star players who earn several hundred thousand a year or more, it's very hard to get mid-career family-type people to move there.

Exactly... since the talent is already there, they wouldn't have to convince mature talent to relocate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays

Further, the biggest talent pool in the world is only exceeded by the demand for that talent, which makes it very expensive even when you can find people.

And, probably not coincidentally, Amazon didn't really consider the area.

Which means it isn't much of a concern. They can't get that concentrated talent anywhere else in the world. And if anyone could afford to do it, Amazon could.

mhays · #**3186** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 5:57 PM**

Look into the trend of San Francisco companies overflowing outside the area and why they're doing it. You'll be very surprised.

twister244 · #**3187** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 6:01 PM**

Put me in the camp of "Let's just get this over with already".

At first I was super excited about the possibility of HQ2 landing in Denver. However, being dragged out for over a year now has waned my enthusiasm.

I see many reasons for HQ2 coming to Denver, but I also see reasons for not coming here. Everyone thinks the grass is greener on the other side when it comes to costs of living, but it's not always like that. Of course, compared to the bay area and NYC, yes, it's cheaper most of everywhere else on the top 20 list. However, when you start to do comparisons among peer cities on that list, it might not be that different. Take Denver to Chicago.....

I bought a one bedroom condo back in May for $315k, and it's 700 sq feet new construction, but no fancy amenities. Granted, I am in a pretty good location, close to downtown. But, my place would probably be under $300k if it were in Chicago, and I would have access to way more urban amenities than in Denver. However.... the price difference would be eaten up by the absurd difference in taxes between Chicago and Denver. Although I feel like you get more urban bang for your buck in Chi-town compared to any other major city in America.

Point being..... nobody outside the search team within Amazon knows where this thing is going...... Each city on the list has qualities that ranks them above other cities, but also has things that ranks them lower. At the end of the day, it's all going to come down to what Amazon is weighting. Let's just get this over with and announce the damn thing already.....

skyscraperpage17 · #**3188** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 7:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by themaguffin

"wingnut liberals?"

Oh bless your heart.

sopas ej · #**3189** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 7:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244

Put me in the camp of "Let's just get this over with already".

I'm in the camp of "No me importa."

iheartthed · #**3190** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 7:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays

Look into the trend of San Francisco companies overflowing outside the area and why they're doing it. You'll be very surprised.

I promise I won't.

A certain social media company has tried several times to convince me to move to Austin, TX. They are having far more trouble getting senior people to go to Austin than they are to go to the SF Bay Area.

Qubert · #**3191** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 11:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrownTown

I still have my doubts that being close to colleges is as important as people say it is. I went to one of the top colleges listed in this thread and when I graduated me and all my friends scattered to the four winds. Literally not a single person I knew stayed in state. Admittedly that is a limited sample size as I'm no social butterfly, but still I think the point is relevant.

I would very much like to see the new HQ located in a non-coastal state, but I think the probability of that is very small. Just keep it the hell away from me though, I don't want to pay all the taxes for it.

Agreed. Colleges being in close proximity isn't as big a deal as some people think it is. The colleges themselves recruit from around the world and there is nothing that will stop a Stanford grad from moving to Brooklyn.

I'm rooting for NYC, and I think it has a much better shot than many first assumed. Heck, they could fill up a couple towers at the WTC.

pico44 · #**3192** Posted **Oct 30, 2018, 11:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

So much facepalm in this thread which is probably why it's been intermittently closed.

Because arbitrary census definitions are definitely how most new grads determine where they will relocate to. Chicago is swimming in Domers, it's quite obnoxious actually. ND is a Chicago area school CSA or not.

Crawford rightly called you for saying Chicago is the only metro with three top 20 Univeristies in the metro area when both Yale and Princeton are closer to New York than Norte Dame is to Chicago. By your definition, New York has three of the top four universities in the country.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

You wingnut liberals are hilarious....

Where did I imply I'm a liberal? I said Bezos is a democrat, which is objectively true...

Shawn · #**3193** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 3:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qubert

Agreed. Colleges being in close proximity isn't as big a deal as some people think it is. The colleges themselves recruit from around the world and there is nothing that will stop a Stanford grad from moving to Brooklyn.

I'm rooting for NYC, and I think it has a much better shot than many first assumed. Heck, they could fill up a couple towers at the WTC.

Guys, it really depends on the universities themselves. It's not all about the student pool, but more about the commercial JVs specific unis love to enter into with the Amazons of the world.

MIT is a great case study. Kendall Square is what is now - arguably the tightest concentration of tier 1 biotechs and robotics / AI on the planet - largely because MIT has invested $billions in JVs. This is how iRobot and Akamai Technologies started, for example.

mrnyc · #**3194** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 4:26 AM**

i dont think amazon needs particular colleges nearby or biotech level joint ventures. i mean come on, udub is a middling state u. thats not why they stay in seattle. in the end amazon is just a retailer. they basically want an eastern time zone office. so its going to be more about local urban amenities. that or just making their own lifestyle mall type office park campus out of nothing somewhere out on an outer loop of raleigh.

Doady · #**3195** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 7:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pico44

Where did I imply I'm a liberal? I said Bezos is a democrat, which is objectively true...

It's funny how something so small was enough to inspire him to lash out, not just against you but a broad group of people. Right-wingers sure are a sensitive bunch.

aderwent · #**3196** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 11:35 AM**

Why does everyone assume this needs to be a tech HQ? They already have that in Seattle. Perhaps this HQ2 is so Amazon can continue venturing into other sectors. They'll need marketers, designers, engineers, accountants, logistics managers, sales agents, buyers, etc. I think the more a city's economy is diversified the better than chances of landing this than being a "tech hub".

It's one reason a city like Columbus made the short list. They pull from 500,000 students in public universities in Ohio, not to mention multiple prestigious private universities, and all the universities 3 hours away in Pittsburgh, Indiana, and Kentucky.

10023 · #**3197** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 11:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc

i dont think amazon needs particular colleges nearby or biotech level joint ventures. i mean come on, udub is a middling state u. thats not why they stay in seattle. in the end amazon is just a retailer. they basically want an eastern time zone office. so its going to be more about local urban amenities. that or just making their own lifestyle mall type office park campus out of nothing somewhere out on an outer loop of raleigh.

No.

Investing In Chicago · #**3198** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 1:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doady

It's funny how something so small was enough to inspire him to lash out, not just against you but a broad group of people. Right-wingers sure are a sensitive bunch.

This bolded part really made me laugh, as if the Right are the ones who are sensitive.

JManc · #**3199** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 2:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn

Guys, it really depends on the universities themselves. It's not all about the student pool, but more about the commercial JVs specific unis love to enter into with the Amazons of the world.

MIT is a great case study. Kendall Square is what is now - arguably the tightest concentration of tier 1 biotechs and robotics / AI on the planet - largely because MIT has invested $billions in JVs. This is how iRobot and Akamai Technologies started, for example.

This.

skyscraperpage17 · #**3200** Posted **Oct 31, 2018, 2:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aderwent

Why does everyone assume this needs to be a tech HQ

Maybe because their RFQ specifically stated that a large pool of tech talent (or the ability to attract a large pool of tech talent) was a requirement, and the fact that they dismissed every city (I.E. Detroit) that couldn't meet this requirement?