Amazon HQ2 thread

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

What?

This is like the third post with the "rolleyes" emoticon without any more information to prove me wrong.

Do we really need to say it? Crystal City is a product of manufactured urbanism that was briefly popular in the late 20th century. It basically has no history pre-1960s.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I am done here. Crystal City's superior urbanism just isn't enough for you midwest and northeast simpletons.


I am going to book a hotel room tonight to visit the place. Most times when I go to the DC area I never plan on leaving CC anyways. They have a bdubs.

Can you take and post pictures of the streetscape as well? I'm curious to see what it looks like beyond the random Google streetviews previously posted.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by YSL

Yea, Jeff Bezos the alleged racist would put the HQ in *Queens*, the 1st or 2nd most diverse county in the U.S.

He didn't put it in Newark because Newark is a dump, just like Detroit. Let's be honest here. It is dangerous and unpleasant. Amazon and Jeff Bezos are extremely rich and at this point ego does come in play. I don't think he ever wanted HQ to be in a 'lower tier' city, he seems kind of elitist and likes the big leagues. Why on earth would he want to deal with Newark?

Seattle was a "lower tier dump" of a city too when Jeff Bezos started Amazon there.

[YSL]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

Seattle was a "lower tier dump" of a city too when Jeff Bezos started Amazon there.

Jeff Bezos was not worth $100 billion dollars when Amazon first started there.

These days, HQs generally go to where the CEO likes/wants to live. Jeff Bezos has homes in NYC, DC and obviously likes both cities. He bought his NYC home after he became rich (and Amazon had no presence in that city whatsoever) so NYC is probably just sheer admiration. Bezos now has WaPo and seems interested in government and obviously he would like to be near.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by twister244

Frankly, I don't see why folks are calling these locations "HQX" anymore....

Anytime a company starts to get super large, they naturally start expanding beyond their home city and setup offices in other locations. This is no different.....

To me, the HQ is where the CEO spends most of his time and the Board of Directors meets. In the case of Amazon, I'm not sure where that will be after this is all done but that will be the HQ and there will be only one. I suspect it'll be Crystal City in or near DC since it appears that's where Bezos wants to be more often than not (though it would seem crazy in the summer when Washington may have the nation's worst climate).

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

What?

This is like the third post with the "rolleyes" emoticon without any more information to prove me wrong.

You typed - and I quote - "There is probably more foot traffic in CC on an average day than most of downtown Dallas though"

If you don't understand why I would roll my eyes at the mere suggestion that a city of 22,543 residents has more foot traffic on an average day than a city of 1,197,816, then I can't help you.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Do we really need to say it? Crystal City is a product of manufactured urbanism that was briefly popular in the late 20th century. It basically has no history pre-1960s.

Crystal City is a direct result of the building of the DC Metro system. It was mostly built at the same time that Metro was being constructed. It was a combination of office buildings and apartment towers built on so-called super blocks, most of it connected by underground tunnels. There was also an underground shopping component. The Robert Smith family was primarily responsible for building Crystal City. The development of Crystal City had everything to do with the fact that the project was DC, Pentagon, and National Airport adjacent as well as being well connected to the new Metro system and also the Virginia commuter rail system. It was an instant success in part because, in the aftermath of the 1968 DC riots, there was little new office construction taking place in downtown DC. On a side note, my Aunt Lorraine was Robert Smith's personal assistant for most of that period. She credited Crystal City with turning the Smith family into one of DC's wealthiest and most influential development entities.

[chris08876]

Amazon is reportedly moving into Long Island City, Queens: Here's what the neighborhood is like

Amazon is likely to choose Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens, New York, as one of two locations for its next headquarters.

Long Island City is a neighborhood going through a massive rebuild, with warehouses and strip clubs torn down and replaced by high-rise luxury apartment buildings.

The new Long Island City would be a good fit for a large corporation like Amazon to move into, but it would also put a strain on the neighborhood's infrastructure.


[...]


But there's a downside to all that development.

The 7 train, the subway line that runs through much of Queens, is already straining to service the influx of new residents in the Long Island City area. That would only get worse with 25,000 Amazon workers commuting into Long Island City every day.

Meanwhile, there aren't many shops, restaurants and other hot spots in Long Island City, like you'd find in Crystal City, Virginia, the other location Amazon is said to want for the second part of HQ2. My part of the neighborhood just got its first pharmacy earlier this year, for example. In fact, a lot of Long Island City doesn't have sidewalks because of all the construction going on.

Luckily, a lot of that construction should be wrapping up by the time Amazon opens up its HQ2, which will probably be no earlier than 2020. And there will be plenty of new housing units for Amazon employees to snag if they want to avoid a troublesome commute on the overcrowded train system. I imagine Amazon would have to encourage its employees to live in Long Island City and make it to work on foot, or start some sort of neighborhood-wide shuttle service to compensate for the poor train service.

====================
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/06/amazon-hq2-long-island-city-queens.html

[chris08876]

Was just thinking about this... just speculation on my part.

Just speculation, but what if Amazon is leasing the space temporarily at Chrystal City (if it happens, given the vacancy rate being high), moves into LIC NY, and when more space is created, eventually relocates the talent to LIC in total.

All under one roof, once the master plan is up and running in LIC?

Possibly using the DC metro to gain the talent easier as it has two locations to draw from, build the talent pool, and provide relocation and housing assistance once the LIC/Queens facility is up to make the transition from DC to NY?




On a side note, I suppose they could segregate divisions between the offices, support vs back office vs tech, and so on. But you'd think from a HQ standpoint, one roof would be easier.

[jmecklenborg]

Amazon is a boring company. Jeff Bezos is a boring dude. Not sure why anyone would expect this company to do anything interesting.

[toddguy]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

Amazon is a boring company. Jeff Bezos is a boring dude. Not sure why anyone would expect this company to do anything interesting.

Then he should go with a boring city-not DC or NYC which are not boring. There are plenty of good boring cities out there that deserve a shot at hosting Mr. Boring Billionaire and his boring company with thousands of good paying boring jobs.

(no more Crystal City stuff not being 'urban' from anyone either...with Amazon it would def. not be boring)

[jd3189]

A lot of people feeling some type of way in this thread...


Y’all are giving this Bezos guy too much power.

[toddguy]

Originally Posted by jd3189

A lot of people feeling some type of way in this thread...


Y’all are giving this Bezos guy too much power.

I hope when the announcement is made that people really really take advantage of the Loser's Lounge thread!

Watching this thing unfold over the last year has been very interesting to me I will admit.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by homebucket

There are most definitely deer in Oakland.

https://abc7news.com/pets-animals/deer-spotted-on-bay-bridge-early-this-morning/2354890/

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Modest-proposal-for-urbanized-deer-problem-6374090.php

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/26/was-that-a-mule-deer-buck-in-the-oakland-hills/

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/31/deer-stuck-in-fence-rescued-by-oakland-firefighters/

Yeah I was like 'Say What?'

[eixample]

I am not trying to take anything away from Crystal City or LIC, but wasn't part of the original RFP to be located in an area that would provide affordable housing to its employees (unlike Seattle)? That is why DC and NYC are surprising to me. I thought the point of this process was to find an affordable city that offered the best big city environment without the price tag for living in those cities (not just developing in those cities, which the tax cuts help offset). That is why I thought cities like Philly and Chicago made so much sense.

[maru2501]

it's a good point that Amazon through the proposals was able to pull valuable non-public information about government investment and infrastructure and marketing in major cities across the country, which it can now use in a host of profitable decisions

super scam

[pico44]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Ok, what would be a 6 in your mind?

If New York is a ten then I guess there is no six in the US. New York ruins the curve. If New York is a ten, Crystal City would be about 0.04. Maybe 0.05.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by eixample

I am not trying to take anything away from Crystal City or LIC, but wasn't part of the original RFP to be located in an area that would provide affordable housing to its employees (unlike Seattle)? That is why DC and NYC are surprising to me. I thought the point of this process was to find an affordable city that offered the best big city environment without the price tag for living in those cities (not just developing in those cities, which the tax cuts help offset). That is why I thought cities like Philly and Chicago made so much sense.

NYC and DC have around the same housing burden (% of income paid to housing) as Philly and Chicago, so that makes no sense. And if they wanted a cheap place, they'd go to rural Alabama or something, not a less desirable city just because homes are worth less.

[James Bond Agent 007]

OK, here are The Two Commandments for this thread:

1. Thou shalt not talk about any city that is not actively being discussed as a potential HQ2 city.
2. Thou shalt not talk about anything else besides Amazon and HQ2.

[mrnyc]

only in ny kids:

https://www.amny.com/news/amazon-long-island-city-1.22999481