CentrePort Canada | Winnipeg

[Urban recluse]

"Winnipeg? That in Wisconsin?"

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

Toronto is the only Canadian city that even has an outside shot at this thing... it seems like a cynical exercise on the part of local political and business leaders to suggest that Winnipeg is in the running.

I think Vancouver, due to its proximity to Seattle and other aspects, would also make Amazon's long list. That said any place on the west coast is an extreme long shot to land this. If Amazon was looking to expand its presence on the west coast adding more people to HQ1 would make more sense than building HQ2.

Originally Posted by Biff

I agree with being almost crazy that Winnipeg is in the competition but to me the old adage that you can't win if you don't play rings true for me here.

I would be disappointed if Winnipeg - Manitoba didn't at least try.

If you really want to subscribe to that school of thought then it's time to get on the bandwagon to back a Winnipeg bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics. I know it is an extreme long shot and unlikely Winnipeg would be selected but hey "you can't win if you don't play".

[drew]

Originally Posted by CoryB

If you really want to subscribe to that school of thought then it's time to get on the bandwagon to back a Winnipeg bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics. I know it is an extreme long shot and unlikely Winnipeg would be selected but hey "you can't win if you don't play".

I get your argument - but the only Olympics Winnipeg can host is the summer games.

Even the most die hard Winnipeg booster and politician would be resigned to the fact you cannot create mountains in our part of the country.

[Wolf13]

Originally Posted by drew

I get your argument - but the only Olympics Winnipeg can host is the summer games.

Even the most die hard Winnipeg booster and politician would be resigned to the fact you cannot create mountains in our part of the country.

But Biff is right. Building a headquarters and putting forward a half-decent logistical case for our city to attract Amazon is hardly an unreasonable proposal. Won't win, but not crazy.

Might as well play.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by CoryB

If you really want to subscribe to that school of thought then it's time to get on the bandwagon to back a Winnipeg bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics. I know it is an extreme long shot and unlikely Winnipeg would be selected but hey "you can't win if you don't play".

I don't understand why putting Winnipeg out there seems so preposterous. My thinking is that, yes we wont win but....what if after reading through Winnipeg's submission the tall foreheads at Amazon think that we could be a perfect spot for a new distribution centre or data centre where as they otherwise wouldn't have known what we have to offer.

Jets will never return....so don't try
Ikea never comes to a centre under 1 million....so don't try
National Museums never locate outside of the capital region....so don't try

[drew]

Originally Posted by Biff

I don't understand why putting Winnipeg out there seems so preposterous. My thinking is that, yes we wont win but....what if after reading through Winnipeg's submission the tall foreheads at Amazon think that we could be a perfect spot for a new distribution centre or data centre where as they otherwise wouldn't have known what we have to offer.

Jets will never return....so don't try
Ikea never comes to a centre under 1 million....so don't try
National Museums never locate outside of the capital region....so don't try

^

What would be embarrassing would be Pallister or Bowman telling the media that Winnipeg is too small and insignificant to bother showing any interest to Amazon.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by drew

^

What would be embarrassing would be Pallister or Bowman telling the media that Winnipeg is too small and insignificant to bother showing any interest to Amazon.

Obviously they can't say that, but don't you find this at least a little bit patronizing? Doesn't it sound a little like what you would say if your kid asked you for a jet airplane for Christmas?

[drew]

Originally Posted by esquire

Obviously they can't say that, but don't you find this at least a little bit patronizing? Doesn't it sound a little like what you would say if your kid asked you for a jet airplane for Christmas?

It's not the same thing though.

For all intents and purposes, any major city in Canada could successfully support this HQ.

It's not like they are dropping 50,000 jobs instantaneously. It would obviously be a slow build.

I don't feel patronized at all.

[Urban recluse]

I suppose it makes some sense to attempt to woo Amazon. One could apply for a job for which they feel they are not qualified, but it cannot hurt to apply.

[optimusREIM]

Crazier things have happened. And it would be nothing but good for the city. It would look bad if we didn't try. This isn't like the world cup bid where we could sink huge coin and still come up empty handed. If we end up trying to upgrade the infrastructure and they don't come it's still a win in my books.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by drew

I get your argument - but the only Olympics Winnipeg can host is the summer games.

Even the most die hard Winnipeg booster and politician would be resigned to the fact you cannot create mountains in our part of the country.

I'm thoroughly disappointed in you Drew. You are a structural engineer. This should be right up your alley. With the billions usually spent on the Olympics i'm sure you would love the challenge to build a mountain in our region.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Crazier things have happened. And it would be nothing but good for the city. It would look bad if we didn't try. This isn't like the world cup bid where we could sink huge coin and still come up empty handed. If we end up trying to upgrade the infrastructure and they don't come it's still a win in my books.

We were literally hours away from getting a Million sq ft, Facebook Data Centre a few years ago. I know it is on a totally different scope in terms of dollar value, but if you get your face out there enough times your chances of getting some spin offs increase greatly.

I only see this RFP response as a positive.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

I suppose it makes some sense to attempt to woo Amazon. One could apply for a job for which they feel they are not qualified, but it cannot hurt to apply.

Wooing Amazon to come to Winnipeg is about the same as buying a Super7 or 6-49 ticket with the belief that you are going to win the big prize!

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Wooing Amazon to come to Winnipeg is about the same as buying a Super7 or 6-49 ticket with the belief that you are going to win the big prize!

You and I don't often agree, but, yes.

[bomberjet]

And then if the City and Province did nothing to woo Amazon, everyone would be crying about that. If you put out enough feelers, regardless of chances, you'll eventually get something.

[pacman]

Agree with the people who see the upside in going forward with the HQ2 proposal. At minimum, going through with the RFP will force everyone involved to take a thorough look at our infrastructure and our ability to house major developments in general. It's a good learning exercise to see what needs to happen in a real world setting to make us more competitive.

As for comparing this to an Olympics bid, saying if we go after this then might as well go after anything, I don't agree. Depending on how crazy the "race to the bottom" goes I'm sure there's differing opinions on how positive it will be to end up with the Amazon location but I don't think there is any way it will not be a significant net positive. With the Olympics, I think there's a huge likelihood that the end result for whoever hosts will be a net negative. This is the way things have been for the last few Olympics and World Cups, and is a huge reason that there is such a small pool of applicants for those types of events now. It's not that there are less places that are capable of hosting them, it's because people don't want them now.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by drew

^

What would be embarrassing would be Pallister or Bowman telling the media that Winnipeg is too small and insignificant to bother showing any interest to Amazon.

Originally Posted by esquire

Obviously they can't say that, but don't you find this at least a little bit patronizing? Doesn't it sound a little like what you would say if your kid asked you for a jet airplane for Christmas?

I think it's a fairly smart idea to throw the hat in the ring, if only for good PR and the real possibility of a DC down the road... but the rate Pallister and Bowman are pushing it, tweeting about it, gung-ho about, is almost as embarrassing. Makes them seem a little out of touch and delusional, lol. Although that's not wholly out of place for Pallister.

I would be shocked if HQ2 wasn't in Toronto, NYC, or somewhere in the New England area... Connecticut is where'd I'd place my bets.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by drew

I get your argument - but the only Olympics Winnipeg can host is the summer games.

Even the most die hard Winnipeg booster and politician would be resigned to the fact you cannot create mountains in our part of the country.

"You can't win if you don't play." I am sure with an almost 13 year lead time we could start importing garbage from all over North America and build up Brady Rd to sufficient heights that it could host all the Nordic events for the winter Olympics in 2030. We just need someone with a vision to make this happen. /s

Originally Posted by pacman

Depending on how crazy the "race to the bottom" goes I'm sure there's differing opinions on how positive it will be to end up with the Amazon location but I don't think there is any way it will not be a significant net positive.

My thinking is with so many cities wanting to pursue Amazon's HQ2 it is going to be the exact same sort of race to the bottom as a Olympic bid with very few positives and mostly negatives when the dust settles.

That said, for argument sake, if Winnipeg is putting in a bid for HQ2 where does everyone think the location would be proposed. As Winnipeg is part of the bid committee choices need to be only within existing city limits.

One final thought -- data centers are not something Winnipeg should really bother pursuing. The benefits from a giant warehouse filled with computers sucking down power and employ very few actual humans isn't exact the way to grow the city. If anything that is even less of an ideal use of space that a power substation.

[buzzg]

^The Seattle campus is right downtown, they could easily get there hands on lots of empty/underutilized lots downtown here!

On the data centres though - Winnipeg is actually an ideal place to have a data centre is electricity costs are low and in winter you can use outside air to cool the place. In industrial areas, could definitely seeing them making a lot of sense here. Maybe we just make a new tax to offset lack of humans

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by CoryB

"You can't win if you don't play." I am sure with an almost 13 year lead time we could start importing garbage from all over North America and build up Brady Rd to sufficient heights that it could host all the Nordic events for the winter Olympics in 2030. We just need someone with a vision to make this happen. /s



My thinking is with so many cities wanting to pursue Amazon's HQ2 it is going to be the exact same sort of race to the bottom as a Olympic bid with very few positives and mostly negatives when the dust settles.

That said, for argument sake, if Winnipeg is putting in a bid for HQ2 where does everyone think the location would be proposed. As Winnipeg is part of the bid committee choices need to be only within existing city limits.

One final thought -- data centers are not something Winnipeg should really bother pursuing. The benefits from a giant warehouse filled with computers sucking down power and employ very few actual humans isn't exact the way to grow the city. If anything that is even less of an ideal use of space that a power substation.

A race to the bottom where the winner gets 50000 jobs. That bit is kinda important. Also data centres would still create a few jobs not to mention the boon to our construction industry.

Well I would imagine that the bid could also include other nearby locations because the city would be the primary beneficiary of the bid. Plus the province is involved.

And seriously, why so negative? It seems every time something nice is discussed, the vitriol of the negative nancies comes out in full force.