Where will Amazon's HQ2 end up?

[rwsaunders]

Every time that I buy something from Amazon, I send a personal note to Jeff and let him know that my 85yo Dad has been wanting him to run for President for quite some time. Being an empty nester next Fall, I’ve even offered him a place to crash for a few days when in town. It looks like my strategy is working so far.

[davids]

Northern Virginia, Montgomery County, MD and Washington DC are all part of the same metro area in the context of this article. It is somewhat noteworthy that they are mentioned separately. That puts the DC Metro area as a high finalist in my interpretation.

That's quite a cluster. I assume they each submitted their own bid.

[SteveP]

not sure the relevance but amazon is trying to lease 1,000,000 sq ' of office space in Boston metro at the moment.

[davids]

not sure the relevance but amazon is trying to lease 1,000,000 sq ' of office space in Boston metro at the moment.

Bezos can use my conference table if he needs something in the meantime.
It's pretty clean and has a working phone.

[dashDustin]

i wish i could see where the proposed sites are for each city. i've seen 2 in "Austin"...one being Cedar Park and the other being Leander. Here in Leander would be a beautiful spot. Except there is nothing here. Which is pretty much perfect, i guess, as there is an abundance of available, privately owned land. and we're getting a Chic Fil A.

[caleb]

I'm a bit surprised that the Twin Cities aren't among the finalists. It has a lot of positives, but so do many of the other locations of course.

Northern Virginia, Montgomery County, MD and Washington DC are all part of the same metro area in the context of this article. It is somewhat noteworthy that they are mentioned separately. That puts the DC Metro area as a high finalist in my interpretation.

I'm surprised anywhere in the DC to Boston Corridor is on the list, frankly. Of the couple people I know who have either turned down offers from Amazon or left Amazon, all have cited the insane Seattle real estate market as a reason. I would have thought that a place with some room to grow would have been a priority, but clearly I don't get it.

I still think mid-size cities like Pittsburgh have a lot going for them.

[davids]

I'm surprised anywhere in the DC to Boston Corridor is on the list, frankly. Of the couple people I know who have either turned down offers from Amazon or left Amazon, all have cited the insane Seattle real estate market as a reason. I would have thought that a place with some room to grow would have been a priority, but clearly I don't get it.

I still think mid-size cities like Pittsburgh have a lot going for them.

That's our double-edged sword. We're so popular no one comes here anymore.

All the discussion as Boston prepared its bid came down to two challenges: RE prices and transportation.

If we were smart (and maybe we will be) we'll be addressing those two barriers regardless of Amazon's ultimate decision.

[Matthew Strongin]

I'm surprised anywhere in the DC to Boston Corridor is on the list, frankly. Of the couple people I know who have either turned down offers from Amazon or left Amazon, all have cited the insane Seattle real estate market as a reason. I would have thought that a place with some room to grow would have been a priority, but clearly I don't get it.

I still think mid-size cities like Pittsburgh have a lot going for them.

Related to that, I have no idea why Miami is on the list outside of expanding a latin american market. Being nestled between a swamp and the ocean doesn't leave much real estate for a typical office park at the scale they'd need. The other option is to build vertically, which is massively expensive. Our real estate is over inflated again and traffic sucks on a good day thanks to an abundance of partially finished construction projects and arguably the worst stretch if I-95 in the country.

A cool mid-size city, on the other hand, makes much more sense.

[Saab2000]

That's quite a cluster. I assume they each submitted their own bid.

This is probably true and each will have their own tax incentives. Even though they're all nearly the same area, there are two states and the District of Columbia in play. It is an interesting situation.

Speaking of real estate, the DC metro area is stupid expensive too.

[caleb]

Speaking of real estate, the DC metro area is stupid expensive too.

Yeah, don't know the DC metro all that well, but I couldn't think of a spot that would be well-served by public transit with available housing in a reasonable distance for 50,000 people. The initial call for bids didn't sound like they were envisioning a exurban office park surrounded by a sea of surface parking lots.

[Matthew J]

Chicago has three (maybe five if infrastructure money somehow comes available) real intriguing shovel ready spots that appear to tick all the boxes Amazon says it is looking for.

I wonder if the current US hostility toward H-1B visas versus Canada's very open temp tech migrant scheme might not skew the balance from all entrants to Toronto. One thing that may be a problem for Toronto of course is the best site in Toronto - the 12 acre Quayside district - is going to be developed by a partnership between Google and Sidewalks. Would Amazon want to be Google's tenant?

Going to be interesting to watch this all play out.

[kytyree]

Canada would also represent a savings in employee healthcare. I read somewhere that healthcare cost a US company about $1000usd per year for each employee in Canada. That NY Times article references up to 50000 employees, that would be a pretty big savings right there.

[deano]

A cool mid-size city, on the other hand, makes much more sense.

As a perpetual inhabitant of cool mid-sized cities, that seems right. They are development playgrounds, for better or worse. Just hope it’s not whichever one we happen to live in

[roseyscot]

Bezos owns the Washington Post, a 25000 square ft house in DC, and needs to keep lobbying govt to ensure favorable laws for their business.

I don't see a mid sized city having a shot.

[Corso]

Boston: I can't see it happening where they are talking. Traffic is already awful. The Public transportation is overcrowded and not so cheap anymore. Boston has attracted businesses to the "Seaport District", where I've worked over 20 years. Here's the problem: To get to the major highway hub that runes through Boston, you have to cross a channel of water. There are only 3 roads within 3 blocks of each other to do so. At the end of the day, it can take you 45 minutes to go 1/2 a mile. It's gotten so fn' bad in the past 3 years.

I can't wait for Reebok and GE to move thousands into the same area, with ZERO transportation improvements. Those people are going to be PISSED when both companies are leaving sprawling suburban campuses featuring acres of parking to the Boston grind. It's already a gridlock situation, and there is no way to add roads, bridges or subways, unless the 30 year old idea of a "Disney" mono-rail comes back.

AND the spot they keep pushing is an old horse racetrack that is over a Major bridge, or a looong tunnel that goes under the ocean, you got it, both overcrowded as is. And the track can only be accessed from 2 old roads, that, yes, are completely jammed at walking speed already!

AND, the new Winn casino is under construction nearby, and will add more commuting trouble.

So, like the failed Indy car awful situation, and the failed Olympic bid, Boston politicians hire their pals to form "groups" to try to get stuff they know we can't handle. But the pals make good bucks in the process, knowing they have consulting jobs during these folly bids.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Amazon here, and they will be in a smaller scale. But for the big one? This old city is out of land, but really, out of transportation.

Now if they say "outside of Boston", there may be potential. Like 20 miles outside.

[sonicw]

Boston: I can't see it happening where they are talking. Traffic is already awful. The Public transportation is overcrowded and not so cheap anymore. Boston has attracted businesses to the "Seaport District", where I've worked over 20 years. Here's the problem: To get to the major highway hub that runes through Boston, you have to cross a channel of water. There are only 3 roads within 3 blocks of each other to do so. At the end of the day, it can take you 45 minutes to go 1/2 a mile. It's gotten so fn' bad in the past 3 years.

I can't wait for Reebok and GE to move thousands into the same area, with ZERO transportation improvements. Those people are going to be PISSED when both companies are leaving sprawling suburban campuses featuring acres of parking to the Boston grind. It's already a gridlock situation, and there is no way to add roads, bridges or subways, unless the 30 year old idea of a "Disney" mono-rail comes back.

AND the spot they keep pushing is an old horse racetrack that is over a Major bridge, or a looong tunnel that goes under the ocean, you got it, both overcrowded as is. And the track can only be accessed from 2 old roads, that, yes, are completely jammed at walking speed already!

AND, the new Winn casino is under construction nearby, and will add more commuting trouble.

So, like the failed Indy car awful situation, and the failed Olympic bid, Boston politicians hire their pals to form "groups" to try to get stuff they know we can't handle. But the pals make good bucks in the process, knowing they have consulting jobs during these folly bids.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Amazon here, and they will be in a smaller scale. But for the big one? This old city is out of land, but really, out of transportation.

Now if they say "outside of Boston", there may be potential. Like 20 miles outside.

Agree with you fully-- transit here sucks (have you taken the Red Line lately?) and Seaport is disgusting. Outside of Boston will be wiser. Woburn and Needham have plenty of office parks and commuter rail access. Boost up service and these employees get the best of both worlds: city living and easy commutes. Boston home prices will still be crazy but at least congestion won't be so bad.

[davids]

Suburbs suck. And the people who Amazon wants to employ will agree.

I think DC is probably the frontrunner.

Boston should deal with affordable housing and public transportation regardless.

[Corso]

Suburbs suck.

Where do you ride your bike my friend? I can't imagine lapping the Charles is a good time... :)

[ericpmoss]

IMO, fuck Amazon and all the city councils that bend us over in order to entice executives to their city so they can have more big-money donors to their campaigns. It's only slightly less offensive than taxing us to build some billionaire another sports stadium.

Here in Chicago I'm already priced out of the neighborhood (45% of my take home pay went to rent), and as more execs show up, there's another building with 6 apartments that gets turned into a $2million single family home with a minimum wage nanny rolling the kid down the sidewalk. The people that make the city function live in shit apartments for $1k a month at least 5 miles from the city core.

Meanwhile, Amazon drivers are being forced to wear diapers to keep to schedules, Bezos parks an ambulance outside of warehouses and sends people to the taxpayer-funded emergency room rather than air-condition the warehouse, and local retail is crushed so now I have trouble even finding what I need -- all so he can spray cash at the 10000 year clock hobby and ask people about ideas for philanthropy. Hey, fuckface, pay a living wage, stop buying city councils and making $600million deals with the CIA and not publishing any critical articles in the WaPo that you now own. The philanthropy can work itself out if you acted like a citizen instead of a greedhead.

Suffice it to say, I now boycott Amazon.

[ElvisMerckx]

Dear God, please don't let Northern VA, um, "win."