Come to think of it, Bezos does sort of look like Jonathan Waters.Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
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Come to think of it, Bezos does sort of look like Jonathan Waters.Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldMember
Better?Quote:
Originally Posted by BmillsSkier
Did you say "stampede"... Yes, yes you did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rideski
CAL-GA-RY, CAL-GA-RY!!
http://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...seattle-215725
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. But tech firms have played another, more paradoxical role in the city’s growing skepticism for its tech elites. The young, educated army of knowledge workers who have flocked to Seattle since the 1990s have also helped alter Seattle’s political chemistry. Many are highly supportive of progressive causes, says Seattle pollster Ben Anderstone, and have tended to vote for Seattle’s ever more left-leaning politicians.
And it’s these politicians who are enacting the policies that so irk local business—including some of the same businesses that recruited these youthful voters in the first place. As Anderstone observes, there is often “a significant gulf in attitude toward politics, if not ideology, between tech company workers and tech company management.”
Poor mass transit and shitty traffic? Amazon employees could transfer over from Seattle and feel right at home.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtown
Is that from the Cattle-log of bad puns?Quote:
Originally Posted by alias_rice
Just setting up a little shop in preparation for the BIG announcement in 2018. They would love it here.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...gary-1.4373273
Amazon Short List - 20 Cities for HQ2 down from 238Quote:
Originally Posted by Amazon Short List
Those dummies.
This exercise is a bit laugha-bull to me. Spokane submitted a proposal for the Amazon HQ2 even though we aren't remotely close to the criteria Amazon listed plus we're only 280 miles from the current World HQ1. For one thing, any company moving here in trying to hire 50 coders can't fulfill their needs let alone what Amazon requires. Not to mention open space for the facility near downtown, etc. It was a far reach for Spokane but served a separate purpose of at least getting our city in front of Amazon as a potential future fulfillment site or something lesser in activity than HQ2. With that said, our local Chamber/EDC organization spent a LOT of time and money to put the proposal together; time and money they really don't have a lot of.
Now in this morning's paper, it's announced that Apple may be following in Amazon's footsteps in building a second HQ and hiring 20k workers. Our fine city, along with the Spokane Tribe of Indians who also proposed on Amazon, is seriously contemplating going after Apple. This is stupid. We no more have a chance of landing Apple than we did Amazon or in landing a man on Mars from a launch at Spokane International Airport. Dream big, boys but you're wasting time and precious resources going after this kind of prize. Seriously, we have zero chance at this and I don't really think the community would want it,anyway. This is really a stupid endeavor.
Sounds like Spokane's political leadership is laughable not the exercise itself?Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldMember
That point's not missed. There are a lot in leadership who have varying levels of the God complex. Wasting resources on outlandish exercises only makes them look dumb....maybe because they are. I just shake my head when I read things like that. Spokane's leadership isn't grounded in reality and therefore pursues goals that aren't achievable. Time and money wasted. Again.Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWbrit
Oh thank god.
I heard we were gonna title him "king up in hear n'shit"
"The Atlanta suburb of Stonecrest has offered 345 acres of industrial land to create a new city called Amazon and to make Chief Executive Jeff Bezos its mayor for life."
Sometimes a fools errand is the best way to occupy fools. Wouldn't want them interfering with sensitive stuff ;)
3 DC area locations?
easy to lobby from there, I guess
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New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago,
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Washington D.C., Toronto, Raleigh, Columbus, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Miami, Montgomery County in Maryland, Nashville, Newark, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
They would get NIMBYed to death like they can't even imagine if they tried to come to Montgomery County. It's the local sport.
Also local to WaPo.
Philly could be lucrative. Purchase Camden for next to nothing and land right in between DC/Baldimore and NYC. Or Wilmington with the location and tax benefits.
Bezos spent $23 million on a place in Kalorama back in 2016; chump change to him I'm sure, but interesting with 3 metro area locs in the finals.
picking Toronto would be funny.
How so?Quote:
Originally Posted by dunfree
I hope The Burgh gets it.
This is my belief.Quote:
Originally Posted by dunfree
Still a possibility to hedge against H-1B or US regulatory issues in the future though.Quote:
picking Toronto would be funny.
I think Toronto is only in it for the potentially easier visa process.
edit: brit beat me to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWbrit
They've been building quite the distribution hub in Baltimore, which is only an hour away from DC. They currently have 3 facilities in the city including a brand-new one, and they have a crazy amount of room in Baltimore at Sparrow's Point (once the site of the biggest steel mill in the world, now 3,100 acres of fields) with direct train, highway and deep sea access and even room for a runway if desired. That led me to think they'd put the HQ in Baltimore but maybe DC's close enough.
If it does end up in the DC area I'd be amazed if it doesn't end up in Virginia.
Baltimore makes a ton of sense. But watch the black misleadership class in that town fuck it up somehow.
It's getting plopped in Fairfax County and this exercise of The Bachelor Local Government Shakedown Edition has been to make sure they throw enough money at Bezos. They have a massive server farm out around Dulles and they moved a few thousand AWS corporate jobs to Fairfax over the past couple years. All their higher-margin growth is in the AWS stuff these days.
That's also why they have announced they have given a rose to Montgomery County and DC. Gotta make sure Fairfax senses the competition so that they'll take it in the ass.
it wouldn't shock me to see amazon pick pittsburgh, for a variety of reasons, after having followed the whole twisted saga (from a biased, local perspective). beyond the pool of talent here surrounding carnegie mellon/pitt/etc, and all of the tech firms building presence here (google, uber, argon, etc), there are some other underlying factors.
the chance to swoop in and contribute to the renaissance of this city, which has been dubbed the "paris of appalachia" must be somewhat attractive to amazon from a public relations standpoint. shockingly, coal has not magically "come back" and reinvigorated the region's economy. but we have rebuilt to some degree through education and medical technologies, and now tech. here in downtown pittsburgh, i can dine on foie gras while sipping a pint of local microbrew or a cocktail made with locally distilled booze. the sky here isn't choked with toxic clouds of smoke (anymore)- but if i were to drive not too far in just about any direction it becomes pennsyltucky or west-by-god-virginny really quick, and there are lots of very strange rural curiosities. there's already a pretty pronounced divide between those who benefit from this new economy and those who voted trump.
i've read about a few connections between this area and the highest levels of management, which could draw pittsburgh into deeper consideration. the cost of living here is comparatively low, and i think we have been recognized more than a few times for having a high quality of life (at least for folks who aren't in love with deep powder). as my wife and i have bought a condo that's close to downtown proper, i'd hope that my place would appreciate enough that i could convince the wife cash out so that we could move someplace where we'd have a yard.
for sure, the city and region seem to have proposed some crazy incentives. we just extended incentives to shell that could end up well over a billion dollars to build a chemical plant in western pa.
our airport is way, way bigger than it needs to be right now- because it was originally built as a hub for us airways. lots of underutilized capacity there, i believe, and we also have a separate airport that's for private jets and whatnot but has a long enough runway to handle large aircraft. tangentally, there has been talk of a regional high speed transit line- whatever that crazy elon musk's firm has been developing. hyperloop? travel from dc to chicago, via pittsburgh, at crazy-fast speeds. if you ask me, hyperloop sounds like those t-shirts that i had back in the day and changed colors when you sweat while wearing 'em. but if i could get a cheezborger cheezborger for dinner and still be home before the daily show that'd be awesome.
effect on things here if we were awarded the hq2 in pittsburgh? i think the divide between the older generations and others would widen. gentrification would go from dangerously quick into ludicrous speed. when the steel mills closed, it kind of wiped out entire sections of the population. someone told me that's why the steelers have so many fans all over the country- they left here to look for work elsewhere. some stayed and adapted, others never did- so we have neighborhoods where one house is a crusty old guy that hasn't updated the steelers banner on his front porch since the 80's right next to a sleek renovation that looks like a spaceship, with a german sedan parked out front.
me? dunno what i really think. i wouldn't bet on pittsburgh- but wouldn't be shocked if they do end up choosing us for hq2.
edit- we have recently put in lots of bike lanes. it's all 'bout those bike lanes.
they are the only bid without a huge helping of tax incentives in the remaining 20, and it's always funny to see politicians running around for nothing. Given they had 238 proposals submitted it would appear there are lots of Spokanes out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by aragon
Plus Toronto would blow Trump & Co.'s minds, so that would be fun to see.
Makes good sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirshredalot
maybe they go with a conservative center like Indy
Seattle libs vs Indy Conservatives to spice up the interoffice competition for productivity
Plus Franco there to greet everyone in the Airport.Quote:
Originally Posted by acostiga
Infrastructure is a bit crumbly. 79 and 279 are okay but 376 Is a shithole road and no beltway around the city.
I'd move back someday but no access to mountains or big water keep me away.
Without looking it up, I can tell you that Indianapolis is substantially to the left of our national government in the context of 2018 American politics. It's a thriving, well-educated city.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
But Fairfax County is getting HQ2, so it doesn't matter. My LinkedIn timeline has been full of PM types accepting AWS jobs in Fairfax for 2 years.
There's been a lot of rumbling about redeveloping the Rte. 1 corridor in eastern Fairfax, it's older than the rest of the county and has gotten pretty run-down in recent years, they could find room there.
That would be a good spot if they could consolidate the land for that big a corporate campus.Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
I'm a few years out of date, but I remember reading how Crystal City office rents had tanked. Is that Arlington or Fairfax County?
crystal city is Arlington.
It'd sounded like AMZN wanted "cheaper than Seattle" from the earlier statements and I'm struggling to see how a bunch of the remaining entrys are cheaper. DC area? NYC? Is Seattle that expensive now?
Seattle is probably a push with the D.C. area or Boston these days, though a bit behind NYC and SFO in terms of cost. You could argue that D.C. is cheaper than Seattle if they locate out near Dulles or that Boston is cheaper than Seattle if they locate out on 495, but Seattle is cheaper than Seattle if they move to Longview and call it Seattle. So YMMV.Quote:
Originally Posted by dunfree
Median home price a little over $720k.Quote:
Originally Posted by dunfree
I don't believe that expensiveness of the city is a big issue certainly not bigger than it being an attractive place to live.
I hope they don’t pick Pittsburgh. They’ll ruin a perfectly good little city.
If it’s Fairfax, I just hope that shit doesn’t bleed down here. We got enough DC elite poking around. [emoji16]
I could see it going south of Fairfax, to Stafford or Prince William counties. A lot more room and much cheaper land down there. Less amenities though.