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Amazon looking to build a second HQ in North America, will add 50k jobs

R

Renji_11

Member
My guess it's either some place in Texas, Maryland, North Carolina, Atlanta or Virginia. If it's VA I hope it Richmond and not Nova. RVA is growing nicely but not a lot of tech jobs and this would really help accelerate grow nicely and traffic so crazy in Nova. Plus I don't think they would have any problems attracting talent from Nova, Maryland and North Carolina.
 
L

Later Alligator

Member
NetMapel said:
http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/inside-vancouver-bid-amazon-new-second-headquarters

Vancouver staff meeting with Amazon management to pitch the city. Our local news here put out the general strategy of Vancouver's pitch... cascading tech corridor siblings :) also a strong film background here to help with Amazon prime's video production.
Click to expand...

Too close to Seattle (Mt St Helen eruption or giant earthquake effects both, no real geographical redundancy), cost of living is as high as Seattle, and not nearly enough tech talent

I used to live in East Van and I love the city, but realistically I don't think it has a shot
 
T

The Albatross

Member
The Llama said:
As much as I'd love to see Amazon come to my hometown of Philly, for the record I'm putting my money on Dallas or Raleigh / Durham. Boston would be 3rd. I am admittedly a bit surprised to see so many people think it'll be Denver. If nothing else, I think it's geographically a little too close to Seattle (I don't think they'll do anything west coast either).
Click to expand...

While I'll put my money on Boston metro area, the NYT had a big breakdown and while Boston was second, they projected Denver would be first. Denver is alluring. As a software engineer Id love to live there beautiful, lots of colleges, nice city, plenty of room to grow, reasonable prices, etc.
 
K

kirblar

Member
The danger here for the "competing" cities- that the location's already scouted and they're gaming everyone because they're fishing for a deal.
 
S

Sr Kitsune

Member
ghostofsparta said:
I will eat a big ass plate of crow if they choose somewhere in Mexico. Canada I can see happening since they speak English. Foreign engineers are plentiful in the [current US] tech industry and while many Indians speak English, most do not speak Spanish.

From what I've read, Canada has more lax laws on visas, so if anything, it would make most sense to move to Canada
Click to expand...

We also speak English. Where I work is full of engineers with daily meetings (by phone) with clients in the US.
 
G

Google

Member
Hinzel said:
Too close to Seattle (Mt St Helen eruption or giant earthquake effects both, no real geographical redundancy), cost of living is as high as Seattle, and not nearly enough tech talent

I used to live in East Van and I love the city, but realistically I don't think it has a shot
Click to expand...

So why hasn't that stopped their already huge expansion here already?
 
Amory

Amory

Member
Boston's having a moment under Walsh/Baker leadership

It's becoming the tech hub of the east, and Amazon already has a presence here. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the choice.

There's a huge piece of land available on the outskirts of the city near the airport, as well. On the site of the Suffolk Downs racetrack, which recently closed
 
J

JJMorris

Member
Amory said:
Boston's having a moment under Walsh/Baker leadership

It's becoming the tech hub of the east, and Amazon already has a presence here. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the choice.

There's a huge piece of land available on the outskirts of the city near the airport, as well. On the site of the Suffolk Downs racetrack, which recently closed
Click to expand...

Every city keeps thinking it's the tech hub of the East.
 
J

jWILL253

Banned
This is mainly happening because the Seattle City Council passed a new income tax on high earners: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...l-to-vote-today-on-income-tax-on-the-wealthy/

Daniel Beekman of the Seattle Times said:
The Seattle City Council unanimously approved an income tax on wealthy residents Monday, a move widely expected to draw a quick legal challenge.

The measure applies a 2.25 percent tax on total income above $250,000 for individuals and above $500,000 for married couples filing their taxes together.

”Seattle should serve everyone, not just rich folks," software developer Carissa Knipe told the council before the 9-0 vote, saying she makes more than $170,000 per year.

”I would love to be taxed," the 24-year-old from Ballard testified, drawing applause from a room packed with supporters of the tax.
Click to expand...

I'm not gonna cry about a tax on rich folks, but I'm also not gonna absolve the Council of any wrongdoing, here. Make no mistake, this was a purely political move, and a shortsighted one at that. They've been hostile to Amazon & Jeff Bezos, and basically any other rich person within five feet. I agree that Amazon hasn't been the best actor for the city and its citizens, with them indirectly causing a traffic boom, and one hell of a gentrification problem. But with this, and Seattle's mayor resigning because a fifth person came out accusing him of being a pedophile, Seattle's city government is goofy as hell and nothing but trash.
 
F

Fragamemnon

Member
If those taxes really get to you, just get a big place in Bellevue, Kirkland, or Mercer Island. You don't HAVE to live in cap hill/slu/queen anne when you're working for amazon.

edit: my prediction is that they just build another PNW campus (50%) or Denver or nearby (50%).
 
L

leroidys

Member
jWILL253 said:
This is mainly happening because the Seattle City Council passed a new income tax on high earners: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...l-to-vote-today-on-income-tax-on-the-wealthy/



I'm not gonna cry about a tax on rich folks, but I'm also not gonna absolve the Council of any wrongdoing, here. Make no mistake, this was a purely political move, and a shortsighted one at that. They've been hostile to Amazon & Jeff Bezos, and basically any other rich person within five feet. I agree that Amazon hasn't been the best actor for the city and its citizens, with them indirectly causing a traffic boom, and one hell of a gentrification problem. But with this, and Seattle's mayor resigning because a fifth person came out accusing him of being a pedophile, Seattle's city government is goofy as hell and nothing but trash.
Click to expand...
I disagree. The income tax is just performative politics. It's clearly illegal and nobody expects it to survive the legal challenges.

Anyway, Amazon isn't going to find another state in the country with a more regressive tax system.
 
K

kirblar

Member
jWILL253 said:
This is mainly happening because the Seattle City Council passed a new income tax on high earners: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...l-to-vote-today-on-income-tax-on-the-wealthy/



I'm not gonna cry about a tax on rich folks, but I'm also not gonna absolve the Council of any wrongdoing, here. Make no mistake, this was a purely political move, and a shortsighted one at that. They've been hostile to Amazon & Jeff Bezos, and basically any other rich person within five feet. I agree that Amazon hasn't been the best actor for the city and its citizens, with them indirectly causing a traffic boom, and one hell of a gentrification problem. But with this, and Seattle's mayor resigning because a fifth person came out accusing him of being a pedophile, Seattle's city government is goofy as hell and nothing but trash.
Click to expand...
It's not, Matt Yglesias over at Vox has an article about the issues that Seattle has: https://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/9/8/16271870/amazon-hq2-seattle
 
C

cbrun44

Member
My money is still on Atlanta... I'm currently in Seattle.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/09/11/amazon-picks-atlanta-for-new-logistics-hub-locates.html

http://www.myajc.com/business/kempner-amazon-here-billion-now-bring-atlanta-000-jobs/LgQgzIYwPe0YoFO9wJ3H9N/

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2017/9/7/16269490/atlanta-win-new-amazon-headquarters

Atlanta will take Amazon like it did Hollywood...



And to those who say Amazon ruined Seattle are dumb. This place would be a shit hole without companies like Amazon investing in the community.
 
L

leroidys

Member
cbrun44 said:
My money is still on Atlanta... I'm currently in Seattle.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/09/11/amazon-picks-atlanta-for-new-logistics-hub-locates.html

http://www.myajc.com/business/kempner-amazon-here-billion-now-bring-atlanta-000-jobs/LgQgzIYwPe0YoFO9wJ3H9N/

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2017/9/7/16269490/atlanta-win-new-amazon-headquarters

Atlanta will take Amazon like it did Hollywood...



And to those who say Amazon ruined Seattle are dumb. This place would be a shit hole without companies like Amazon investing in the community.
Click to expand...
Are you really this much of a dumbass or do you just play one one GAF? You obviously weren't here before Amazon. Enjoy your bananas.
 
K

kirblar

Member
leroidys said:
This is the dumbest article I've read in a while. Matt has no grasp of the situation.
Click to expand...
This part is not dumb:
In 1980, Seattle had about 493,846 residents. By 2016 it had added about 210,00 people and reached an estimated population of 704,352. That’s a reasonably fast-growing city, but consider that back in 1980 there were only 385,164 people in Fort Worth and today there are 854,113. Back when Detroit was an up-and-coming high tech city it went from 465,766 residents to 993,678 in just 10 years and then added 750,000 more people in the next 20 years after that.
Click to expand...
Blue cities often have big issues w/ NIMBYism and deliberately not building enough housing because upper-class homeowners want to keep other people out.
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
I feel Dallas area would be a good spot for their second HQ. Tons of land to build up on, a number of universities near by, can pay on the lower end of wages, likely the best US location to focus on any Mexico/South American business.
 
L

leroidys

Member
kirblar said:
This part is not dumb:

Blue cities often have big issues w/ NIMBYism and deliberately not building enough housing because upper-class homeowners want to keep other people out.
Click to expand...
Seattle is not San Francisco. Go check out how much we are building, or the 60 BILLION dollar transit package that we passed last fall. We are opening more apartment buildings this year than in the past five years combined. Upzoning is only increasing. We are not sitting on our hands, and growing faster means displacing people at an even faster rate, which we already can't handle.

Comparing population density of King county (5,975km2) to Nassau (1,173km2) is beyond idiotic just by looking at the numbers, even more so when you account for half of king county being mountains, as well as the historical contexts and trajectories of each place.

Narrowly looking at Seattle statistics further obfuscates the point, as more change is happening around the city than within.
cbrun44 said:
I stand by my statement. What was this pre-Amazonian Utopia like? Must have been amazing.
Click to expand...
You stand by your unflinchingly ignorant arrogance? That's a bold move, Cotton.
 
E

Elandyll

Banned
To the people pitching Mexico or Canada... While not impossible, I think this choice would be quite risky with a Trump administration (as unreliable and lying as they are) which swore in the past they would take down NAFTA and apply tarifs on imports.

Extra tarifs applied would be a killer for Amazon biz, where the vast bulk of their shipping would be in the US.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
Rookje said:
My guess will be Denver or Boston.

Please, please, please do not come to Irvine. The housing prices are already insane, and the traffic gets worse every year.
Click to expand...

I hope they don't choose Denver. House prices in that area are already getting crazy. I want to be able to afford a decent home in Fort Collins in a few years, don't screw me Bezos.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
cbrun44 said:
My money is still on Atlanta... I'm currently in Seattle.





And to those who say Amazon ruined Seattle are dumb. This place would be a shit hole without companies like Amazon investing in the community.
Click to expand...

This is the stupidest thing posted on gaf today.

GAF.

Seattle was a beautiful, desirable, world class city before Amazon existed. It had a large tech business before Amazon existed. It would be shithole if companies didn't invest in it, but they do and have. Companies like Amazon and companies unlike Amazon.
 
B

Barajas_201

Member
ghostofsparta said:
serious question, on a day to day basis, do employees of large companies in Mexico speak English or Spanish? I get that's it's both, but what I'm really asking, is can someone who only speaks English get a job at a tech company in Mexico?
Click to expand...

Uh yes? There are Intel and IBM sites in Mexico and it its required to speak English to even apply to work there because of the other international workers and there is never a lack of Mexican candidates that meet those requirements. I don't see the issue with Amazon doing the same, also FTW, Mexico pumps out more engineers than Canada and about the same as the US, in fact it is required to pass the TOEFL test with at least a B2 level to graduate college. I think you have a lot of prejudice towards Mexicans.
 
G

ghostofsparta

Member
Barajas_201 said:
Uh yes? There are Intel and IBM sites in Mexico and it its required to speak English to even apply to work there because of the other international workers and there is never a lack of Mexican candidates that meet those requirements. I don't see the issue with Amazon doing the same, also FTW, Mexico pumps out more engineers than Canada and about the same as the US, in fact it is required to pass the TOEFL test with at least a B2 level to graduate college. I think you have a lot of prejudice towards Mexicans.
Click to expand...

It was an honest question. I assumed incorrectly. Crazy to me how you essential knowing English is.
 
G

Google

Member
Barajas_201 said:
I think you have a lot of prejudice towards Mexicans.
Click to expand...

I think you completely misunderstood his question.

He's asking if an American (or any other nationality) who only speaks English would be able to manage in a Mexican workplace despite the potential language barrier.
 
B

Barajas_201

Member
GK86 said:
I thought you guys spoke Mexican. You learn something new everyday.
Click to expand...

We also have roads and electricity! Who knew?!

Google said:
I think you completely misunderstood his question.

He's asking if an American (or any other nationality) who only speaks English would be able to manage in a Mexican workplace despite the potential language barrier.
Click to expand...

And I answered it. Intel Mexico hires people from all over the world, including Americans, and the work environment is done in English and I know this from a classmate that works there.
 
L

leroidys

Member
We've hired 4 or 5 Mexican tech workers from Guadalajara. Pretty much all of them have been great. One is working at google now.
 
A

Apt101

Member
Northern Virginia? Has the space and infrastructure, not sure attractive the area would be to trendy young techies though (my best bud lives up there, ain't much to do but drink and go to Medieval Times).
 
S

slit

Member
Hinzel said:
Too close to Seattle (Mt St Helen eruption or giant earthquake effects both, no real geographical redundancy), cost of living is as high as Seattle, and not nearly enough tech talent

I used to live in East Van and I love the city, but realistically I don't think it has a shot
Click to expand...

Mt. St. Helen erupting would not be devastating, it's Mt. Rainier that would be devastating and if potential disasters like that are a concern nobody should open a business almost anywhere on the west coast.
 
Ascenion

Ascenion

Member
JobenNC said:
I hope they come to Raleigh so all of Triangle-Gaf can die together in a centuries long traffic jam on I40.
Click to expand...

Nah. Imma say no. Even though I wish nothing but evil upon the Durham area, Amazon being there will still affect me in Charlotte.
 
E

erlim

yes, that talented of a member
I have never been there, but I hope they build it in Nebraska, I hope Disney builds like their biggest collection of theme park ever there, and I hope everybody there gets amazing fiber optic cable.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Linkura said:
Except we actually have MIT and tons of tech companies in Boston.

I think Boston has a decent shot, don't really care either way tbh. We're doing fine here with or without them.
Click to expand...

The problem with gauging the Cities like Houston/Dallas on East is they all have some tech shit going on. Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, DC, Pitt, Philly, NYC, Boston ect... ect... all have something.

Part of the reason their isn't an East Coast Silicon Valley is there doesn't need to be per se. SV already exists, and tech companies exist is every major metro to some extent.
 
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