Anyone remember when rent was $900 a month?
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Amazon looking to build a second HQ in North America, will add 50k jobs
- Thread starter RastaMentality
- Start date
Anyone remember when rent was $900 a month?
facetheslayer92
Member
When was that?
eBay Huckster
Member
seems like Cleveland has roughly as much of a case based on the criteria they've been announcing (with Cleveland's transit system & airport being stronger vs. the population being much smaller). both are about as affordable, both are up-and-coming (though in Cleveland's case it's moreso recent Case and CSU growth than Columbus's more wide-ranged growth)
i3allistic
Member
Fuck it, make it in Oakland ...right between San Fran and San Jose, we got airport and BART ...let's make Bay Area super fucking expensive
NihonTiger90
Member
As a former Detroiter, I'd have to agree, though the Qline needs to be seen more as the first step of a long, long overdue process for public transportation than anything else. Metro Detroit is a sprawling mess built around the car and the car alone. It's going to take decades to break that, if it's at all possible.
I'm going to throw Columbus into the mix because the Columbus suburbs will give Amazon anything they damn well want in perpetuity for jobs. They already did it once for their new data center in Delaware County; I can see them bending over backwards to build this somewhere like Hilliard or Reynoldsburg or New Albany. Don't be shocked if they get some insane deal around there.
Indianapolis could actually also be in the mix, as it's very similar in some regards to Cbus.
When I moved to Seattle in 1999, it was around there. It averages around $1700 a month now.
I will eat my hat if Amazon picks Ottawa over Toronto lol. Ain't nobody going to do that
Edmonton lol, just joking, but there are some nice towers going up in down town. If they can find talents it can be a attractive option here since things are still very cheap and housing price is at it lowest point atm compare to all major cities in the US. Had an job interview with a real estate company recently and they have been putting up warehouses at an insane rate because many international companies decided to store their stuffs here since B.C has gotten way too expensive. Time for our premier, Rachel to do some work if they really mean to diversify AB economy.
My brother paid $600 a month on Capitol Hill for about six years around the early aughts
Studio, I'm guessing? Because even back then, a one bedroom at that price in that area would be a steal.
Nope, it was a pretty huge 1br near SU.
I don't think 94/35 could sustain the increase in traffic without serious work (they already can't sustain it). Sure there's a light rail, but realistically it couldn't serve 50,000 more employees. I don't live in the cities, but I don't live that far out and travel through frequently.
All I'm saying is the city is already has bad traffic issues. Infrastructure would need to be expanded to make the cities a viable spot imo.
The mayor is putting a bid in.
ErasureAcer
Banned
With the current facility in the NW, I think they'll go SE, S or E...you know where the people are. The Midwest, while viable isn't where the people and thus business is on the whole. The corn isn't buying Amazon products.
I reiterate, Canada has some of the best software devs/schools in the world, world leader in AI research, has good costs and a city like Toronto already has a huuuuuge base of talent to pick from. Amazon regularly tries to hire from the city (I just double checked my linkedIn and I've had recruiters repping amazon at me twice in the last year), and quite a few large tech companies are opening or investing in large (usually AI oriented) software bases in the city.
Canada, and I'd say more specifically Toronto, is a serious, serious contender.
Random Human
They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
And I don't want to keep repeating this point, but surely in the current political climate, having your second HQ outside of America and not subject to Trump's whims isn't a bad thing at all.
killer rin
Member
Not to mention being under a government which has been down in the USA mingling with executives and essentially begging Tech companies for the past couple years to open more shop in Canada to prevent our highly educated base from being forced out of country.
Yes. Within the official bidding guidelines and request documents they make numerous references to "States/Provinces" whenever they are talking about the middle level of governments. They are even helping Canadian cities put together attractive proposals.
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
This isn't about where people buy things. That's what distribution centers are for. Corporate jobs can be anywhere so long as they have a talented work force, educational facilities and a large growing population. Minneapolis and Chicago both fit the bill. Please don't be ignorant and assume all the fly over states are just "lol corn". Minneapolis alone is third in the nation to headquarter the most Fortune 500 companies after NYC and Houston.
Yeah they definitely looking at white upper middle class and everyone know it.
100K average for real though? Or is that in West Coast money? Seems pretty high for some random low tier office job on that end of the spectrum. I bet the bigs get paid a super amount to get that average higher.
killer rin
Member
Ottawa has a huge tech community out in Kanata and several major corporations. I wouldn't knock them out of the running completely. Same with Montreal. I personally think it will go to Toronto, but you can't take them out of the running that easily.
So pretty much the entire North East? (NY, DET, TOR? etc...)
This headquarters won't be finished until after 2020. Only reason they'd pick Canada is if h1b cut backs make it so Canada is easier to get immigrant labor.
The only reason??
Not the only reason, but a big one. Canada's federal government just pushed through a fast track program for tech industry temporary foreign workers, so that they can be in the job in two weeks. This was after pressure from Microsoft in Vancouver. Now roughly 80% of the workers in that office are not Canadian. Amazon may well do the same. Canada's laws are set up in such a way that it is often cheaper to hire foreign workers than domestic ones, and now much easier as well.
Canada does offer public healthcare, lower corporate taxes, a cheaper dollar, and a large urban base and Toronto is on Eastern time, likely a major consideration. Canada is also pretty good at training high quality labour r but pressured by brain drain by its larger southern neighbor to try and find ways to keep that talent in the country.
Toronto does have issues around poor urban planning that make it a less than ideal city for a lot of workers, however - long commutes, expensive housing and a worthless and small minded NIMBY attitude among owners and councillors make it hard to see that changing. Workers moving to Toronto may find better opportunities elsewhere, much like has already happened to a limited degree in finance.
Bornstellar
Member
Wouldn't be surprised if this ends up in the greater SLC area if they make a bid.
Sr Kitsune
Member
Is this related? https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-amazon-plans-mega-warehouse-140306934.html (Mexico)
Zoe
Member
Not necessarily. Warehouses/hubs don't need to be right next to the headquarters.
ghostofsparta
Member
Just a warehouse where they'll pay their employees poor wages and eventually replace them with robots
They'll probably in the GTA rather than Toronto proper, places like Mississauga which has a big number of corporations already.
The Albatross
Member
I'd be willing to put some money on it that it will end up being the Metro-Boston area. Amazon already has engineering offices in Boston and Cambridge, it's a hot place to work in tech, Boston competes with California for young engineering talent with its dozens of high performing colleges/universities and some of the best engineering programs in the country (MIT, WPI, Harvard), it's a 6 hour flight London/Paris/West Coast, it's still a reasonably inexpensive area to live in.
It probably won't be at one site, but rather they'll have a main campus, and then satellite campuses around the area that might specialize in one thing or another.
Office jobs will not pay $100k, but mid-level engineers would likely be between $100k - $120k. Sr. Engineers are in the $120-$160 range.
It probably won't be at one site, but rather they'll have a main campus, and then satellite campuses around the area that might specialize in one thing or another.
Office jobs will not pay $100k, but mid-level engineers would likely be between $100k - $120k. Sr. Engineers are in the $120-$160 range.
EverythingShiny
Member
I moved from Seattle to get away from the astronomical cost of living and overall changes in the city thanks to Amazon... they better not come here.
But in reality, it's a decent fit. There's a highly educated and technical workforce already here, there's a lot of land and room for growth (especially out by RTP) and it's fairly temperate.
Bezos-owned Washington Post put out an article last week with a list of 39 cities that could become the home of HQ2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-headquarters-contest/?utm_term=.f9379c9f5369
This site also did a ranking of eligible cities based on Amazon's requirements: https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-build-hq2-let-data-decide/
Why is that? Ottawa offers some advantages over Toronto, namely that it has the same quality of living but doesn't have the rage-inducing traffic or the eye watering real estate prices.
Ottawa was the backbone of the internet back in the early 2000s when Nortel had its R&D headquarters here and still has a significant telecom and high tech presence(Apple and Amazon just recently set up shop as well). Even now, the startup scene is thriving, being led by companies like Shopify.
Not saying Ottawa will or should get the new HQ2, but Amazon would do pretty good here.
Canada is quite attractive to a lot of companies right now. We have an extremely educated and talented workforce, comparable to the US, but with lower wages thanks to the exchange rate. We also don't have the same political and immigration instability found in the US.
This site also did a ranking of eligible cities based on Amazon's requirements: https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-build-hq2-let-data-decide/
Why is that? Ottawa offers some advantages over Toronto, namely that it has the same quality of living but doesn't have the rage-inducing traffic or the eye watering real estate prices.
Ottawa was the backbone of the internet back in the early 2000s when Nortel had its R&D headquarters here and still has a significant telecom and high tech presence(Apple and Amazon just recently set up shop as well). Even now, the startup scene is thriving, being led by companies like Shopify.
Not saying Ottawa will or should get the new HQ2, but Amazon would do pretty good here.
Canada is quite attractive to a lot of companies right now. We have an extremely educated and talented workforce, comparable to the US, but with lower wages thanks to the exchange rate. We also don't have the same political and immigration instability found in the US.
ghostofsparta
Member
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
Barajas_201
Member
We also speak English buddy...
It would cripple the federal government with the mass exodus of employees lol
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).