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Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

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Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#61

Post by dsfyu404ed »

0x4f3759df wrote: post #37
jamesmishra wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minneapolis would definitely be a great choice. For those that don't know Minneapolis like the parent commenter and I do: - Amazon already has an engineering office in Minneapolis. Check out some of the jobs here. - Amazon has a fulfillment center in Shakopee, MN -- a third ring suburb ~30 miles away from Minneapolis. - This is mostly anecdotal on my part, but it's pretty typical for top computer science students at…

Minneapolis is such a long shot in my opinion, because very ambitious people tend to move to the coasts.

because they want to or because they feel they need to?

A lot of people put up with some really stupid crap "because money"

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#62

Post by pc2g4d »

joshdance wrote: post #28

SLC might be too 'small' but it growing, has a super strong university system and tons of software engineers.

SLC metro population: 1+ million

Including SLC and Utah counties both: 2+ million

University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University

Substantial tech talent, startup scene. Adobe, EA, Ebay, Microsoft, Oracle all have a presence. And don't forget the NSA.

International airport connects to Canada, France, Mexico, Netherlands, UK... but will take two hops to get anywhere else. https://www.slcairport.com/assets/pdfDocuments/Flight-Schedu...

Meetingplace of I-15, I-80, I-84

Culture almost the complete opposite of Seattle's.

Mountain Time Zone

Killer cost of living

Government willing to make substantial concessions to tech companies

But... I'm guessing it's just not quite connected enough to be seriously considered.

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#63

Post by santaclaus »

blaisio wrote: post #33

It's interesting, because they really need to pick a city that won't have trouble attracting software developers. Some large companies (like Epic) have trouble recruiting and have to pay people way more because they're so far away from normal tech hubs.

> Epic

The health software company or the peeps who make Unreal?

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#64

Post by sidlls »

blaisio wrote: post #33

It's interesting, because they really need to pick a city that won't have trouble attracting software developers. Some large companies (like Epic) have trouble recruiting and have to pay people way more because they're so far away from normal tech hubs.

Epic doesn't pay very well even for the area. Their problem isn't just location, it's reputation: terrible technology, terrible working conditions, and a possibly dated reputation for a proclivity to hire junior devs and chew them up in a way that would make a AAA game studio envious.

They continue along because, like most other places that aren't major tech hubs like SF, Seattle, NY, or Chicago, software developers who decide to settle there simply don't have many alternatives.

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#65

Post by jackcosgrove »

jamesmishra wrote: post #35
bovermyer wrote: post #7

The Twin Cities are looking at courting Amazon for this. IMO, Minneapolis would be a great location for it. We fit the RFP criteria.

Minneapolis would definitely be a great choice. For those that don't know Minneapolis like the parent commenter and I do: - Amazon already has an engineering office in Minneapolis. Check out some of the jobs here. - Amazon has a fulfillment center in Shakopee, MN -- a third ring suburb ~30 miles away from Minneapolis. - This is mostly anecdotal on my part, but it's pretty typical for top computer science students at…

Seattle and Minneapolis definitely have some chemistry with each other. I call it the "flannel belt".

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#66

Post by squozzer »

rainbowmverse wrote: post #30
squozzer wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of techies already do.

I went through Alpharetta with a friend once and saw all the expensive cars and jerk drivers. I thought it must be what living in Silicon Valley is like.

My experience has not been as bad, but since moving to the north side, I don't use the interstates as much to get around. The psychos all seemed to use the interstates.

Or maybe I am one of the jerks.

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#67

Post by jamesmishra »

civilian wrote: post #51
jamesmishra wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minneapolis would definitely be a great choice. For those that don't know Minneapolis like the parent commenter and I do: - Amazon already has an engineering office in Minneapolis. Check out some of the jobs here. - Amazon has a fulfillment center in Shakopee, MN -- a third ring suburb ~30 miles away from Minneapolis. - This is mostly anecdotal on my part, but it's pretty typical for top computer science students at…

There's a fulfillment center or two 30 miles away from every major city, I'm not sure if that's actually a unique attribute. ;)

Touché. I went to Shakopee High School, so my Facebook feed blew up when Amazon opened there. I guess it is not as big of a deal as I thought. :)

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#68

Post by santaclaus »

scarmig wrote: post #53
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't Amazon be more interested in the economic conditions, rather than hiking and biking and the brewery scene?

Tons of sunbelt and non-coastal cities have spent decades optimizing for cheap land and making themselves "business friendly" over all other concerns. They still don't have much of a tech scene or high impact industries. And the same calculus that has prevented a mass migration of tech companies to Boise or Waco is the same calculus that will prevent Amazon from moving there either. My bet is Boulder; the Research Tr…

> Boulder

Boulder is almost as bad as the bay in terms of vested interests obstructing construction and development.

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#69

Post by madcaptenor »

squozzer wrote: post #52
hnaccy wrote: post #5

I hope they pick Atlanta but I doubt techies want to live in the South.

What might kill Atlanta for AMZN - besides certain problems with traffic and sociopolitical climate (we have probably the largest Confederate memorial in the US called Stone Mountain) - is WHERE Atlanta (itself not an especially large political jurisdiction) would probably like AMZN to build - south of I-20 which is not where most people would want to work or live right now. Obtaining the land would probably be the e…

If suburban ATL is in the mix, what about the old GM plant in Doraville?

Re: Few Cities Could Accommodate Amazon's New Headquarters

#70

Post by jackcosgrove »

chis wrote: post #39

Most of the internal talk I've seen favors Vancouver. It's geographically close (with excellent transportation), is big but still has room to grow. Canada in general is a good choice because they have more lax limmigration policies.

I don't think they'll choose a metro with expensive real estate.
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