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Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

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Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#121
Please please pick Toronto. My immigrant future in the US is still uncertain after being here for 12 years. Would be great if Canadian tech ecosystem gets a boost so that I and countless others in my position have options

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#123
post #50

I feel as though there are too many cities. I'd be curious to know what the top 5 are. My picks, in no particular order: - Boston - Dallas - Atlanta - Chicago - Denver In all likelihood it'll be Boston or Denver.

I'd love Amazon to come to Boston, although admittedly it would not help our existing transportation and housing problems. Maybe Bezos could strong arm the state into actually fixing the T XD

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#124

I wish i could live in North America. You guys have it so exciting out there ;). Hopefully it goes to a region that kinda needs it and can grow further.

I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted, North America (America and Canada at least) is a world class economic dynamo.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#125

Nice to see Toronto on the list, though game theory suggest that we're only here because having a Canadian Candidate has the potential to have all 3 levels of government involved rather than just state and city. I'm not really sure how to go about handicapping the finalists. Given the current political climate, Toronto is interesting because it's the only city that gives Amazon some escape form the US government. You…

If Canadian cities were in serious competition I think there'd be more than one of them on the list. There are a good number of American cities smaller than Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa/Gatineau on the list, let alone Montreal and Vancouver. I suspect that Toronto is the token Canadian city and won't get serious consideration. I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow…

Do any of those cities have good international flight options? I live in Montreal, the the options are very limited compared to Toronto.

I expect Montreal would be completely ruled out because of the language laws, incidentally. Fine for a branch office, unacceptable for a second HQ.

So, I'm not sure you're right about Toronto being a token candidate.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#126
Something about this just makes my stomach sick... A massive corporation is pitting governments against each other for its own gain, often to no benefit of the local population.

I'm scared to see the numbers of "incentives" that local politicians try and hand out to Amazon. There's little evidence that the public money used/lost will ever be recouped. One of the worst cases of this happening so far is the Foxconn deal in Wisconsin that will cost taxpayers around $4.5B [1], and I feel that numbers for Amazon will dwarf those Foxconn numbers.

The US is far removed from the days of trust busting [2], and keeping massive corporations (monopolies and oligopolies) and their market distorting effects in check, for the long-term benefit of the entire economy and the people. There seems to be a lot of similarities between now and the late 1800s and early 1900s. We live in a strange time. I get the feeling there will be a strong resurgence of antitrust cases and similar progressive policies. I'm curious to see where the near future takes us.

1: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/mem... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Theodore_Rooseve...

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#127

Nice to see Toronto on the list, though game theory suggest that we're only here because having a Canadian Candidate has the potential to have all 3 levels of government involved rather than just state and city. I'm not really sure how to go about handicapping the finalists. Given the current political climate, Toronto is interesting because it's the only city that gives Amazon some escape form the US government. You…

If Canadian cities were in serious competition I think there'd be more than one of them on the list. There are a good number of American cities smaller than Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa/Gatineau on the list, let alone Montreal and Vancouver. I suspect that Toronto is the token Canadian city and won't get serious consideration. I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow…

Do any of those cities have good international flight options? I live in Montreal, the the options are very limited compared to Toronto.

I expect Montreal would be completely ruled out because of the language laws, incidentally. Fine for a branch office, unacceptable for a second HQ.

So, I'm not sure you're right about Toronto being a token candidate. I believe it's the best candidate in Canada.

But, moving to Canada is a big choice. So big you'd really want to consider only the top candidate.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#128

Nice to see Toronto on the list, though game theory suggest that we're only here because having a Canadian Candidate has the potential to have all 3 levels of government involved rather than just state and city. I'm not really sure how to go about handicapping the finalists. Given the current political climate, Toronto is interesting because it's the only city that gives Amazon some escape form the US government. You…

If Canadian cities were in serious competition I think there'd be more than one of them on the list. There are a good number of American cities smaller than Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa/Gatineau on the list, let alone Montreal and Vancouver. I suspect that Toronto is the token Canadian city and won't get serious consideration. I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow…

Do any of those cities have good international flight options? I live in Montreal, the the options are very limited compared to Toronto.

I expect Montreal would be completely ruled out because of the language laws, incidentally. Fine for a branch office, unacceptable for a second HQ.

So, I'm not sure you're right about Toronto being a token candidate. I believe it's the best candidate in Canada.

But, moving to Canada is a big choice. So big you'd really want to consider only the top 1-2 candidates.

I do wonder what kept Vancouver off the list though.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#129

Nice to see Toronto on the list, though game theory suggest that we're only here because having a Canadian Candidate has the potential to have all 3 levels of government involved rather than just state and city. I'm not really sure how to go about handicapping the finalists. Given the current political climate, Toronto is interesting because it's the only city that gives Amazon some escape form the US government. You…

If Canadian cities were in serious competition I think there'd be more than one of them on the list. There are a good number of American cities smaller than Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa/Gatineau on the list, let alone Montreal and Vancouver. I suspect that Toronto is the token Canadian city and won't get serious consideration. I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow…

Toronto might be the token Canadian city, but it's also the strongest contender Canada has to offer, by far. I would not rule them out.

> I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow-back for choosing a Canadian city.

Ironically, one reason a Canadian city would offer such big advantages - immigration - is also the main reason for the Trump hyper-nationalism. That tension is interesting. I don't know to what extent politics plays into this but teaching American politicians a lesson about whether they really want to continue playing to the cheap seats on immigration might be a plus for Amazon.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#130

Just visited Pittsburgh. There is indeed a renaissance happing in that town. The restaurant scene alone is phenomenal. And the addition of a FANG level HQ could cement its burgeoning international reputation as a destination. The idea is that CMU spits out about 200+ world class CS grads a year. If even 5% decide to stay in the area to start their own ventures. There would be potential for massive growth. the other d…

FANG = Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google? (Just based on https://www.acronymfinder.com/FANG.html - I hadn't heard that one before)
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