Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#261

Post by prklmn » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

gumby wrote: post #203

chollida1 wrote: post #3

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…

> Nice to see Toronto on the list, though game theory suggest My bet is on Toronto because they can pick up all the staff they need worldwide without the problems of trying to get US visas.

They won't do this after getting bids from numerous American cities. To choose a city in Canada would piss off too much of their customer base, including the president of the country, and would have a long term material impact on sales.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#262

Post by zitterbewegung » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:55 PM UTC

chollida1 wrote: post #3

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…

Why does amazon want to escape from the US govt?

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#263

Post by ovrdrv3 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:56 PM UTC

drumttocs8 wrote: post #249

Amazon would have the greatest impact in Atlanta. You could argue that Atlanta is the economic, cultural, and geographical center of the Southeastern United States. It has the busiest airport in the world and is a major rail hub. There are already dozens of major corporations headquaratered in Atlanta. There is no shortage of talent, with a top-5 engineering school in Georgia Tech. Yet there are things missing which…

I remember the initial thread[1] with the announcement had many good things to say about Atlanta too.

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15192930

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#264

Post by Tsarbomb » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:56 PM UTC

keiraarts wrote: post #252

chollida1 wrote: post #3

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…

Out of curiosity, would the exchange rate for USD to CAD be a great advantage for Amazon?

It would be an incredible advantage. Salaries are already lower when compared with the other major North American tech centers. Add the exchange rate into the mix and Amazon's money will go a long way.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#265

Post by fetus8 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:57 PM UTC

planteen wrote: post #183

corpMaverick wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know why is housing in Denver so expensive ? It seems to have good density. Even small towns in Colorado look expensive.

Nice small mountain towns, especially those near ski areas, are expensive. But towns and cities on the plains (e.g., Ft. Morgan) are pretty inexpensive. And southern Colorado cities like Pueblo and Colorado Springs are also a lot more inexpensive. Denver and Boulder are quite expensive.

Uh, there's nothing out in the eastern part of Colorado that qualifies as a city. Sterling, is like 10k people, if that. But anything east of Greeley is still relatively affordable.

Anything along the Front Range, Colorado Springs, and north, all the way up to Fort Collins, have seen huge increases in housing costs in the last 5 years. Denver and Boulder are expensive, yes, but the commuter (bedroom) communities, like Fort Collins, Longmont, Brighton, etc, have seen huge spikes in housing costs. Rentals in these areas, throughout my college career, were more than manageable. My rent TRIPLED when I moved out of my last college apartment. I moved from Greeley, to Fort Collins, which is consistently rated as like the best place to raise a family too. These communities have been relatively affordable until the last few years, when things have suddenly gotten a little out of control.

There's not enough new development, a huge demand for single family homes, and an influx of population has driven the housing market up and up. The Oil and Gas industry seemingly started the trend back in 2013-2014, but now, all sorts of businesses are opening up, there's just more demand. It's unfortunate for those of us just getting started in our careers, and definitely creates disdain for all the new-comers.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#266

Post by biohax2015 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:58 PM UTC

gizmo385 wrote: post #255

ForrestN wrote: post #245

It's interesting how little culture figures in to this conversation. It seems to me that the North and the South (Canada aside) are drastically different in ways that will really matter to a lot of people. I don't work at Amazon, but my family and I would not feel fully safe or comfortable living in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia or North Carolina.

> my family and I would not feel fully safe or comfortable living in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia or North Carolina I'm a little surprised by this. You wouldn't feel safe? Why not?

They are probably a minority. There is rampant racism in these states and many don’t even try to hide their discrimination.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#267

Post by fetus8 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:58 PM UTC

Erik816 wrote: post #161

fetus8 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Colorado resident, I'd love for them to pick anywhere BUT Denver. We already have major issues with homelessness, and rapidly rising cost of living. Our highways and infrastructure are beyond congested already, and our public transit is pretty half assed. If Amazon is going to build HQ2 here, they better help contribute to improving public transit, creating affordable housing, and help improve the highways to ha…

Considering that's a very accurate description of Seattle, I'd say your doubts are well founded.

Thank you, and I'm sorry, if you're a Seattle resident.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#268

Post by Infernal » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:59 PM UTC

I was surprised at the goofy map they used here - the bottom third of the country seems vertically compressed (see the angle of Florida's peninsula, or how squashed the bottom of Texas is). Also... Raleigh is south of Nashville (not north the way their map has it) and Nashville is 100 + miles east of where they've got it (based on Louisiana). Just surprising that so little time apparently went into it, maybe maps are harder than I think?

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#269

Post by lamp_book » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #215

It amuses me to think of what will happen to Amazon’s neurotic overworking culture if their other HQ in Miami or Denver. I can’t see amazon casting a big enough cultural shadow to change those cities instead of those cities changing them.

Seattle has (had?) to be similar enough to Denver in that regard and everything I've heard about Miami is work hard play hard so I guess I don't see why they'd have a problem fitting in either of those.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#270

Post by xyzzy_plugh » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 6:01 PM UTC

dudul wrote: post #247

wyattk wrote: post #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 dea…

Why do you think that it will be to no benefit of the local population? I'm uncomfortable with this process too, but isn't it gonna be great for the city that gets chosen?

I think this sort of thing results in a net loss for the public. Politicians love talking about creating jobs, but not about at what cost. Whatever city wins will be handing out subsidies and tax breaks to the point where only Amazon shareholders benefit.