Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#671

Post by wfo » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:11 AM UTC

BookmarkSaver wrote: post #652

wfo wrote: post #561

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you a software engineer in one of these cities struggling to find a job? Would you take one at Amazon, knowing that it's one of the worst software jobs out there because of horrible working conditions? Would you last significantly longer than the average 1 year turnover rate at Amazon? If you said yes to all these questions, your response makes sense. Congratulations, you are the .25% of the population that my ar…

>Would you take one at Amazon, knowing that it's one of the worst software jobs out there because of horrible working conditions? Source? It is consistently ranked as one of the better places for software engineers to work, despite NYT hit pieces. >Would you last significantly longer than the average 1 year turnover rate at Amazon? Amazon's turnover is almost indistinguishable from Google's. It's an industry issue (a…

> It is consistently ranked as one of the better places for software engineers to work

Where? By whom? I looked for a while and I couldn't find a single source to suggest this. There are plenty of lists of good software workplaces, Amazon shows up on none of them.

People like working there because it is a great resume-booster. Work a couple years at Amazon, kill yourself for work, then move on to a real company with that on your CV.

>despite NYT hit pieces

Or as everyone else in the world knows it, "accurate reporting".

Here's a quote from an article from an employee that I think captures it: “Amazon is a culture of self-driven workaholics”

If you join the cult and agree it's a good idea to work yourself to death, it's a good place to do that. It's not a good place to go if you want to be a Seattleite, participate in a community or have a life at the same time.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#672

Post by bulldoa » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:14 AM UTC

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #660

bulldoa wrote: post #648

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an interesting position that I am quite conflicted about. From the conclusion of the original post it seems like he/she would prefer company that brings in high salary jobs not to relocate to the area if the company itself would not be employing people that originated from the area for those high salary jobs. This is because he/she perceived that there is no benefit to the economy since the local does not get…

"The Times reported in July that 74 projects were under construction in downtown Seattle. Two-thirds of the buildings will be residential towers, with most being apartments for rent, not condos...Seattle has gone from one of the most affordable West Coast cities to one of the least, Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist at Zillow, told CNN Money. The city and developers have tried to alleviate that by building tons of a…

I acknowledge the problem, but at the same time I am not sure what is the solution. Should Amazon relocate to a brand new city where it is not possible to gentrified people or should amazon just relocate to other country and cause problem there? I would think both is not optimal since Amazon does provide a net positive impact on the local economy. And I would even argue that the city could take advantage of this new tax source to improve education and perhaps output engineer talents that is much in demand now and in the foreseeable future

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#673

Post by JPKab » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:19 AM UTC

biocomputation wrote: post #529

closeparen wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL software engineers aren’t actual residents of the places we live.

TIL software engineers think it's okay to participate in the economic and social destruction of neighborhoods in which people have lived for decades.

TIL that people own the neighborhoods they live in by virtue of being there first, without any form of payment, deed, title, or record of ownership.

I should point out that the arguments against gentrification are identical to the arguments white ethnic urban neighborhoods made against blacks moving into their neighborhoods in the mid 20th century.

"They are ruining the character of our city! We were here first!"

Losers.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#674

Post by biocomputation » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:23 AM UTC

closeparen wrote: post #578

biocomputation wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL software engineers think it's okay to participate in the economic and social destruction of neighborhoods in which people have lived for decades.

Young adults necessarily occupy space in a way that hasn’t yet been legitimized by the passage of much time. Populations that need to work for a living must go where there is work. Many of the consequences of this set of facts are dire and inhumane, and responsible public policy manages their impacts as best it can. A world with no new households is one that has stopped reproducing. A world where people are confined…

You could always refuse to participate in the social and economic destruction of communities by simply not working at places that have a disproportionate impact on the surrounding community.

Yes, it's that easy!

Fixed that for you.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#675

Post by biocomputation » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:25 AM UTC

deadmetheny wrote: post #574

biocomputation wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL software engineers think it's okay to participate in the economic and social destruction of neighborhoods in which people have lived for decades.

If you've been on HN for any extended period of time, this should not come as a surprise to you.

Sadly, it's not!

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#676

Post by wbl » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:28 AM UTC

Finnucane wrote: post #331

wbl wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could add more supply.

The amount of money flowing through Amazon in an already-densely built city would quickly swamp any possible expansion. Prices will rise.

Which city under consideration is densely built?

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#677

Post by biocomputation » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:31 AM UTC

JPKab wrote: post #673

biocomputation wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL software engineers think it's okay to participate in the economic and social destruction of neighborhoods in which people have lived for decades.

TIL that people own the neighborhoods they live in by virtue of being there first, without any form of payment, deed, title, or record of ownership. I should point out that the arguments against gentrification are identical to the arguments white ethnic urban neighborhoods made against blacks moving into their neighborhoods in the mid 20th century. "They are ruining the character of our city! We were here first!" Los…

Gentrification disproportionately affects communities of color. This is quite exactly what's happening in Seattle.

I hear this argument a lot and it's really like saying "only people who own property should be allowed to vote". You're saying that only property owners belong in the community.

That's just sad and wrong - not to mention racist in the context of this discussion - and it truly exemplifies the attitude that myself and many other natives are pushing back against.

This attitude, which I see in so many tech workers, is why Amazon has gotten such a cold reception from many people in Seattle.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#678

Post by JPKab » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:51 AM UTC

biocomputation wrote: post #677

JPKab wrote: post #673

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL that people own the neighborhoods they live in by virtue of being there first, without any form of payment, deed, title, or record of ownership. I should point out that the arguments against gentrification are identical to the arguments white ethnic urban neighborhoods made against blacks moving into their neighborhoods in the mid 20th century. "They are ruining the character of our city! We were here first!" Los…

Gentrification disproportionately affects communities of color. This is quite exactly what's happening in Seattle. I hear this argument a lot and it's really like saying "only people who own property should be allowed to vote". You're saying that only property owners belong in the community. That's just sad and wrong - not to mention racist in the context of this discussion - and it truly exemplifies the attitude tha…

No, I'm saying that nobody is entitled to anything. I love how you bring up the race card.

Please explain to me the system of who gets to suddenly stop a city from changing, and when? Your attitude is based on emotion and illogic. So if I'm talking about South Boston, where it is white Irish Americans being booted out by a much more racially diverse professional class, am I bigoted against whites?

Again, you have an emotional argument and nothing else. Take that same argument, apply it at a national level, and you are in anti immigration territory. If Trump ran for mayor of Seattle and said he'd build a wall to keep newcomers out, it would help your agenda.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#679

Post by dingo_bat » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:51 AM UTC

conanbatt wrote: post #663

ComradeTaco wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that it's completely reasonable for governments to invest massively into public infrastructure to facilitate the success of Amazon HQ. Things like new transit lines, complete streets, public parks etc. It should be a catalyst to invest into parts of the city that have seen substantial urban decay. It irks me however when huge tax credits are handed out to already profitable companies to move in. It's just g…

I'd see it as cities charging more taxes than they are actually willing to collect. I.e. the city is happy collecting less % of taxes already, just that most dont have bargaining power.

In other words, they are able to bully individuals, but not corporations.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#680

Post by dillondoyle » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 1:53 AM UTC

ProAm wrote: post #295

dx034 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Denver appears to be the current favourite (also chosen by the NYT as the winner) but doesn't have any flights to Asia except for Tokyo[1]. But I guess being sufficiently connected within the US is enough, not sure how many flights to China they need. [1] https://www.flightera.net/airport/Denver/KDEN

Except no one in Denver wants them here except the Governor and business council. It would be a huge net loss for the community and people.

I don't know if opinion of residents is that strong? I live here and would welcome Amazon as would a lot of the people I work with from my conversations. But then again my circle is younger, wealthier, white etc.