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Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

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Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#221

Post by UncleEntity »

hnmonkey wrote: post #190
skookumchuck wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Washington state schools get plenty of money.

You're saying they get enough money so we should give large amounts of money to corporations? That seems wild and like corporate welfare for the sake of portioning out some money to corporations. Why give corporations a fast-lane to government money because school's are getting some money? To be clear, is your argument really that schools have lots of money so corporations deserve to get some too?

There is a difference between giving money to corporations and not taking away money from corporations. I realize a lot of people have the opinion that not taking something they already have is equal to giving them a handout but it really isn't.

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#222

Post by humanrebar »

epicureanideal wrote: post #170
throwaway427 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Public transit, continued investment, world class museums, and honestly a pretty hip city with a lot of activity in the center, not unlike Seattle. Also lots of millennials moving there for its low cost of living and ample jobs. Minus museums, this could be said of plenty of other cities that are in places with less wacky politics. Museums don't mean a thing. Low cost of living as a requirement means a relative low…

I haven't heard about any specific issues with Texas politics, versus just regular red-state politics. Is there some specific action being taken against women in Texas that I'm not aware of? (Genuine question, not snark.)

Texas is aggressively pro-life. They strictly regulate abortion clinics in particular.

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#223

Post by scarejunba »

mikeash wrote: post #157
cbuq wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but that's like saying Yellowstone is going to erupt.

I’ve lived through four or five recessions and there’s no indication this is any sort of anomaly. It’s more like saying that a hurricane is going to hit Florida. Predicting exactly when and how is nearly impossible, but we can say with almost complete certainty that it’s going to happen within a few years.

If few is three years or less time, you can make money on some options expiring Jan 2022. Have you bought them?

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#224

Post by castratikron »

dmode wrote: post #56

Amazon is playing cities like chump. I had a sense in the beginning of this process that Amazon doesn’t really want to build a HQ2. They just want to open another office. Most large tech companies have large campuses across multiple cities. This exercise is no different than that. But Bezos branded it HQ2 to maximize handout. I also predict that they will end up hiring far less than the 25k projected. There is a rece…

As with most things there's an rms quote for this:

"State legislators in various states are starting to think about how to stop companies from playing one state against another for tax breaks and handouts.

I suggested many years ago that the states should form a union to bargain collectively with these companies. We could call it 'The United States of America'."

https://stallman.org/archives/2007-jul-oct.html#23%20July%20...

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#225

Post by cronix »

hnmonkey wrote: post #206
kodablah wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can see it in auto sales rules against Tesla, alcohol and zoning restrictions that aren't subject to votes, grandfathering old businesses on all sorts of things like parking lot regulations to denials of permits based reasons like too many restaurants in the area, etc. Some may seem reasonable, some may not. The point is in a transaction, neither side has to accept concessions they are uncomfortable with. Quite o…

So you're right (and I forgot about it), cities have fought against Tesla but it was my understanding that the push for that was lobbying from the old-school car dealerships and car companies to keep things from changing that would negatively impact their businesses. I don't think most cities have a real dog in the fight and many would welcome new electric car service/business since it's mostly positives for them. Am…

I believe this is generally done more at the state level (consumer protection), rather than city when it comes to "banning Tesla". It's not actually a ban against Tesla specifically though, although some might be. As I understand it, this generally goes way back to when dealerships were worried about an actual car company, such as Ford, opening their OWN dealerships, and selling them at a price that the other car dealerships couldn't afford, which would be easy to do if you're both the supplier and retailer. Given how the deck is massively stacked against them, it's quite a testiment to their products that they are doing as well as they are. https://www.engadget.com/2014/07/17/tesla-motors-us-sales/

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#226

Post by hnmonkey »

cronix wrote: post #225
hnmonkey wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're right (and I forgot about it), cities have fought against Tesla but it was my understanding that the push for that was lobbying from the old-school car dealerships and car companies to keep things from changing that would negatively impact their businesses. I don't think most cities have a real dog in the fight and many would welcome new electric car service/business since it's mostly positives for them. Am…

I believe this is generally done more at the state level (consumer protection), rather than city when it comes to "banning Tesla". It's not actually a ban against Tesla specifically though, although some might be. As I understand it, this generally goes way back to when dealerships were worried about an actual car company, such as Ford, opening their OWN dealerships, and selling them at a price that the other car dea…

Great comment and insightful. That makes sense.

Yeah, it's unfortunate that often the deck is stacked against a company that could really bring some massive benefit to people, but you're right that they've done surprisingly well against that anti-momentum.

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#227

Post by Mountain_Skies »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #196
kodablah wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit not being very upset about it. How are they strongarming governments? A government says no and everyone moves on. Or are you saying communities can't get businesses without this strongarming? I don't believe that. I recognize the art of both sides shopping for the best deal for themselves, and with how many of these governments operate against their companies, it's definitely bidirectional. The leverage does…

The problem seems to be less that the governments are being “strong armed” and more that the people running the government are incentivized to satisfy their own interests when dealing with the corporations, and those interests do not necessarily align with the constituents that they supposedly represent.

This seems to be the way it works with professional sports teams. The city officials and the team owners are all sitting on the same side of the negotiating table and the public has no one sitting in their seat to represent their interests.

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#228

Post by dunpeal »

hnmonkey wrote: post #192
dunpeal wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an internal Amazon decision that is not regulated in any way. They are not obliged to any notion of "fairness". Amazon just put some cities on a list and negotiated with them. Any city not on the list is not there because Amazon didn't want it there. I also doubt that existing talent pool size was such a major consideration. Crystal City VA doesn't strike me as an obvious tech hub, nor does Newark. Amazon is…

Crystal City and Newark are next door to massive tech areas. In VA there are tons of DoD/Military tech organizations and NYC is right next door to Newark. It's probably cheaper to plant themselves next to those hubs than inside of them. * Added: Especially if you factor in all the people that would normally commute into NYC or DC/Arlington from the surrounding areas now commuting to a potentially closer office locati…

Maybe I'm thinking about this from the perspective of a young, single guy. I would not move to Crystal City for any job, definitely not with a horde of other young, single men. The number of young, college-graduate women there must be way too small.

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#229

Post by pgwhalen »

linkerzx wrote: post #89
fipple wrote: post #47

HQ2 was never going to be a true second HQ but now it’s not even going to be close. Cities just fellated Amazon for a satellite office.

Seems like quite a bit more than a satellite office, but not quite close to another HQ. Really curious to see what kind of jobs will end up in these HQ2A and HQ2B.

My guess is that it’ll be like google in NYC. Quite substantial, but obviously no Mountain View.

Re: Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 Evenly Between Two Cities

#230

Post by jeffbax »

saghm wrote: post #165
thaumasiotes wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Texas last had a Blue governor in 1994. Texas hasn’t always been red — only for the past two decades — and it won’t stay red forever. California last had a Republican governor in 2011, but people will look at you funny if you try to cite that as evidence that California wasn't dyed-in-the-wool Blue at the time.

Similarly, Massachusetts currently has a Republican governor, and it's certainly not a red state

Who surprisingly has the highest approval rating in the country, even higher than Warren.
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