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Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

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Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#161

Post by CydeWeys »

thebradbain wrote: post #148
CydeWeys wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point isn't that he can't afford houses anywhere (obviously he can), it's that the places he already owns houses in are places he enjoys spending his time in. So he'd want to locate additional offices in those places. He's probably not all that interested in spending time in, e.g., Dallas.

It seems like I'm the resident Dallas apologist on these Amazon pieces, but Bezos is no stranger to Dallas. He has spoken fondly of Dallas many a time, just had the honor of speaking at SMU's Business Conference and offered personal anecdotes of why he likes Dallas, and, as Dallas Morning News has reported by tracking his flight records, been to Dallas many a time this year alone. Sure, maybe he doesn't own property…

s/Dallas/Detroit/ then.

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#162

Post by statguy »

hueving wrote: post #149
statguy wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure, this sounds reversed - Northern efficiency, and Southern Charm?

No, the implication is that everyone in DC is an asshole with the slow pace of folks in the south.

got it :)

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#163

Post by hueving »

jowiar wrote: post #72
api wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont understand it. We seem to have decided as a culture that absolutely everything had to be in like five cities. Its a major contributor to division and polarization and a trend that is destroying the middle class.

Taking the slider to the other extreme, you end up with company towns everywhere, and there are a whole lot of burned out husks of civilization that are memories to that. Until we truly solve remote, there will be some concentration. And there's value to that as an employee. If your employer goes kaput, or you're stagnating in your career, or you have an abusive boss, there are plenty of opportunities available, and…

>Taking the slider to the other extreme, you end up with company towns everywhere

Why would you go to the other extreme? There are hundreds of large cities around the US that could easily headquarter these big companies and not become company towns.

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#164

Post by dmode »

CPLX wrote: post #33
Aloha wrote: post #6

I feel this choice is a mistake for the company long term, they're putting resources into two very hot housing and real estate markets, that have no real draw (in my opinion) for technical employees. Hew York is high tax (compared to Washington), unpleasant weather, overall high costs, and has a housing shortage, Washington DC, once described has having "Southern Efficiency, and Northern Charm" has similar issues of…

New York is literally the greatest city in the history of world civilization and the planetary capital of finance, media, business, fashion and culture. It’s easily the largest city in the country, and iconic globally. But you’re finding it hard to understand why people might want to live here? I’d post more but my New York life is veritable cornucopia of novel and enriching experiences and I’d better get back to it.…

Yeah, it is greater than Ancient Rome, with a richer history than Paris, and more people than Tokyo

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#165

Post by jakevoytko »

akhilcacharya wrote: post #117
jakevoytko wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this can be understated. My friends and I don't even TALK about tech because not all of my friends are in tech. I have friends that are in completely different industries, like media, theater, urban planning, education, finance, journalism, etc. You meet people who are making it as artists or going for their PhD. There's a vibrant Meetup scene. And if you live near a friend, you can literally just walk…

I always thought that was such a strange reason. Never really got the obsession with having friends in other industries, which isn’t that hard to have in Seattle or Boston or Raleigh either.

You end up chewing on ideas you never would have considered, learning about industries you don't work in, and going places you never would have thought to go. It adds a nice splash of unexpectedness that life wouldn't have otherwise.

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#166

Post by [deleted] »

gkanai wrote: post #17

I agree with Scott Galloway who has both predicted the outcome and has called this a sham 'contest.' Galloway said that Bezos was always going to pick one of the coastal cities where he has a second/third home. By doing this 'contest' Amazon was able to get cities to compete with each other to provide tax incentives to Amazon and was also able to get valuable private information on the cities that Amazon can use in t…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#168

Post by bilbo0s »

thebradbain wrote: post #148
CydeWeys wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point isn't that he can't afford houses anywhere (obviously he can), it's that the places he already owns houses in are places he enjoys spending his time in. So he'd want to locate additional offices in those places. He's probably not all that interested in spending time in, e.g., Dallas.

It seems like I'm the resident Dallas apologist on these Amazon pieces, but Bezos is no stranger to Dallas. He has spoken fondly of Dallas many a time, just had the honor of speaking at SMU's Business Conference and offered personal anecdotes of why he likes Dallas, and, as Dallas Morning News has reported by tracking his flight records, been to Dallas many a time this year alone. Sure, maybe he doesn't own property…

Not to be "that guy", but I really do wonder whether there even were any serious "late stage" talks with any of these other cities?

NYC is so obviously superior to every other location that you have to wonder whether there was any serious chance of anyone else actually getting the HQ2 at all? I mean, sure, DC can play both the government card, and the "Bezos loves us" card. But everyone else has no credible argument to put forth that would entice Amazon to abandon the opportunity that is NYC.

(In the end, even DC didn't have a good enough argument. After all, they still kept half the jobs in NYC.)

Re: Amazon expected to announce NYC and Northern Virginia as new headquarters

#169

Post by m_ke »

dunpeal wrote: post #108
sonnyblarney wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC has a lot of developers, more than the valley. It's already a 'draw' of sorts, this is an advantage. "DC, access to policymakers - but I see no real strategic advantages here." Amazon is going to become the #1 IT vendor of choice for the biggest government of the world AND reach their tentacles deep into the political arena for all sorts of other benefits. Military, FBI, CIA, Gov, Fannie/Freddie. All huge . Also…

This Quora response uses US Bureau of Labor Statistics to show there are 92,350 programmers in the whole SF Bay area, compared to 62,530 programmers in the entire NYC municipal area. So about 50% more in the Bay. https://www.quora.com/How-many-software-engineers-work-in-Si...

WNYC had a segment about this last week and claimed that there are 110k tech workers in the NYC area.
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