Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#241

Post by maxerickson » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:40 PM UTC

s73ver_ wrote: post #231

maxerickson wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that the problem is largely one of perception. The hundreds of thousands of people in the area with technical educations aren't working at McDonald's.

"My point is that the problem is largely one of perception." That very well might be true, but that's Detroit's problem to fix, not Amazon's. Amazon doesn't want to have to deal with that; they want a place that they can get people to come to day 1.

Of course. Note that my first comment is literally pushback against the poor perception...

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#242

Post by bob_theslob646 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:41 PM UTC

Kind of funny most of them have airports. Really makes you realize how much the traveling salesmen problem(route optimization) is embedded in everything they do.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#243

Post by zzleeper » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:44 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.

Same thought. Having 1 year to play the H1B lottery is not ideal, and they really hired lots of economists lately, most of which have this issue.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#244

Post by s73ver_ » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

rpiguy wrote: post #44

It seems interesting that Amazon is not terribly concerned with the cost of labor. Several cities and states on that list have very high labor costs (Boston, New Jersey, etc.) Good to see they are more concerned with talent and infrastructure rather than just bottom line costs.

It's already known what Amazon pays. I don't care where I'm located, they had better be paying me at least that well.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#245

Post by ForrestN » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

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.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#246

Post by grivescorbett » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:45 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…

There is a ton of space in Manhattan. It's expensive, but there.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#247

Post by dudul » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:46 PM UTC

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?

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#248

Post by brohoolio » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

asciimo wrote: post #238

I'm disappointed that Detroit isn't on the list. My money is on Nashville or Denver. Hm... I wonder if how hard it would be to set up a decentralized blockchain pool to wager on the winner...

The Metro-Detroit area voted down a public transit system a year or two ago. Public transit was one of the requirements that Amazon laid out.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#249

Post by drumttocs8 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

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 are preventing Atlanta from becoming a modern powerhouse; strong mass transit is probably the most obvious, and progressive policies another. This kind of investment by Amazon could be exactly what Atlanta needs to bring it back to the world stage. The only other city I could possibly see as being close would be Raleigh, for similar reasons.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#250

Post by ghaff » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 5:49 PM UTC

xefer wrote: post #163

_m8fo wrote: 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.

The location the Boston group has proposed for Amazon is the Suffolk Downs race track site on the East Boston - Revere town line. Perhaps with all the Amazon building the area would improve, but the place feels like a wasteland right now. It's on the other side of Logan airport so there's a lot of airport service infrastructure around. There is a huge field of fuel tanks, big box stores and highways. It's also very c…

East Boston, Revere, Chelsea. That whole swath north of the airport up the coast is sort of a combination of industrial sites and working class neighborhoods (until you reach the swanky areas of the North Shore which are very swanky). It's technically connected to the city and has a T link but you're right that it's not "in the city." I think you can walk to Winthrop from there though so it's not a total wasteland but it is sort of disconnected from the city proper.