Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#531

Post by mozumder » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:04 PM UTC

mathperson wrote: post #502

mozumder wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your OP, but citizens get far more tax breaks than immigrants. Citizens don't have to pay foreigner rates for public Universities. That's a nice $50k-$100k savings for higher-education that citizens get that universities don't get, right there. What kind of breaks do immigrants get over citizens that are worth $50k-$100k? None.

That is NOT a tax break....the immigrants and their families didn't spend years paying into the state tax base used to support the public university which the citizens presumably did and will continue to do in the future... edit: I am using immigrant-when perhaps one should use 'international student'

A lot of public universities only have 1 year of previous in-state residency requirement to gain in-state rates.

People aren't going to pay $50k-$100k in taxes in one year to cover this benefit that citizens receive.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#532

Post by biocomputation » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:05 PM UTC

shrimpx wrote: post #440

noetic_techy wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50,000 new non-McJobs as well as the follow on service jobs is no benefit to the local population? Tell that to all the non-silicon valley mini-tech hubs like Austin, Seattle, Miami, Dallas, etc. If amazons foothold is the seed for a new techhub to emerge, that's a true net boon for that city and its people / culture.

It's beneficial in an overall sense, but it sucks for the many individuals and families who will be gentrified out of the city, because they don't have the skill/background/age/race/gender to partake in the new orgy.

The word for that is injustice.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#533

Post by tpryan » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:05 PM UTC

ashelmire wrote: post #340

Part of me would love to have a big tech / infrastructure company like Amazon in Philly. But I take serious issue with the idea of the city paying millions or billions to bring them here, promising years of tax breaks (a free ride), and the tightening of an already very tight real estate and rental market. I don't think my fellow Philadelphians should have to pay to bring a company here that's just going to hire peop…

I totally see your point here. On the other hand, I left Philly in 2014 after getting laid off from a remote job. I could not get a job in town that utilized my skill set and paid me enough to maintain my family's costs.

From my perspective, there were only 2 games in town for people with specialized tech skills - Penn or Comcast. I'm sure that's not entirely true. But that's what it looked like to me.

The only place I could get hired (and maintain income) - Google. But Google doesn't do remote work, so here I am in the Bay Area. If Amazon comes to Philly, short term there will be costs if the city doesn't negotiate things properly. But long term, Amazon being here will mean other tech companies will come to poach labor. It's what happens in Seattle, Boston, the Bay Area in general.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#534

Post by importantbrian » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:07 PM UTC

_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.

Don't overlook Nashville. It has an educated workforce; it's a transportation hub, Fed Ex is right down the road in Memphis. It has the 3rd fastest growing economy in the country. The tech scene is booming. There is plenty of developable land downtown. It's a low tax state with a permissive business environment, and both state and local governments in TN have shown they are willing to play ball to attract large employers.

Based on what Amazon has listed as it's own criteria I would say the top 5 are probably:

- Nashville - Atlanta - Raleigh - Dallas - Denver

Also in no particular order.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#535

Post by daveroberts » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:09 PM UTC

> William Whyte‘s rule: Virtually all corporate relocations involve a move to a location which is closer to the CEO’s home than the old location.

Of course, it's hard to pick any location farther than Seattle from DC.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#536

Post by runevault » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:09 PM UTC

planteen wrote: post #423

runevault wrote: post #85

With how bad traffic/congestion is right now (in spite of our light rail/bus infrastructure) I'm surprised Denver is in the top 20. Especially since last by my understanding the city was offering a less rich incentive package than a lot of the other cities.

I'd say the congestion in Denver is less than Atlanta, DC, and Boston. Those cities are all front runners as well.

Having not lived in those areas I can't say. The important question is how capable are they of alleviating the issues? Denver right now has a massive problem where they can't really seem to do much to lower congestion.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#537

Post by maxerickson » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:09 PM UTC

mozumder wrote: post #375

sol_remmy wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes new immigrants get tax breaks though

I agree with your OP, but citizens get far more tax breaks than immigrants. Citizens don't have to pay foreigner rates for public Universities. That's a nice $50k-$100k savings for higher-education that citizens get that universities don't get, right there. What kind of breaks do immigrants get over citizens that are worth $50k-$100k? None.

Universities often base tuition on residency status that they determine.

So a foreigner living in a state could get in state tuition.

(and a citizen that only recently moved to a state might get out of state tuition)

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#538

Post by scarmig » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:10 PM UTC

appstateguy wrote: post #496

aceinaday wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too far southeast?

There really has been some prejudiced undertones in this thread that belittle the southeast.

Texas is one bad election from making it legal to discriminate against LGBT communities and racial minorities. North Carolina is already there.

That's a nonstarter.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#539

Post by JAFTEM » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:13 PM UTC

stevenwoo wrote: post #447

JAFTEM wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They would also have a monopoly on CS grads in the LA area ([0] among the highest number of grads in the country) which is experiencing a serious brain drain of talent to the Bay Area, NYC, and Seattle. [0] https://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/24/is-southern-california...

I'm surprised that LA is experiencing such a brain drain, anecdotally, it seemed there were quite a few LA/SD area jobs in last month's job listing.

My gut tells me the job market is worst for junior devs in SoCal. Junior level openings aren't growing nearly as fast as the number of students trying to break into the workforce. A total of 0 of my friends at USC who were CS grads stayed in LA.

Re: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

#540

Post by swerling » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:13 PM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #522

swerling wrote: post #519

From wsj.com: "...some site-selection experts to speculate Mr. Bezos may choose a location where an influx of workers could help promote political change..." Playing with that notion. Premise: 50k tech workers would have more impact on US politics if: 1) added to U.S. cities; 2) added to cities in states with smaller populations. (Debatable premise(s), but just go with it). Below is trimmed down version of the origin…

Electorally DC is less relevant to national politics than any house district (I was replying as you trimmed DC from your list). Which would be the next unit to analyze, as the statewide population doesn't impact house elections all that much.

Sorry about that. Put it back in the post under the list.