Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#61

Post by edraferi » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:16 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #24

tacomonstrous wrote: post #11

How's the public transit there? I was under the impression that this was a major piece of the puzzle for HQ2.

Not great, but could be a lot worse. Crystal city is on two of the main subway lines. And has a Virigina regional rail and Amtrak stop. There is a pretty major bus depot there too. The downside is one of the subway lines only runs every 13 minutes during rush hour. And that cannot be increased without decreasing runs on other lines (because they share a tunnel). Maybe Amazon will convince the governments to run more…

I think Metro hit bottom a couple years ago and is on the way back up. Dedicated funding (finally!) will enable steady improvement. If Amazon comes to town and uses their clout to push for better transportation, that will on accelerate things.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#62

Post by withinrafael » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:17 PM UTC

kevindong wrote: post #50

snowwrestler wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to know which major U.S. city does not have terrible traffic near its downtown.

I didn't think Seattle traffic was very bad.

Might consider a revisit. Seattle traffic is now in the top 10 (9th) of horrible. [1]

[1] https://www.geekwire.com/2018/seattle-traffic-congestion-nin...

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#63

Post by edraferi » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:19 PM UTC

moron4hire wrote: post #12

Noooooooooooo, this is going to completely destroy an already broken transit system.

Growth is coming to the region, regardless of what Amazon does. HQ2 is just an accelerant. Embrace growth or resign your community to irrelevance.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#64

Post by Animats » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:19 PM UTC

snowwrestler wrote: post #32

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crystal City really has so much going for it: 1. As you point out, right next to Pentagon and federal government. 2. Good transportation: right on the Metro and literally across the street from National Airport. 3. If you're going to have 2 headquarters, having them be on opposite coasts makes sense. 4. And I think another one that is pretty unique to Crystal City is that Amazon and their employees definitely want to…

Another major advantage of Crystal City is that it is full of empty real estate. It was built up to house major federal agencies and their contractors, but all the agencies have moved out, and so have most of the contractors. The Patent and Trademark Office had 5 huge buildings; they moved to Alexandria. The Dept of Defense is moving a lot of its employees to Fort Belvoir, and the contractors are following. It's real…

I knew the USPTO had moved out. Those buildings are half a century old. Does Amazon plan to tear down and rebuild?

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#65

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#66

Post by buboard » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

headShrinker wrote: post #2

Just a stones throw away from Washington DC, imagine that. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Amazon is in talks to do billions of dollars worth of work with the DOD and that the location choice of the second headquarters might have a lot to do with that.

Bezos for president 2020?

Running mate Zuckerberg?

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#67

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:23 PM UTC

tomohawk wrote: post #37

totablebanjo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about that no one lives near a metro line? It’ll be on the same line as Shaw which is one of the most desirable neighborhoods for 20/30 somethings in DC right now.

Metro serves a tiny fraction of N. VA. Sure, if you're in DC and commuting out, it's probably ok, but people don't tend to stay in DC very long. Once they have kids and realize there is no hope of reasonable public education there, they move.

Your comment about "nobody lives near a metro line" though - I mean, come on! With the orange line and silver line extension there are lots of places in NoVa near the metro. Yes, the car traffic is horrible, but the car traffic is horrible in SF, LA, Boston, NY, Austin...

As another commenter pointed out, there is actually a ton of empty real estate in Crystal City itself and no doubt a ton of it will be built up as apartments/condos now.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#68

Post by jzymbaluk » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:23 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #47

tomohawk wrote: post #23

Seems like an admission that they have nothing new to do so they are seeking growth through federal contracts. Northern VA is the poster child of what happens when you have tons of growth over decades, but absolutely no planning, or worse, lots of nimby preventing infrastructure.

Arlington, VA probably did the best job of any post-WWII high growth city in America. The orange line corridor is actually urbanizing what was once pure suburbia. Crystal City/Pentagon city is built pretty densely and has space for even more high rise buildings. Every other city in America that grew post wwII would have just built strip malls and single-family homes. There are new high rises going up in Crystal city…

This is true. There are so many high rises being built along the Wilson-Clarendon corridor, and Arlington and Alexandria actually have a big presence of the so-called missing middle of housing development [1]. This location seems like it's pretty well equipped to absorb HQ2

[1] http://missingmiddlehousing.com/

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#69

Post by Overtonwindow » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:37 PM UTC

tinyhouse wrote: post #28

> "The company may be having similar discussions with other finalists." The article sounds very speculative. I don't know anything about this place, but if it's expensive like people here say it is, then I don't see the point of Amazon moving there. I think a place like downtown Chicago would make more sense. (if only the winter was not as cold and better public schools...)

I used to live in Crystal city until 2011. Back then it was $1700 a month for one bedroom. Now it’s around $2200 a month for one bedroom. Putting their headquarters there will turn Crystal city into a very, very expensive parking lot.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#70

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 5:38 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #67

tomohawk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Metro serves a tiny fraction of N. VA. Sure, if you're in DC and commuting out, it's probably ok, but people don't tend to stay in DC very long. Once they have kids and realize there is no hope of reasonable public education there, they move.

Your comment about "nobody lives near a metro line" though - I mean, come on! With the orange line and silver line extension there are lots of places in NoVa near the metro. Yes, the car traffic is horrible, but the car traffic is horrible in SF, LA, Boston, NY, Austin... As another commenter pointed out, there is actually a ton of empty real estate in Crystal City itself and no doubt a ton of it will be built up as…

[deleted]