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Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

washingtonpost.com

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

#91

Post by eli »

Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site?

Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

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

#92

Post by repsilat »

buboard wrote: post #66
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?

Bezos obviously knows how to run a company, but the only "brand" he has is (I think unfairly) "exploitative capitalism". If Bloomberg can't be president Bezos probably can't either. And probably wouldn't want to, to be honest.

Zuckerberg might want to, but he's universally despised on both sides of American politics, so no chance there.

(Not to mention that VP picks are normally used to broaden the ticket's appeal, not double down on it...)

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

#93

Post by ghaff »

eli wrote: post #91
Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site? Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

Politically there's probably something to be said for having a strong local economic presence. But you're probably right that it can be overstated as a factor.

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

#95

Post by influx »

plaidfuji wrote: post #53
totablebanjo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, Crystal City is pretty soulless, but a bunch of AMZN cash will make that millenial ready in no time. Also, some nyt writer that’d never been there called it the Brooklyn of DC which was hilarious.

Lol @ the notion that Amazon cash will give a city “soul”

Seattle is soulless according to you? I’ve lived in Seattle and worked for Amazon when the headquarters was in a creepy old hospital up on beacon hill, and yes there has been change in Seattle, most of it for the better.

Anyone that tells you South Lake Union neighborhood was better pre Amazon is full of it. It was a bunch of warehouses and run down.

Do you have experience of Seattle over the past decade, or are you just repeating platitudes?

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

#96

Post by CamperBob2 »

CalRobert wrote: post #31
tomohawk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2. Good transportation Surely, you jest. Yeah, it's on a metro line, but hardly anyone lives near a metro line. That area is consistently rated as the #1 or #2 worst traffic in the country for years.

Sounds like good transportation with terrible urban planning.

Yes, it's always inconvenient and disillusioning when people refuse to live where "urban planners" think they should live.

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

#97

Post by lucas_membrane »

matchagaucho wrote: post #60
jaggederest wrote: post #6

I find the logic in the article pretty funny. > [T]he best way to make it is you collect as much data as you can, you immerse yourself in that data, but then [throw all that data away and decide based on personal whim]

"Go with your gut" is code word for "which HQ2 city offered the greatest tax exemptions" ;-) Oregon gave Intel a 30 year property tax exemption, worth $2B, to establish their their HQ2 fabs near Hillsboro. Wouldn't be surprised if Amazon is asking for similar. https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2014/08/...

That would be quaint. The standard price for big investment now is a 50-year tax break.

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

#98

Post by voidfunc »

repsilat wrote: post #92
buboard wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bezos for president 2020? Running mate Zuckerberg?

Bezos obviously knows how to run a company, but the only "brand" he has is (I think unfairly) "exploitative capitalism". If Bloomberg can't be president Bezos probably can't either. And probably wouldn't want to, to be honest. Zuckerberg might want to, but he's universally despised on both sides of American politics, so no chance there. (Not to mention that VP picks are normally used to broaden the ticket's appeal, n…

I don't really see "exploitative capitalism" as being a problem for Bezos. As our current president has pointed out, it's just smart business. In our current political climate that will probably be lapped up by someone.

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

#99

Post by snowwrestler »

bronco21016 wrote: post #79
jzymbaluk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine that won't be the case for long I'd the rumors are true

DCA is slot controlled so the slot owners are going to have to weigh the revenue of SEA/DCA vs all the other markets they’re currently using those slots for. One business often isn’t going to bring enough revenue to compete with a market like BOS/DCA or NYC/DCA which consumes an enormous amount of the slots.

DCA also has a "perimeter rule" in place, which forbids flights between DCA and airports more than 1,250 miles away, unless a specific exception is made.

http://www.flyreagan.com/dca/dca-reagan-national-slot-perime...

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

#100

Post by jdavis703 »

eli wrote: post #91
Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site? Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

As a former government contractor (and employee), I can say having the tech teams nearby is an advantage. Personal relationships should not be underestimated, even when building software for the government. If anything personal relationships are even more important as there’s a high likelihood that non-technical people will be making the decisions on what and how you build the software.
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