Amazon HQ2

[CLT2014]

Using CNN's cost of living calculator, if the median Amazon salary in Seattle was $100,000, they would have to pay $102,000 on average for a similar quality of life in Boston and $120,882 for a similar quality of life in Brooklyn. 

By comparison, they estimate $100,000 in Seattle is like $67,884 in Atlanta, $65,334 in Charlotte, $82,446 in Chicago, $76,361 in Denver, $69,331 in Dallas, $80,221 in Baltimore, and $98,227 in Arlington, VA. 

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/index.html

Does anybody know if Amazon has employees in Seattle grumbling about cost of living? The company indicated managers could pick which office they base their team at -> are managers looking for a more affordable place to live? $100,000 isn't that high of a salary in many places and I'd be surprised if many people wanted to move from Seattle to Boston (worse weather and more expensive). However, people may be willing to move from Seattle if they could afford a nicer apartment and buy a nice house on $200,000 a year. 

Edited September 14, 2017 by CLT2014

[Miesian Corners]

I'm curious as to why Austin keeps making everyone's list? Beyond Austin City Limits, which we all know is a great TV show, what exactly does it offer? Its airport is smaller than Nashville's. it has soul-crushing traffic, virtually no public transit, and its real estate costs are outrageous. This is not to say Austin's not a great city, it is, but it offers none of what the company says it needs and wants. 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Miesian Corners

[ah59396]

3 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

I'm curious as to why Austin keeps making everyone's list? Beyond Austin City Limits, which we all know is a great TV show, what exactly does it offer? Its airport is smaller than Nashville's. it has soul-crushing traffic, virtually no public transit, and its real estate costs are outrageous. This is not to say Austin's not a great city, it is, but it offers none of what the company says it needs and wants. 

 

Wholefoods was headquartered there.  May play a role.

Cool factor, whether we like it or not, matters.  Some kid coming out of Cal or MIT is much more likely going to want to move to Austin or Nashville instead of Charlotte.  Simply based on the limited information they have on the three cities.  That's just reality.

Austin also has UT in its backyard.  And a huge tech base.  I believe quite a few of the big guys (google, apple, etc.) have a presence in Austin.

Plus it's in Texas, which is always business friendly.

 

Now, me personally, I don't get it.  Austin definitely whoops our tail in regards to its music scene, but that's about it.  I'd take Charlotte over Austin and I never quite understood how it got the rep it did.

[Miesian Corners]

I say Amazon will choose the city/state/province that gives it the most money in incentives. That seems to all corporate North America cares about. 

[ah59396]

3 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

I say Amazon will choose the city/state/province that gives it the most money in incentives. That seems to all corporate North America cares about. 

100% agree.  Heck this could simply be a big bluff by Amazon to spook Seattle.  Who knows.

[cjd5050]

14 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

I'm curious as to why Austin keeps making everyone's list? Beyond Austin City Limits, which we all know is a great TV show, what exactly does it offer? Its airport is smaller than Nashville's. it has soul-crushing traffic, virtually no public transit, and its real estate costs are outrageous. This is not to say Austin's not a great city, it is, but it offers none of what the company says it needs and wants. 

In the tech community, Austin is considered a top city.   Dell is HQ there.  Old School Hardware culture.  Lots of engineers.  If there was a city that was built around the idea of 'locate where it's cool and they will come'...that's Austin.

[Miesian Corners]

3 minutes ago, cjd5050 said:

In the tech community, Austin is considered a top city.   Dell is HQ there.  Old School Hardware culture.  Lots of engineers.  If there was a city that was built around the idea of 'locate where it's cool and they will come'...that's Austin.

What's a "Dell"?

[Twin Citian]

23 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

2/3 of the US population is on or east of the Mississippi.  Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Louis (plus other sizable cities) are on the west bank.

Sorry, but I just came across this statement and had to correct it.  St. Paul is on the east bank of the Mississippi as are the Northeast (13 neighborhoods) and University (six neighborhoods, including the U of M east bank campus) communities of Minneapolis.  

 

 

[tarhoosier]

31 minutes ago, Twin Citian said:

Sorry, but I just came across this statement and had to correct it.  St. Paul is on the east bank of the Mississippi as are the Northeast (13 neighborhoods) and University (six neighborhoods, including the U of M east bank campus) communities of Minneapolis.  

 

 

My comment was related to a previous comment that Amazon has a dominant number of customers far from its headquarters. The Mississippi is a convenient border for our country when making distinctions. The Twin Cities provide a substantial proportion of their population on or west of the river. Due to the large S of the river some parts of the Twin Cities are to the west of the river while on the east bank. Confusing.

The larger point is about the massing of population along and east of our national dividing river.

[cjd5050]

1 hour ago, Miesian Corners said:

What's a "Dell"?

Dell Inc. was a multinational computer technology company based in Round Rock, Texas and, along with Dell EMC, is a subsidiary of Dell Technologies, one of the largest technology companies in the world with 138,000 employees.

[Cadi40]

A few things...

- I think Raleigh is just a little too small to handle Amazon headquarters, I could be wrong.

- I firmly believe that Amazon doesn't have a front runner and will pick based on the best proposal/offer.

- For everyone saying that Charlotte isn't attractive to the young crowd, It continuously is the city that the most millennials move to.

- Charlotte has enough Culture to attract Amazon, They aren't looking for anything on a NYC scale, We have Southend, NoDa, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, Etc.

- Charlotte has a strong economy, Lot's of growth, And large amount of talented Tech Workers (Not as much as Raleigh but good enough).

- In my opinion, I don't think any West Coast cities will get it unless they propose an extremely large offer.

- Lastly, I personally think Charlotte has a strong shot, It's growing to have a little bit of a Seattle feel if you ask me. 

 

[NCMike1990]

21 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

A few things...

- I think Raleigh is just a little too small to handle Amazon headquarters, I could be wrong.

- I firmly believe that Amazon doesn't have a front runner and will pick based on the best proposal/offer.

- For everyone saying that Charlotte isn't attractive to the young crowd, It continuously is the city that the most millennials move to.

- Charlotte has enough Culture to attract Amazon, They aren't looking for anything on a NYC scale, We have Southend, NoDa, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, Etc.

- Charlotte has a strong economy, Lot's of growth, And large amount of talented Tech Workers (Not as much as Raleigh but good enough).

- In my opinion, I don't think any West Coast cities will get it unless they propose an extremely large offer.

- Lastly, I personally think Charlotte has a strong shot, It's growing to have a little bit of a Seattle feel if you ask me. 

 

I was talking to a friend  who recently moved to Charlotte and he even said South End reminded him of a mini Seattle.

[go_vertical]

I can't help but think that Amazon wouldn't want to be a little fish in a big pond. By that I mean if they went to New York or Boston, two cities that clearly have their own very developed , distinct cultures, they would just be an addition to that. Now, a city like Charlotte ,which has a somewhat young and still developing identity and culture, would give them the opportunity to play a big role in further developing and defining it as a product on the national scale. What large company wouldn't want the opportunity to sit back fifty years down the road and say "we helped shape this". This could be Hugh McColl 2.0

[ah59396]

1 hour ago, NCMike1990 said:

I was talking to a friend  who recently moved to Charlotte and he even said South End reminded him of a mini Seattle.

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, NCMike1990 said:

I was talking to a friend  who recently moved to Charlotte and he even said South End reminded him of a mini Seattle.

Charlotte doesn't have nearly enough homeless people. We'd need about 10,000 more. THEN we'd be a mini Seattle.

Edited September 15, 2017 by CLT2014

[NCMike1990]

3 minutes ago, ah59396 said:

FWIW, the guy had never been to Seattle anyway.  So yeah, he might not know what he's talking about.

[KJHburg]

all I can say Portland OR has the worst homeless problem in the country but Seattle I guess is marginally better.  

I agree with whoever said they want to shape a community. Why be a little fish in a big pond like NY or Boston or Chicago?  

Again we have so much vacant land uptown 1st Ward could be renamed Amazon Quarter

I still think they should do multiple sites but they want to dominate a town or at least be a BIG player. 

[Dale]

We would need to build a hulking viaduct through Uptown to be a mini-Seattle.

[ah59396]

18 minutes ago, Dale said:

We would need to build a hulking viaduct through Uptown to be a mini-Seattle.

RIP 2018!!

 

33 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

all I can say Portland OR has the worst homeless problem in the country but Seattle I guess is marginally better.  

I agree with whoever said they want to shape a community. Why be a little fish in a big pond like NY or Boston or Chicago?  

Again we have so much vacant land uptown 1st Ward could be renamed Amazon Quarter

I still think they should do multiple sites but they want to dominate a town or at least be a BIG player. 

Maybe Levine was on to something.  Let 1st lay fallow long enough until it grows into a literal Amazon, therefor attracting the aptly named organization.

I think our airport may be our strongest ally here.  We've got the room and clout to do whatever Amazon wants there.  Give them a whole damn terminal.

46 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Charlotte doesn't have nearly enough homeless people. We'd need about 10,000 more. THEN we'd be a mini Seattle.

It's like nothing I've ever seen.  Literal shanty (tent) towns under the bridges and overpasses.  Part of the pain of expansive growth coupled with exploding rent/housing prices.  Something I hope Charlotte can learn from and navigate better.

[emansius]

FWIW on the prospect of Boston being the lead contender, there are over 250,000 college students in Greater Boston - giving any company that locates there an incredibly deep talent pool from which to draw.  This, combined with the prestige and quantity of the research institutions that dot the landscape, makes Boston an (if not the) undisputed "Eds and Meds" powerhouse, full of the innovative ethos that a company like Amazon would thrive on. I would be thrilled to see HQ2 land in the QC, but am tempering my excitement with the reality that Boston has the raw product Amazon needs to succeed.

Anecdotally, speaking as someone who just graduated, I think there's also something to be said about the "network effect" pulling talent to places that might not land at the top of any "most affordable places to live" lists. Most people I knew ended up in NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, or DC because that's where everyone else went (and where firms who recruited the hardest are located) - not because it made the most economic sense. Definitely a subjective analysis, but I don't think I knew anyone in my graduating class of 1,500 who moved to Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Austin, or Charlotte - all  affordable cities with a growing amount of cultural capital.  Cost of living is definitely important factor, broadly speaking, but there are certainly other variables that factor in, especially when it comes to a company with the cachet of Amazon.

[cjd5050]

9 hours ago, KJHburg said:

all I can say Portland OR has the worst homeless problem in the country but Seattle I guess is marginally better.  

 

San Diego would like to talk to you.  They had to declare an emergency on homelessness to deal with a  hepatitis A outbreak.  Hell, Nevada buys their homeless one way bus tickets to SD.  

[caterpillar2]

2 hours ago, cjd5050 said:

San Diego would like to talk to you.  They had to declare an emergency on homelessness to deal with a  hepatitis A outbreak.  Hell, Nevada buys their homeless one way bus tickets to SD.  

San Francisco is also on the top of the list. They have their well constructed card board boxes all over the city with their stole grocery carts outside. They are so organized that they even have garage sales of garbage they collect.  On the positive side, they seem to not be as aggressive as those in other cities and they generally stay in their self-claimed territory (block). Some are even known by their first names and neighbors often drop off something to eat. There are tons of homeless in S.F. I wish the ones in Charlotte could take lessons from them on human relations.   Back to Amazon. My guess is that either San Diego, Dallas, Raleigh, Charlotte,  Atlanta or some other place in the sunbelt. A huge percent of those working in the silicone valley (so to speak) in Boston relocated to the Raleigh area for various reasons,  i.e.  cost of living, universities,  right to work, workforce, and location, qualified workforce.  Fortunately for us Carolinians, Raleigh and area is the new Silicone Valley. 

[nowensone]

20 hours ago, kermit said:

Even the Triad is buying a ticket to the Amazon lottery: http://myfox8.com/2017/09/13/triad-cities-will-make-joint-bid-for-amazon-headquarters/

If only that were bizarre enough to work... although it would make the case for 50 other cities.  Winter, Lake Placid, 1980.

13 hours ago, go_vertical said:

I can't help but think that Amazon wouldn't want to be a little fish in a big pond. By that I mean if they went to New York or Boston, two cities that clearly have their own very developed , distinct cultures, they would just be an addition to that. Now, a city like Charlotte ,which has a somewhat young and still developing identity and culture, would give them the opportunity to play a big role in further developing and defining it as a product on the national scale. What large company wouldn't want the opportunity to sit back fifty years down the road and say "we helped shape this". This could be Hugh McColl 2.0

That's the kind of atypical surprise pitch that just might work, if done in a nuanced manner,  not too self-effacing, retain confidence and dignity in ourselves, but hook them with the big sell - the Rome was a sleepy hamlet once too kind of argument.

[RaleighHeelsfan]

When Charlotte does their pitch,

It will include

NC State, UNC, DUKE, ECU, Wake, Clemson, SC, UNCG, UNCC, Davidson and all of the other Raleigh and Charlotte schools. Growing up in eastern NC, I can tell you Raleigh and Charlotte is where most of these kids end up living. Same can be said for most students in SC. They end up in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh. We are on the top of the list with colleges. Probably second to Boston.

[ah59396]

34 minutes ago, RaleighHeelsfan said:

When Charlotte does their pitch,

It will include

NC State, UNC, DUKE, ECU, Wake, Clemson, SC, UNCG, UNCC, Davidson and all of the other Raleigh and Charlotte schools. Growing up in eastern NC, I can tell you Raleigh and Charlotte is where most of these kids end up living. Same can be said for most students in SC. They end up in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh. We are on the top of the list with colleges. Probably second to Boston.

And yet we rank 71st in terms of educated cities, among major metros in the US, according to WalletHub.

DC, Austin, Boston, Denver, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Baltimore all crack the top 20.

https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-educated-cities/6656/#methodology