Where should HQ2 go?

[Merthecat]

I found this neat test through an article on the N&O this morning.  You are put into Jeff Bezos' position and asked to rank the importance of various factors about the candidate cities, and the program uses your answers to determine the best of the 20 locations for HQ2.  I'm sure this test has its weaknesses and isn't perfect, but it's an interesting way to see things.

I thought I would post this and see what cities other users were recommended.   My 1st recommendation was Toronto, 2nd was D.C., and 3rd was Northern Virginia.

The test can be found here:  http://www.gatehousenews.com/amazon

Where are your finalists?

[Trent Y]

I got

1. Denver

2. Nashville

3. Austin

But i truly feel like it will be 1. Austin 2. Atlanta 3. DC. Though i really want it for Raleigh i still just dont see it happening.

[Isaac]

Results:

1. Dallas

2. Atlanta

3. Raleigh

I think it’ll be Boston, DC, Atlanta or dark horse Raleigh.  I think it’d be dumb not to be on the eastern time zone.  

[Justin6882]

I think it’s Atlanta’s to lose. 

[KJHburg]

I got Chicago, Austin and LA

However I think the top 2 are Atlanta and DC area probably Northern VA

AT&T is leaving their namesake tower in Midtown Atlanta and it will leave 1 Million sq ft empty!  Talk about space they could get relatively cheap and build the rest around that building which is right by Georgia Tech.   

I still think Raleigh Durham should go after Apples new 2nd huge office as the CEO and CFO both went to Duke and NC State respectively and both worked for IBM in RTP early in their careers. 

[Jones_]

Hoo, boy...I got Newark, Philly and Atlanta. I do think Philly would be a good option if there was anywhere to put it(is there?) It's got Durham style cool all up in Fishtown and Northern Liberties. It has culture galore and at least some greenspace. Not sure I have convinced myself what reality will be...Atlanta seems so opposite of where a millennial IT worker would want to live. DC is really expensive and commutes are among the worst even with Metro. Something in me says RTP (sans Chatham Park...blech) still has a better than negligible shot.

[InitialD]

I got: Raleigh, Denver, Nasheville. I didn't "cheat" but I did choose some answers that I thought would favor Raleigh including greenspace is important, educated workforce, smaller metro, number of alternative commuters not as important, cost of living important.

Edited February 19, 2018 by InitialD

[Green_man]

I got: Denver, Philadelphia, Newark.

[KJHburg]

Raleigh Durham still in the mix picked by Business Insider as one of the top 5 likely choices.

http://www.businessinsider.com/top-5-amazon-hq2-picks-according-to-bank-of-america-2018-3?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=charlotte&utm_source=twitter

[orulz]

My preference for this would be Atlanta. Bigger metro, better able to absorb it, and their Gulch location is PERFECT for it.

The cynic in me says it's probably going somewhere in the Washington DC area because Jeff Bezos wants to be physically closer to the White House and Capitol so he can play political connections. The only thing that could possibly help Amazon grow bigger faster would be political dealing and a bigger lobbying presence, and this would certainly fit the bill.

The company I work for is based in the DC area and I've heard managers say it's difficult to find qualified programmers up there - much of the tech industry around there is in government services and related stuff. (That's why they have an office down here).

[KJHburg]

I would rather this come to NC either Raleigh or Charlotte the new Apple campus as the CEO and CFO both worked in the RTP and both grads of local schools Duke and NC State 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/03/07/north-carolina-among-frontrunners-for-new-apple.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=article_du&ed=2018-03-07&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1520456369&j=80375971

[RALNATIVE]

Well written article from the N&O today:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article203884659.html

[ctl]

Yes it's a reasonably balanced article. Perhaps a bit heavy on Raleigh vs RTP or Durham, but after all it's a Raleigh newspaper.

[Merthecat]

Amazon visited Raleigh last week:

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/04/04/amazon-officials-scout-triangle-for-hq2.html

[Jones_]

I was wondering who all those happy, extremely well dressed people were walking around near the Archdale Building (my office). Obviously I might not have actually seen Amazon folks, but they seemed sort of out of place for Raleigh. 

[Jones_]

This article considers the willingness of the GA to offer more incentives are other places do and uses the Toyota plant as a comparison. But now that I think it over, that is no comparison at all. Those blue collar manufacturing jobs are right up the GAs alley. But the hucksters in control there really don't want Amazon to come to NC...those IT voters would surely flip several districts over time from red to blue. Right now I think they are just sort of pretending they are trying but not coming anywhere close to offering a package that would work and leaving the lions share of the wooing to the locals which can't offer enough on their own. 

[ctl]

With 40+ years managing engineering/IT folks, I can safely say it's incorrect to assume they are predisposed blue. If anything they are predisposed Libertarian and who knows how they will vote in a given situation when given only two choices.

Edited April 9, 2018 by ctl

[Jones_]

Clearly our opinions are driven by our individual experiences. 100% of our IT group is blue as are the half dozen or so folks I know at Citrix. But I did grow up next to an IBMer who loved fast cars and girls with fake boobs, and he was a very red voter, so those do exist, but are not dominant in my viewfinder. I tend to think the hardware guys are red, and the software guys blue, but am probably just making that up. </politics>

[Merthecat]

Here's a great article by the (very liberal) NY Times examining the politics of tech workers, centered around Silicon Valley:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/technology/silicon-valley-politics.html

TLDR:  In general tech workers are fiercely liberal on issues like gun control, abortion, and taxation, but have libertarian tendencies when it comes to government regulation and oversight.

[ctl]

The recriminations have begun, with one pundit observing that Bezos owns three homes and the average distance between those homes and the new Amazon offices will be 6 miles. Was the competition really a sham? The outcome does allow people to draw that inference. With several decades of experience in large companies, I suspect the process didn't start out as a sham but gradually became Bezos-driven over time. As to whether we have "jumped the shark" on RFPs and incentives, it's too soon to say.  Given the outcome I doubt the Triangle could have done anything to win.  

[Green_man]

3 hours ago, ctl said:

The recriminations have begun, with one pundit observing that Bezos owns three homes and the average distance between those homes and the new Amazon offices will be 6 miles. Was the competition really a sham? The outcome does allow people to draw that inference. With several decades of experience in large companies, I suspect the process didn't start out as a sham but gradually became Bezos-driven over time. As to whether we have "jumped the shark" on RFPs and incentives, it's too soon to say.  Given the outcome I doubt the Triangle could have done anything to win.  

Raleigh would've needed a mass transit system to even be realistically considered.

[ctl]

If the requirement was a functioning heavy rail system (subway or commuter train) in existence from Day One, the search could have been much faster. 

[Spero]

4 hours ago, ctl said:

 As to whether we have "jumped the shark" on RFPs and incentives, it's too soon to say.  Given the outcome I doubt the Triangle could have done anything to win.  

Lol one of the world’s most valuable companies held a national beauty contest that included demanding publicly funded incentives in the capital-b Billions in exchange for jobs and investment. And now they say they will actually deliver only half, but yes please give us all that public money.

This was always a gross display, and we are well over the shark by now.

[KJHburg]

On 3/7/2018 at 8:47 PM, KJHburg said:

I would rather this come to NC either Raleigh or Charlotte the new Apple campus as the CEO and CFO both worked in the RTP and both grads of local schools Duke and NC State 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/03/07/north-carolina-among-frontrunners-for-new-apple.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=article_du&ed=2018-03-07&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1520456369&j=80375971

the only update is that I would say Research Triangle Park to my Apple comments above.    I positive Apple wanted to wait until Amazon announced its intentions well now they have just wait and see.      

[Jones_]

8 hours ago, Spero said:

Lol one of the world’s most valuable companies held a national beauty contest that included demanding publicly funded incentives in the capital-b Billions in exchange for jobs and investment. And now they say they will actually deliver only half, but yes please give us all that public money.

This was always a gross display, and we are well over the shark by now.

Huh...I didn't even think about that....do you think they ended up with the full incentive package in both locations?