WaPo published a story Nov. 3 saying that Amazon's HQ2

[spooky3]

Seems more and more likely to come to NoVA:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/amazon-in-advanced-talks-about-putting-hq2-in-northern-virginia-those-close-to-process-say/2018/11/02/9be831d6-d7c0-11e8-aeb7-ddcad4a0a54e_story.html?utm_term=.857bed2fca46

[C_U_L8R]

1. That's what the rumors have been

[extvbroadcaster]

2. That was the rumor

Yeah, that's what people figured. The endless butt kissing for Amazon by cities was a bit much. Those that lost out might be happy they did. You had to give away the farm with tax breaks and incentives. Look at what Wal-Mart did around the country. Went into a town, took the tax breaks, when they expired packed up and moved. It happened where I lived with an auto plant. Huge tax breaks, but in the end they closed and left town. What do you do with an automotive factory? It was hard to find anybody to take it over.

[3Hotdogs]

3. I live 50 feet from the Newark, N.J. border.

Thank dog, it ain't coming here.

tens of thousands of new jobs bringing 10s of thousands of added cars, increased school budgets, and on and on.

Thank you, northern Va. for taking the hit.

[empedocles]

5. Belleville, Oranges, etc.?

Curious about how area is developing. I was born in Newark, grew up in Edison.

[3Hotdogs]

7. Maplewood, N.J. --- Irvington Avenue.

Yes, population is increasing as people have more and more kids. That is expected.

The biggest Maplewood complaint is about people moving in from Brooklyn. One woman posted on the community board about "Where is the nearest zoo.?" She wanted to call them to let them know that two of their deer escaped and they should want to come and return them to their cage.

Our towns, as you already know, have fall leaf pick-up. You rake the leaves into the gutter and the town collects and composts them.

A new Brooklyn resident posted to complain about a guy raking his leaves into the street. "Who does he think is gonna clean it up?"

And so it goes.

[empedocles]

8. Funny those NYers

You have high rises in Maplewood yet? Had an aunt living on VauxHall Rd in Union, bunch of relatives in Chatham.

[3Hotdogs]

10. Highest is 3 stories. But several of them, now.

[empedocles]

4. Nova roads already resembling LA traffic.

Wish they would be responsible like IBM was decades ago. Go 40 or so miles out with rail lines connected or able to be extended.

[bitterross]

6. Responsible - That's funny.

If it doesn't help the quarterly earnings report so the board and executives can get their bonuses it's not going to happen.

[spooky3]

9. Yes, traffic is a mess. However, there currently is a

High commercial vacancy rate in Crystal City, and the jobs will pay well enough for young employees to share apartments nearby in CC, Pentagon City, and DC. So if most of the offices are put in CC, many employees could walk, bike, or take metro. Employees with families or others who want to buy will face a lot of the same challenges as do many here—more housing space will cost either more money or more time commuting.

I think it’s a shame that the HQ isn’t going to cities like Indianapolis or Columbus, where it could really benefit the communities the most. But it really is a good fit here, so I can see why Bezos may choose CC.

[spooky3]

13. Yes--but millennials typically prefer to live close to cities. Nt

[empedocles]

16. IBMers loved those 'exurbs'.

Workers will go where there is pay - of course amazon doesn't pay much, but enough to screw workers widely.

[spooky3]

17. That was many years ago. Check out most surveys

today and what workers do and you’ll see that they prefer to live closer to work and to city bars, restaurants, etc., rather than commute for an hour or more by train—to the extent they can afford it.

The HQ2 pay is expected to average $100k annually. This is different from warehouse or even data center location and pay.

I suspect that’s something Amazon is factoring in. Otherwise cities like Indianapolis and Columbus would be higher on their priority list. A $100k salary goes a longer way there and you don’t have to commute 45 miles each way.

[empedocles]

18. No question the herd trends are to the big cities, corporate building and millenials go there

Chicago seems a particularly unfortunate example. Huge new skyscrapers, much unaffordable housing, resulting, imo, lower quality of life than otherwise possible.

[empedocles]

19. Cost of living a big factor

My son's wife got flown out to California by Facebook for final level of interviews. COL was so annoying, she wouldn't take it.

[No Vested Interest]

11. NoVa is a fairly high-priced labor market, is it not?

[spooky3]

12. Yes, and high COL. But the other criteria Amazon

Said they wanted are also present: very near an airport, highly educated workforce, including a lot of techies, good public transportation (CC has a metro stop and is near two others), lots of attractions to appeal to millennials—and there are plenty of them here already. Diverse population from all over the world. Arlington and Fairfax have good schools.

VA is purple and close-in NoVA is very blue (wouldn’t it be great to have a lot of mostly blue voters moving anywhere?) However, there are some state laws Amazon doesn’t like. And no one knows what promises were made re $$$.

[No Vested Interest]

14. Thanks for good info. And who would be making those promises?

State officers, including governor?
County officers?
Business types- airport boards, Chambers of Commerce, etc.?

[spooky3]

15. Gov. Northam was on a radio show recently and said

There are staff under him who have been working very hard on this for a long time. But he was very cagey and vague about the prospects and what has been offered.