Raleigh selected among 20 cities for Amazon 2nd HQ (Washington, Dunn: to live, prices)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Dunno, if I were Amazon, why pick an already super-congested area? They are already super-expensive to live in, difficult to get around (even where there's decent public transit), and public services are saturated.
In other words, the area around Washington DC and around NYC would be silly picks. Same for Philly.
It would be far more sensible to go with an area that is already up and coming, where people are moving anyway, where there's the possibility of increasing infrastructure, including the space, as well as improving what's there.
I do think that with the advent of self-driving vehicles, extensive public transit might (I regret saying this) be of lesser importance in terms of congestion.
Of course Raleigh is a very good choice, as is Dallas and Nashville.
I believe your negative points could also be viewed as positives. These cities already have the infrastructure in place, move massive amounts of people, daily, and have relatively easy access to a major airport.
Raleigh would have to develop a comprehensive mass transit plan, including access to RDU, in order to compete. Without it, I don't see Raleigh cracking the top 10.
Does anyone know specifically about the Raleigh site? Is it related to Chatham Park, or is it a separate proposal?
There wasn’t one site. They submitted several, throughnout the Triangle area, IIRC. some were known and some weren’t. Whether this means they have narrowed that list down, I don’t know.
And no one, but Amazon knows for sure where all the items rank on their list. There are mass transit plans on the books here. Could they be more comprehensive, sure. Then again, Amazon certainly isn’t moving 50,000 people the week after the annincement, somthere is time for things to be out into place. All the areas with lots of transit also have drawbacks, usually higher cost of living and congestion. I imagine incentives will play a large role, but who knows. I doubt NC can compete with the incentives some states seem to be willing to offer and I doubt it’s really worth it to be at the top of the incentives list. A smaller area that’s not totally developed, is a place that a huge company like Amazon can have an outsized voice in. The larger areas, they’re a big employer, but one of many. It will be interesting to see what Amazon does.
Atlanta, GA ---probably my second bet
Austin, TX -Dell is headquartered here....I think this would drive up the cost of IT talent
Boston, MA---electricity too expensive, but they could easily occupy the EMC footprint that is shrinking
Chicago, IL
Columbus, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Indianapolis, IN
Los Angeles, CA---For DR and follow the sun reasons, why would you want 2 headquarters in the same timezone?
Miami, FL
Montgomery County, MD
Nashville, TN---I'd bet on this one
Newark, NJ too expensive
New York City, NY too expensive
Northern Virginia, VA too expensive
Philadelphia, PA too expensive
Pittsburgh, PA- I hear there is a lot of IT talent there
Raleigh, NC -sentimental favorite
Toronto, ON---come on?
Washington D.C. too expensive
I do think that with the advent of self-driving vehicles, extensive public transit might (I regret saying this) be of lesser importance in terms of congestion.
There's really two camps of thinking with this - one that says it will reduce congestion since roads will move vehicles more efficiently. The other says that it will increase congestion since people will be likely to travel more now that there isn't the stress of driving and you can work on other things while you travel (motion sickness anyone?). I'm sure population and population growth also has a big deal to do with this as well.
Some believe that people will drop car ownership and move towards car sharing (like a Uber/Lyft situation on steroids) which will reduce the amount of cars on the road. Others believe that people will retain private car ownership.
Who's going to be right? I guess we'll find out.....
There's really two camps of thinking with this - one that says it will reduce congestion since roads will move vehicles more efficiently. The other says that it will increase congestion since people will be likely to travel more now that there isn't the stress of driving and you can work on other things while you travel (motion sickness anyone?). I'm sure population and population growth also has a big deal to do with this as well.
Some believe that people will drop car ownership and move towards car sharing (like a Uber/Lyft situation on steroids) which will reduce the amount of cars on the road. Others believe that people will retain private car ownership.
Who's going to be right? I guess we'll find out.....
Ha, I’ve read articles that say, roads will be empty because they will drive so efficiently, yet also, parking lots can be practically done away with, because no one will own a car and they’ll all be on the roads all the time. Going out on a limb and say both can’t be true.
I feel like so much depends on how firm they are on that public transportation infrastructure already being there. If they are pretty firm on it, I could see the more expensive cities still being in the running (employees already live there...). But if not, then maybe us, who knows.
I feel like so much depends on how firm they are on that public transportation infrastructure already being there. If they are pretty firm on it, I could see the more expensive cities still being in the running (employees already live there...). But if not, then maybe us, who knows.
I hope they choose soon
Well the Commuter Heavy Rail will be up-and-running in 6 to 8 years from now (at least the Wake County portion of it). We already approved the funding so if Amazon chooses Raleigh I don't see why they won't want to accelerate that plan.
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