Wow, I’d never have guessed. Seattle airport does 4x the traffic of San Jose (45.7M vs. 10.8M). The Seattle airport seems tiny when you’re in it. It’s the 9th largest based on passenger volume. I swear it feels like one of the smallest airports I’ve been in. Bigger ones that could work are: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Denver. Then there’s some that are slightly smaller: Charlotte, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Boston, and Detroit.
Minneapolis is interesting. I haven’t seen anyone suggest there yet. Target, Best Buy, and 3M are located there. They do have a high percent of college educated.
I will drive you guys around the neighborhoods and show some of my flips and rentals, as well as distressed homes that are in the pipeline. Whoever interested can message me for further arrangement.
I was actually gonna say concord but that’s wishful thinking. The small airport is a nice touch for execs, Bart access, naval weapons base. Relatively cheap but can still pull talent from the bay. Concord leadership is kinda crap though
So Denver it is. The city’s lifestyle and affordability, coupled with the supply of tech talent from nearby universities, has already helped build a thriving start-up scene in Denver and Boulder, 40 minutes away. Big tech companies, including Google, Twitter, Oracle and I.B.M., have offices in the two cities. Denver has been attracting college graduates at an even faster rate than the largest cities. The region has the benefits of places like San Francisco and Seattle — outdoor recreation, microbreweries, diversity and a culture of inclusion (specifically cited as a criterion by Amazon) — but the cost of living is still low enough to make it affordable, and lots of big-city refugees have been moving there for this reason. Amazon would be smart to follow them.
Denver is strong… Also, who said diversity is not important? Nazi-towns need not apply.
I felt the NTTimes’ usual ding on Bay Area for high housing costs doesn’t apply to Concord and East Bay in general. Prices around Concord are about the level of Seattle and can be 1/3 of West Bay. But Concord is pretty dead, certainly not a vibrant urban scene there.
Diversity is a topic since a large percent of the work force is from outside the US. Those people aren’t going to want to live in a town that’s all white. I have Indian coworkers that openly talk about avoiding the rest of Washington, because it’s too white.
You can see the attitude of Asian posters here. They will only consider living where there’s enough other Asians. Everywhere else is considered unlivable trash.
This is getting exciting… I’m sipping the kool aid now on Amazon’s amazing potential… Admittedly my knowledge of Bezos/Amazon is kinda limited to what I’ve seen here from you guys, but I just read a little more about his family background and I think it gives insight into who he is and how it may influence his decision-making process for HQ2.
Bezos’ mother Jacklyn was 17 and still in high school at the time of his birth.[16] Her marriage to Jorgensen lasted a little more than a year. In April 1968, when Jeff was 4, she married her second husband, Miguel “Mike” Bezos,[12] a Cuban who immigrated to the United States alone when he was 15 years old.
As of March 2015, Bezos was among the largest landholders in Texas.[13]
He had left his well-paying job at a New York City hedge fund after learning “about the rapid growth in Internet use,” which coincided with a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling that exempted mail order companies from collecting sales taxes in states where they lack a physical presence.[17]
(Wikipedia)
From these facts, the Texas connection is very strong. On the other hand, his success depended on him leaving his roots, learning and capitalizing on new technologies, and taking advantage of laws which would lead to the growth of his broad-based empire. From what I gathered, his company’s strength comes from the competitiveness it derives from reaching out to the most customers, delivering the greatest selection of products, and its capacity to select quality employees who help serve Amazon’s goals.
I think Bezos grasps the ins and outs of doing business in TX (Whole Foods, Origin), and gets a good taste of how it’s like in other places like the bay area (ie Sunnyvale). Which place is going to be more instrumental in achieving this vision for the future? Certainly NOT anywhere clinging onto petty views.
Amazon already has multiple offices here. A9 and Lab126 and possibly others.
Bezos knows what this area is like–retention is much lower in the Bay Area–people stay at their job in Seattle much longer than here (almost twice as long if I recall correctly).
Plus after the CA tax debacle, I wouldn’t be surprised if he snubbed CA.
Agree. Personally, I don’t get the same impression about “the attitude of Asian posters here” as to choosing residences… I see most here as being more interested investment/rental properties in various locations, and others (like those from sfdragonboy) following market prices.
As it relates to the topic at hand, here is an example of what could make Bezos (or other companies) think twice about choosing where to set up shop:
