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NSIAP: Amazon HQ2, more jobs and traffic jams

Grippe

By Grippe
in Business and Markets

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TKthunder2

TKthunder2 4992

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

all of those people have to live somewhere and will travel throughout the area.  make no mistake, no matter where in the austin area, it will be a major strain to the area.

It will but as a property owner and commuter I would also like it but my reasons are selfish because I’m in tech industry and my salary and benefits would go up with this much competition and it would open up more opportunities down the road for me.

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3262

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

this opportunity would be great for any city.  however, i don't think people outside of austin realize just how much the people who live in the austin area DO NOT want this.  the economic boom would not make up for all the shit that would go with it, namely even higher housing costs and an absolute kick in the balls to traffic.

i dunno, i've spoken to a lot more people who want it here than don't want it here. would be interesting to see a poll taken.

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Orange&White

Orange&White 5528

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, 'stache said:

If people don't want it in Austin, shouldn't they be more angry at the city for not improving public transit and infrastructure to keep up with the growth?

Austin is very unique in that we have this belief that if you don't ever do anything to solve or plan for a problem, then the problem simply does not exist. It is a truly blissful feeling of ignorance.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45963

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

this opportunity would be great for any city.  however, i don't think people outside of austin realize just how much the people who live in the austin area DO NOT want this.  the economic boom would not make up for all the shit that would go with it, namely even higher housing costs and an absolute kick in the balls to traffic.

I'm all for it.  I'll pay higher property taxes -- it means my equity went up.

"I got mine".

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

I’d be pissed and jealous as hell as a Houstonian if that happened. One or the other great, but both as split HQ would sting. Like when Top Chef came to Texas and went to SA, Dallas and Austin not Houston just like with In-N-Out too.

"Houston is a cruel, crazy town on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money and violence. It's a shabby, sprawling metropolis ruled by brazen women, crooked cops and super-rich pansexual cowboys who live by the code of the West -- which can mean just about anything you need it to mean, in a pinch."

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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15052

Posted
Posted
I’d be pissed and jealous as hell as a Houstonian if that happened. One or the other great, but both as split HQ would sting. Like when Top Chef came to Texas and went to SA, Dallas and Austin not Houston just like with In-N-Out too.


Ya it would be jussttt like that.
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Updawg

Updawg 2267

Posted
Posted
It will but as a property owner and commuter I would also like it but my reasons are selfish because I’m in tech industry and my salary and benefits would go up with this much competition and it would open up more opportunities down the road for me.
Pretty much how I feel at this point
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AUS-97HORN

AUS-97HORN 11798

Posted
Posted

So business insider points out that this entire process by amazon was just a sham.   How in the fuck can you have two "equal" headquarters if its actually 1 HQ and two  "1/2" HQ's?  by definition, half a HQ is not equal to a full HQ.

it was all just a ploy to see how much each city would whore itself out for the highest cost, and instead of getting a HQ as promised, the "winners" get 2 satellite offices, and still give Amazon all the tax benefits as if it was a real HQ2

 

https://www.thisisinsider.com/amazon-splitting-hq2-reveals-contest-was-a-sham-2018-11

 

Critics of Amazon's long-drawn-out HQ2 selection process already questioned that a "second headquarters" could even exist. Dividing the project into two equal-size headquarters just adds more fuel to the argument that the entire process was a ploy to pit cities against one another to maximize incentives.

It also breaks Amazon's original mandate for the project that HQ2 would be a "full equal" to the company's Seattle headquarters. If it's separate, it's not equal.

Amazon hyped up its HQ2 investment so much that cities were willing to do anything for the chance of landing it. Amazon probably at least figured that into its calculus, and when it realized it would be easier to count the cities that didn't jump at the chance to have Amazon in the backyard, the strategy shifted to just maximizing gains.

While we don't yet know what tax incentives were offered up for Amazon to select these two cities, nor what Amazon offered up in return, we can safely assume it totaled in the billions.

City and state leaders jumped at the chance for what they saw as a high-profile win — and obvious benefit that constituents would see and appreciate. The upsides for local communities and governments — economic or otherwise — are now not so immediately obvious.

If Amazon is able to get away with essentially robbing Virginia and New York of millions in tax revenue and not even offering up in return what they originally promised, what else are they capable of?

 

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tokamak

tokamak 6431

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

So business insider points out that this entire process by amazon was just a sham.   How in the fuck can you have two "equal" headquarters if its actually 1 HQ and two  "1/2" HQ's?  by definition, half a HQ is not equal to a full HQ.

it was all just a ploy to see how much each city would whore itself out for the highest cost, and instead of getting a HQ as promised, the "winners" get 2 satellite offices, and still give Amazon all the tax benefits as if it was a real HQ2

 

https://www.thisisinsider.com/amazon-splitting-hq2-reveals-contest-was-a-sham-2018-11

 

 

 

Also: water is wet.

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gmr548

gmr548 16580

Posted
Posted
I don’t get them bypassing Texas with a lower cost of living and no income tax for 2 locations that are amongst the most expensive in the country and bypassing the the entire middle of the country.
Easier to recruit and maintain that large of a tech workforce in those two locations. Amazon doesn't pay taxes and they will pay their talent, which skews predominabtly younger and probably prefers DC/NYC to Texas, enough that income taxes aren't a huge concern. Also, it's been reported several times that they were interested in an east coast presence.

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FondrenRoad

FondrenRoad 4378

Posted
Posted
On 11/7/2018 at 7:21 PM, gmr548 said:

Easier to recruit and maintain that large of a tech workforce in those two locations. Amazon doesn't pay taxes and they will pay their talent, which skews predominabtly younger and probably prefers DC/NYC to Texas, enough that income taxes aren't a huge concern. Also, it's been reported several times that they were interested in an east coast presence.

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They also wanted mass transit. Texas doesnt have it.  And with the split between 2 large cities, they probably won't have to do too much nationwide recruiting or pay relocation expenses.

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