Amazon makes its choice for its HQ2 Long Island City NY and Northern Virginia

Meh, the entire HQ2 thing has been a complete sham since the beginning. A cruel plot by Bezos to get cities competing by offering him lucrative tax benefits. All the way up to the supposed 'leak' last monday, by WASHINGTON POST mind you, all a charade.

The probable answer to the location(s) has been known to people analyzing things for months now as well, based completely on open and new Amazon job opening volumes across the country over the past year.

One final rant note - Bezos owns a home right by both of the new HQ locations. Fancy that.

Billionaires going to be billionaires..

originally posted by: Willtell
I know Newark very well, and people don’t realize Newark is actually a residential city.
That’s where it is still like a war zone.
No banks, no gas stations, no commerce; maybe in the whole city they have one 7 11!

What were huge swaths of Brooklyn, Queens and even Manhattan like 20 years ago? Now you cannot touch real estate in most of those boroughs. Gentrification is coming to Newark, it will happen.

I had a feeling that anything "interior" was out of the question. Bezos seems like a snob. And also, I am sure the majority of their money is made between and around those metros. Makes sense in that way.

Hey did anyone else see the "Alexa Jones" spoof?

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Willtell
I know Newark very well, and people don’t realize Newark is actually a residential city.
That’s where it is still like a war zone.
No banks, no gas stations, no commerce; maybe in the whole city they have one 7 11!

What were huge swaths of Brooklyn, Queens and even Manhattan like 20 years ago? Now you cannot touch real estate in most of those boroughs. Gentrification is coming to Newark, it will happen.

Maybe, but you do know, or maybe you don’t, they’ve been saying that for a long time about Newark.

The problem with Newark is that it’s just too embedded with too many poor people.

Gentrification starts with commerce: stores, shopping marts, gas stations, banks. In Newark every time they try to do that the businesses just don’t last because mostly the people in the bad areas are just too poor. That’s my take, I could be wrong but I doubt it.

"After HQ2 announcement, civic leaders regret groveling before Amazon"
link

Big-city mayors across the nation spent much of this and last year ingratiating themselves with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The goal? To make their city the permanent address of the tech behemoth’s second headquarters, which the company's PR team dubbed "HQ2." Most civic leaders of destinations on “the list” tried to woo the world’s richest man with million- (or billion-) dollar tax breaks, among other financial incentives that would gift taxpayer money to one of the most valuable corporations on the planet. Yet an official announcement on Monday from Amazon dashed hopes for nearly all of the grovelers. Amid swirling rumors, and nearly 14 months since the unofficial competition began, Amazon officially announced that the New York City borough of Queens and Arlington, Virginia, have been selected to be the dual homes to the new headquarters. In an announcement, Amazon said it will invest “$5 billion and create more than 50,000 jobs across the two new headquarters locations, with more than 25,000 employees each in New York City and Arlington.” Moreover, Nashville, Tennessee has been selected for as a new "Center of Excellence" for its Operations business — which is responsible for the company’s customer fulfillment and supply chain — which will bring an estimated 5,000 jobs to that city.

That’s a lot of butt kissing for nothing.

Some of the city officials who offered billions are now regretting it. Hey, you shoT your shot and lost, live with it.

Lord Bezos may yet bless you with some boon. Don’t burn your bridges.

originally posted by: Willtell
The problem with Newark is that it’s just too embedded with too many poor people.

They can move to Irvington or Orange.