Amazon HQ2 RFP

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm betting at PaddyPower these days.

> White House to confirm that Melania is in fact a robot in 2018. 500-1 (very tempted to put money on this.)

> Melania to run against Trump for President in 2020. 200-1 (No money on this one because Paddy doesn't understand the Constitution.)

> Trump to attend the next Super Bowl 4:1 (would be a sure thing if only he wasn't feuding with Roger.)
 
BosDevelop said:
Would it count if he pulled a "Pence" and walked into the stadium and then walked right out?
Click to expand...

Paddy didn't set parameters as to what constitutes attendance. The color-by-For-Men-Only guy is going to the Alabama Georgia game.
____________________________________________
To make this sidebar tangent relevant, two links.

Spokane tried ranking cities based on publicly available submissions, Boston scores high, but based only a limited subset of the submissions.

http://spokaneplanner.com/economic-development/comparing-amazon-hq2-proposals/

_________________
A site attempting to track down every submission.

https://www.muckrock.com/project/am...ium=email&mc_cid=663ab12535&mc_eid=d5b3f81b8a
__________________

The Massachusetts capital has one of the best chances of being selected, according to a recent report in the WSJ, which combined Amazon's criteria, interviews with site-selection experts, and those familiar with the company's thinking to come up with its own list. The Boston area is, of course, home to major universities including Harvard, MIT, and Boston University, which means that Amazon could have its pick of highly qualified tech graduates. Meanwhile, the Journal found that the city is in solid financial shape, especially when compared with Chicago and Philadelphia. Madrona Venture's McIlwain notes that Boston is especially strong in the machine learning and artificial intelligence sectors, which is likely to attract Amazon as it continues to build out its virtual assistant and Echo smart speaker. ([Recently], the company unveiled its Alexa for Business assistant.)
Click to expand...
https://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/6-cities-most-likely-to-host-amazon-second-headquarters.html

Madrona Ventures is a VC firm based in Seattle. Matt McIlwain, cited as the source, has ties to Cambridge.
http://www.madrona.com/team-profiles/matt-mcilwain/

Much more interesting is the co-founder of Madrona Ventures
...co-founder of Madrona and is active on several portfolio company boards. Tom [Alberg] has also served on the boards of numerous public and private companies and is a director of Amazon.com on which he has served since before it went public in 1997
Click to expand...
(Alberg is a graduate of Harvard.)
 
Very uplifting after yesterday's wipeout. Good to hear some good news about Boston.

Thanks.
 
I still wouldn’t rule out Philly. I agree that the Navy Yard is really disjointed and has no real transit to speak of, but Schuylkill Yards checks off pretty much everything on the RFP list except the 100 acres, which they mentioned does not need to be contiguous (there are plenty of undeveloped parcels nearby). Then there is the 30th street master plan that is in the works which is immediately adjacent to Schuylkill Yards and totals 175 acres:

http://www.som.com/projects/philadelphia_30th_street_station_district_plan
 
^^I've long felt that Philly's massive planning initiative is the most formidable proposal. Not the Navy Yards.
 
skintreesnail said:
I still wouldn’t rule out Philly. I agree that the Navy Yard is really disjointed and has no real transit to speak of, but Schuylkill Yards checks off pretty much everything on the RFP list except the 100 acres, which they mentioned does not need to be contiguous (there are plenty of undeveloped parcels nearby). Then there is the 30th street master plan that is in the works which is immediately adjacent to Schuylkill Yards and totals 175 acres:

http://www.som.com/projects/philadelphia_30th_street_station_district_plan
Click to expand...


Ok, but is Philly, as a city, enough of a draw to get the top tech talent to move there? Have you spent time in Philly? I wouldn't live there if you offered to double my salary. Not the worst city by any means but so far from a place I would want to move and raise my family. I'm sure others will agree but I spent a lot of time in Philly between 1998 and 2008.
 
BosDevelop said:
Ok, but is Philly, as a city, enough of a draw to get the top tech talent to move there? Have you spent time in Philly? I wouldn't live there if you offered to double my salary. Not the worst city by any means but so far from a place I would want to move and raise my family. I'm sure others will agree but I spent a lot of time in Philly between 1998 and 2008.
Click to expand...

To each his own. The cost of living is much cheaper and this is a very transformative project for any region. IMHO, you can argue Philly is actually more vibrant than our puritan hamlet. The Schuylkill Yards plan with the city, state and a private college driving it is a formidable trio and is larger in scope than what we are seeing at Volpe and it is not affected by nimbys at every corner.

And not for nothing, but the overwhelming majority of techies raise families in the burbs, not the city proper, wherever that may be. Singles, DINKs, RCGs (recent college grads) et all, love the city and rightly so, but once kids are in the equation, it's a whole new ball game, driven by quality public schools, recreation options and open space.
 
BosDevelop said:
Ok, but is Philly, as a city, enough of a draw to get the top tech talent to move there? Have you spent time in Philly? I wouldn't live there if you offered to double my salary. Not the worst city by any means but so far from a place I would want to move and raise my family. I'm sure others will agree but I spent a lot of time in Philly between 1998 and 2008.
Click to expand...

I live in Philly, so I'm biased, but I think that the city definitely can draw the tech talent. There is a lot of talent generated here, but leave due to the lack of tech jobs. There is also talent from NYC an hour away by train, Princeton is 30 minutes by train, and Penn (as well as Drexel) would be literally across the street if Amazon picked Schuylkill Yards. Not to mention the scores of other schools in and around the city.

Also, Philly is nowhere near as crime-ridden and miserable as it's made out to be. There are tons of families in the city (including my own). There is also a wealth of history, world-renowned museums and just culture in general. I love Boston; I've spent a lot of time there and have friends and family living there, but it's getting to be very expensive.
 
Philly punches pretty high in Meds and Eds as well as Finance and "business" in general. Technology isn't exactly a huge sector there, but consider that Philly is a damn big city. I wouldn't be surprised if it has as many tech jobs as (e.g.) Austin, despite Austin's tech reputation and Philly's lack thereof. Being nestled between NY and DC doesn't hurt - in fact it is a significant contributor to Philly's present state of well-being. Gentrification has been as significant there as here.

I, for one, would move there for double my salary.
 
HalcyonEra said:
IMHO, you can argue Philly is actually more vibrant than our puritan hamlet.
Click to expand...

Based on what? The higher unemployment rate, higher crime rate, greater poverty or lower population growth than Boston?

Also, don't know the answer put throwing it out there. Do the city and state actually have the $$$ to pull off a massive project like that? I usually don't associate Philly and Pennsylvania as being awash in cash for massive infrastructure projects.
 
Rover said:
Based on what? The higher unemployment rate, higher crime rate, greater poverty or lower population growth than Boston?

Also, don't know the answer put throwing it out there. Do the city and state actually have the $$$ to pull off a massive project like that? I usually don't associate Philly and Pennsylvania as being awash in cash for massive infrastructure projects.
Click to expand...

It's not so much new infrastructure as it is building around an existing train hub. There is not much around there now and Drexel is really the underlying driving force since they own a lot of the land already and want to expand their campus.

Like any city, there are good areas and bad. Maybe it's me, but I like the vibe of the city, it's much more laid back, bad areas notwithstanding. Population growth is a deceiving stat, esp when you are comparing one at 673K to 1.5M.

I've worked for quite a few tech companies over the years here who have moved back office functions to the Philly area for one reason - lower cost of living and therefore lower salaries.
 
Philly punches pretty high in Meds and Eds as well as Finance and "business" in general. Technology isn't exactly a huge sector there, but consider that Philly is a damn big city. I wouldn't be surprised if it has as many tech jobs as (e.g.) Austin, despite Austin's tech reputation and Philly's lack thereof. Being nestled between NY and DC doesn't hurt - in fact it is a significant contributor to Philly's present state of well-being. Gentrification has been as significant there as here.

I, for one, would move there for double my salary.
Click to expand...

Philly has a decent tech scene. The previous company I worked for bought up Philly-based startup a few years back.

I'm a developer. I'd probably strongly consider a Philadelphia based company if one came knocking. Honestly the older I get the less I care about staying in Boston. It's overpriced for what you get, cold and puritanical. That said, the grass is always greener and so it goes. As a regular employee I really don't give a shit if the company is near world class education or not... for enough money you can woo whatever talent you want (and most developers are so generalized it doesn't matter). If you're starting a company the bigger issue is usually being near a large pool of capital... which Philly, NYC and Boston can all offer.
 
HalcyonEra said:
It's not so much new infrastructure as it is building around an existing train hub. There is not much around there now and Drexel is really the underlying driving force since they own a lot of the land already and want to expand their campus.

Like any city, there are good areas and bad. Maybe it's me, but I like the vibe of the city, it's much more laid back, bad areas notwithstanding. Population growth is a deceiving stat, esp when you are comparing one at 673K to 1.5M.

I've worked for quite a few tech companies over the years here who have moved back office functions to the Philly area for one reason - lower cost of living and therefore lower salaries.
Click to expand...

I don't have anything against Philly. Its a bit more plausible than some of the cities that have been thrown out here although its reputation might be hurting it. I fly through there on business to go to South Jersey every month or so and have been there previously (friends in Bucks County working for Big Pharma). Philly didn't rub me the right way or the wrong way in any of my trips to it. Put another way, I'd be shocked if a war zone like Baltimore won the 2nd HQ. I'd be surprised if Philly did but not astounded. Sorta how I feel about Atlanta's bid for different reasons.
 
Rover said:
Based on what? The higher unemployment rate, higher crime rate, greater poverty or lower population growth than Boston?

Also, don't know the answer put throwing it out there. Do the city and state actually have the $$$ to pull off a massive project like that? I usually don't associate Philly and Pennsylvania as being awash in cash for massive infrastructure projects.
Click to expand...

None of Philly's downsides apply if you're white, to be blunt. It's kind of really noticeable when you're there.

Philly is one of the best cities for Millennials to live in, the jobs pay decently but housing is a fraction of the cost of the likes of Boston
 
Philly is basically the only big city in the US that has parts that can match Boston (and New England's) historical charm. It reminds me of Boston in many ways.
 
I still think it's going to come down to who gives the most incentives after they narrow it down to 5-10 cities. Which Boston could still win.

You know, after the flooding, Widett Circle and Dot Ave look much better.
 
Rover said:
Based on what? The higher unemployment rate, higher crime rate, greater poverty or lower population growth than Boston?

Also, don't know the answer put throwing it out there. Do the city and state actually have the $$$ to pull off a massive project like that? I usually don't associate Philly and Pennsylvania as being awash in cash for massive infrastructure projects.
Click to expand...

Here's one HUGE advantage Philly has over Boston (NSRL on the shelf and West Station "possible" in 2040):

http://www.northsouthraillink.org/centercity-commuter-connection-philadelphia/
 
FenwayResident said:
Source your claims. You are making up requirements that do not exist to further your own biased opinion.
Click to expand...

Pardon me for giggling, but every "opinion" is biased. Hence the meaning of the word "opinion".

Regarding my claims, given that Amazon is a for-profit corporation it goes without saying (at least to those of us in the private sector) it's #1 implicit priority is to make money.

Most people understand that without needing it listed on a RFP.

Lack of effective and forward thinking mass transit, or the desire to build it, is a major decision point for any large scale (50,000+ employee) project.

Boston has a great recipe for success in its niche, hitting singles and doubles. Let's face it, that's not bad.

However, it is not a Fortune 500 home run swinger. That's also not necessarily bad. I'm sure Fortune 500 HQ cities like Milwaukee and Cincinatti would love to trade places with Boston in a heart beat. Being a Fortune 500 HQ city does not equal success, per se. https://www.citylab.com/life/2012/07/corporate-headquarters-response/2556/

Boston's a strawberry, not a blueberry. If it wants to change it's basic economic character, it's going to have to change it's essential DNA. I don't think it's something it needs to do. It is prospering already. But if it were to seriously play for an Amazon H2Q, it would have to change its DNA, get off its ass about the NSRL, B-R Connector, stop VR'ing the Green Line extension down to a pony express and, for the love of God, lobotomize the officials who publicly announced "West Station 2040+". .

Being a Fortune 500 city does not make one a great city. But if Boston truly wanted to do it, it would have to make fundamental changes that simply are not happening without some paradigm shifts.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top