Amazon HQ2 selected - and not Boston

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dshoost88 said:
30 years? Try 8 months. A recent report shows that Greater Boston added 150,000 jobs regionwide since January 2017, more than any other region in the US except Dallas, TX. (source)

Let that sink in, and make sure to frame that context for others that don’t quite grasp the pace our region’s economy has grown. Verizon’s John Vazquez is right: “this market has the educational prowess and brainpower that <companies> are looking for.”
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LOL, yeah, I had edited my post which screwed up the intent, because at first I had written " Wouldn't it be funny if, over the next 30 years, Verizon grew far more in Boston than any of the 2 HQ2's?

You are right on the button there. Boston doesn't need no stinkin' HQ2s - it is going to boom anyway - - as long as Governor Baker doesn't remain a Luddite about the Blue-Red Connector, NSRL, etc.

Feed the economic engine, dammit.

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as long as Governor Baker doesn't remain a Luddite about the Blue-Red Connector, NSRL, etc.
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Blame the tepid entrenched Democratic legislature for not being interested in progressive transportation policy. The governor isn't the problem in this state.
 
dshoost88 said:
30 years? Try 8 months. A recent report shows that Greater Boston added 150,000 jobs regionwide since January 2017, more than any other region in the US except Dallas, TX. (source)

Let that sink in, and make sure to frame that context for others that don’t quite grasp the pace our region’s economy has grown. Verizon’s John Vazquez is right: “this market has the educational prowess and brainpower that <companies> are looking for.”
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My first reaction - 150,000 jobs added to metro Boston in less than 2 years. I want to rub that figure in the nose of everyone who said "everything will collapse if we add 50,000 over 20 years."

My second reaction - the response to our housing crisis is still painfully behind. MBTA improvements in the pipeline cannot come online fast enough and every new home to hit the market is going to be snatched up quick. It baffles the mind that people think we are overbuilt and in some kind of real estate bubble.
 
meddlepal said:
Blame the tepid entrenched Democratic legislature for not being interested in progressive transportation policy. The governor isn't the problem in this state.
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Ummmm......:eek:your post was done in jest, right?

NSRL support?????

Isn't HIS Transportation Secretary pushing off CONSIDERATION of a West Station until 2040?

Please enlighten me here.

Look, Meddle, anyone can simply type anything on the internet. It's worth more if it contains a shred of truth.


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Amazon.com is reconsidering its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to a new campus in New York City following a wave of opposition from local politicians, according to two people familiar with the company's thinking.

The company has not leased or purchased office space for the project, making it easy to withdraw its commitment. Unlike in Virginia — where elected leaders quickly passed an incentive package for a separate headquarters facility — final approval from New York state is not expected until 2020.

Tennessee officials have also embraced Amazon’s plans to bring 5,000 jobs to Nashville, which this week approved $15.2 million in road, sewer and other improvements related to that project.

Amazon executives have had internal discussions recently to reassess the situation in New York and explore alternatives, said the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the company’s perspective.

“The question is whether it’s worth it if the politicians in New York don’t want the project, especially with how people in Virginia and Nashville have been so welcoming,” said one person familiar with the company’s plans.

...
Hailed as an economic triumph when it was announced by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) and Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), the project in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens now faces withering criticism from some politicians and advocacy groups appalled at the prospect of giving giant subsidies to the world’s most valuable company, led by its richest man. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...8500644dc98_story.html?utm_term=.52d4a9c2bdc2

Not that Boston would be a good idea.

Amazon would be kicked out faster than you could say "Boston Olympic Bid"
 
I forget where--it may have been a Globe editorial the last couple days--but I read that Greater Boston currently has 5 million square feet of office development currently in the pipeline, despite Amazon selecting DC & NY for their 8 million sq. ft. of proposed new office development. So in the grand scheme development trends, I don't think an Amazon HQ expansion into Boston (on top of their AI campus in the Seaport) would detrimentally impact housing affordability or transportation concerns any more than the current economic development trajectory Greater Boston and the Commonwealth are already experiencing.

If NY does end up sending Amazon running to the hills, I think it would ultimately be a good thing if they settled on none other than the City on a Hill.
 
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dshoost88 said:
I forget where--it may have been a Globe editorial the last couple days--but I read that Greater Boston currently has 5 million square feet of office development currently in the pipeline, despite Amazon selecting DC & NY for their 8 million sq. ft. of proposed new office development. So in the grand scheme development trends, I don't think an Amazon HQ expansion into Boston (on top of their AI campus in the Seaport) would detrimentally impact housing affordability or transportation concerns any more than the current economic development trajectory Greater Boston and the Commonwealth are already experiencing.

If NY does end up sending Amazon to running to the hills, I think it would ultimately be a good thing if they settled on none other than the City on a Hill.
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It will. You have to remember that housing prices isn't only impacted by scarcity, but land value as well. The moment Amazon announces a move to Boston, land value in the entire region will go up, resulting in developers and property managers raising rent to pay for the additional cost.
 
kingofsheeba said:
How do you know that? Unlike sports stadiums, most Bostonians were pretty open to the idea of Amazon coming to Boston. Though I probably would've been against them coming personally. I'm not a fan of Bezos.
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I dont think the good people of Boston are any more eager to layer on handouts to the richest company and man on earth.
 
KentXie said:
It will. You have to remember that housing prices isn't only impacted by scarcity, but land value as well. The moment Amazon announces a move to Boston, land value in the entire region will go up, resulting in developers and property managers raising rent to pay for the additional cost.
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If demand and land value rise, then the solution to make costs manageable for renters/buyers is to increase inventory. So to that end, City/State should accept linkage payments from major employers that improve municipal services (and transit options), abolish parking minimums, and pull a land use maneuver like that of Minneapolis and Vancouver where the as of right zoning for all properties citywide increases from traditional triple deckers.

Kind of a tangent now to housing policy, but I maintain that the BPDA and City Council need to update the thresholds for small project and large project review such that it becomes more affordable/less time-consuming for developers to build larger multi-families. Abolishing parking minimums and expediting reducing the bureaucratic red tape will yield savings the developers will end up passing along to new residents.

I worked in brokerage and property management for 4 years, studied planning at the graduate level, comprehensively researched demographic/socioeconomic trends across this region for the last decade, and affected equitable policies for land use, transportation, age-friendliness, and institutional planning. I'm open to meet with you or anyone else on this forum that wants to have a legit conversation about economic development, the challenges it presents, and the tangible path for solutions. Part of accomplishing that goal is learning to say “Yes.”
 
jass said:
I dont think the good people of Boston are any more eager to layer on handouts to the richest company and man on earth.
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But that's why NYC made a ton of sense... because of New York's sky high income taxes, you would be getting a ton of income through the employees given that nearly all of them would reside in the city. Not enough to cover the subsidy of course, but cover a fairly decent amount.

I have to think this is more of a negotiating tactic to galvanize NYC landlords to do their thing to ensure passage.
 
Agree that this is probably a negotiating tactic. What exactly was the tax package the city and state were offering in New York?
 
It's worth repeating: if any company wants to build here we should make it as easy as possible to do so, but no more tax breaks. The market should be picking winners and losers, not politicians. We should not be screwing the taxpayers by handing out tax breaks when we don't need to.
 
shmessy said:
Ummmm......:eek:your post was done in jest, right?

NSRL support?????

Isn't HIS Transportation Secretary pushing off CONSIDERATION of a West Station until 2040?

Please enlighten me here.

Look, Meddle, anyone can simply type anything on the internet. It's worth more if it contains a shred of truth.


.
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Not in jest. The Democrats in this state are beyond useless. Let's take it to PM's or another post though if you want to continue the debate.
 
meddlepal said:
Not in jest. The Democrats in this state are beyond useless. Let's take it to PM's or another post though if you want to continue the debate.
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You're putting forth a subjective generalized political viewpoint with which I actually mostly agree.

I'm stating an apolitical, objective fact on one particular subject - Mass Transit - and how it effects the city's potential to grow and compete.

All I have to say is "2040". There is nothing more to argue on that subject.

Anything else is piffle.
 
Scott said:
It's worth repeating: if any company wants to build here we should make it as easy as possible to do so, but no more tax breaks. The market should be picking winners and losers, not politicians. We should not be screwing the taxpayers by handing out tax breaks when we don't need to.
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Agreed - Amazon announced in January it’ll lease 300,000 square ft of office base in LA for Amazon Studios, ImBD, Amazon Video, and WW Advertising. The amount of incentives given to Amazon by LA amounts to zero. Netflix has been even more aggressive in relocating its services from Silicon Valley to Hollywood - now with its second expansion u/c bringing their LA footprint to over 700,000 sq ft. LA gave zero incentives either. The market and talent was the incentive.
 
Scott said:
It's worth repeating: if any company wants to build here we should make it as easy as possible to do so, but no more tax breaks. The market should be picking winners and losers, not politicians. We should not be screwing the taxpayers by handing out tax breaks when we don't need to.
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I agree in not picking specific companies to get tax breaks... just seems so unAmerican to go around screwing with the free market like that.

That said, having tax incentives for any company in any industry that brings in outside investment without taking profits out of the state should just be a blanket policy to attract investment.
 
With NYC plans turning sour, Amazon can keep the talent spigot turned up w/ gradual additions here, drip, drip, drip,... and reach a few million sq ft–without revealing formal plans of anything.... Bonus; aB can celebrate how we learned to stop worrying and love Amazon working out so nicely in Boston.
 
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