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Amazon'southward search for a second headquarters, far from Seattle, took a surprise twist over the weekend: That second HQ might really be 2 headquarters, not one. One would well-nigh likely be in Crystal City department of Arlington, VA (main photo), just across the Potomac River from Washington. The other site is less certain, merely new reports suggest New York City and Dallas are leading contenders, New York more so than the Big D.

Amazon said it wants an area with a technically savvy workforce, proficient mass transportation of all kinds (bus, rails, commuter runway, air), educational institutions nearby, and reasonably priced housing for workers at all levels. Neither New York or metro DC are not known for cheap housing, merely y'all can't have everything.

Fewer Disruptions With a Pair of Smaller HQ2s

Amazon has been talking publicly near a second headquarters for a year. It narrowed the field from 238 dreamers such as Frisco (Texas, not San Francisco) to 20 contenders (below) in January. Now Amazon appears to be backing away from Programme A, putting l,000 people in ane location, even over two decades. So it's looking at two cities with 25,000 people each — and besides making two cities and states happy, not just 1.

Co-ordinate to The Wall Street Periodical, which has been the leader in breaking this round of news:

Past edifice two headquarters, Amazon can tap different geographic regions for talent, including some who may non want to move too far from home. It may also not be competing with other major tech giants in a given area, like information technology does with Microsoft Corp. in the Seattle surface area. Additionally, the decision would allow it to lessen the potential headaches for called areas. Amazon has wanted to avert being the only large visitor in town, something it has dealt with in Seattle [what's Microsoft, then? – Ed.] …  Calculation l,000 workers—fifty-fifty over more than a decade—would probable cause some hiccups for transit systems and potentially lead to issues like a lack of affordable housing.

Northern Virginia'southward Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington County, appears to exist a front-runner to take 1 of the two concluding positions, according to people familiar with the matter. … Crystal City, only across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., has an urban experience, numerous government offices and a ready-to-go campus with empty, older role space that Amazon could utilize. The surface area has good access to tech talent and transportation, 2 factors that rank high on Amazon'south wish list.

To that, I'd add, much of Crystal City feels gentrified, with lots of java shops, boutiques, and nightspots. If parts are aging, information technology'south not way run downwardly. And there is a lot of available building space, much in the easily of a single developer.

Additionally, the fast-growing (even by Amazon standards) Amazon Spider web Services has a significant presence in the Washington expanse. Were Amazon to abound then big it needed to break upwardly or exist broken up — anti-trust and all — that could be the AWS headquarters.

The other reason for Amazon to have an functioning in the Washington area is to keep an heart on the government, now that the government is watching Amazon: a) Amazon is the globe'due south second-biggest company later Apple (stock market valuation, or marketplace cap, and b) and the Trump administration, starting from the summit, has taken a disliking to Amazon. It is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who bought The Washington Postal service, not Tim Cook. A generation ago, tech companies thought they could do their matter and the regime would be good to them. Now they know, as defence contractors, Hollywood, and big pharma know, that whispering in the ears of Congressmen and White Firm aides pays off.

Amazon HQ in New York'southward Long Island Urban center would expect out on the new Cornell Tech campus in the Eastward River with Manhattan in the background. (Photo: Cornell Tech. Primary photograph: Bill Howard)

New York vs. Dallas: Who Has the Edge?

Dallas seems less likely now, simply it's the cost leader amidst the 3 finalists. Doing business organization costs less in Texas and Dallas. There are all style of incentives (the kind you don't get moving a pilus salon from Seattle) in the form of tax abatements, various grants, and price sharing for infrastructure (buildings, access roads, and mass transit stops). Texas also doesn't have personal income taxes. The former DallasMorning News building has been offered up every bit a starter site: vii acres near Amtrak, calorie-free rail, I-30, and I-35.

The possible New York Metropolis site, Long Island City (photo above), is the western edge of the borough of Queens (Queens is technically office of Long Isle). It'due south just across the Eastward River from Manhattan; between the two lies Roosevelt Island, where Cornell University and Israel's Technion (their MIT, Stanford and Cal Tech rolled into one) are edifice a billion-dollar tech campus. As for teaching, New York City, as old Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, has more than students than Boston has — Bloomberg pauses for dramatic issue — people. But to the southward of LIC is NYC's hippest borough, Brooklyn, although non exactly a depression-price living area. Just you can rub elbows with Matt Damon and Norah Jones.

If personal politics enter into the equation, Blueish Country New York (and certainly bluer NYC) may accept an advantage over Texas and the Big D. Texas is less friendly on gender issues. But demographics volition probably flip Texas blueish during the build-out phase. And every corporation loves the discussion "affordable."

The New York Times reported Monday night that Long Isle Metropolis was the likely second site, not Dallas, "according to people familiar with the controlling procedure." Two of Amazon'southward largest not-Seattle outposts are in New York City (ii,000 in publishing, ad, and manner) and 2,500 in D.C. and Northern Virginia (corporate, tech employees).

The Long Island City site nearly resembles Seattle politically, that is solidly Democratic. Seattle votes 33 pct points more Democratic than the nation equally a whole, Long Island City 31 points more than Democratic, and Crystal Urban center 21 points more than Democratic. Dallas is more than mainstream and votes v points more than Republican than the United states every bit a whole based on the 2022 and 2022 presidential elections, co-ordinate to the Cook Partisan Voting Alphabetize. (The nation, as a whole, votes 51-49 Autonomous.)

How the Top 20 Became iii Finalists

Amazon'south Top 20 list of finalists were named in Jan. It included metro D.C. with 3 separate locations (Washington; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Northern Virginia now known to be Crystal City) and New York with two (Newark, NJ, a xx-minute train ride from Manhattan, and Long Island City, simply across the East River from Manhattan). The twenty:

Atlanta
Austin
Boston
Chicago
Columbus (Ohio)
Dallas
Denver
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montgomery County (Maryland)
Nashville
Newark (New Jersey)
New York City
Northern Virginia
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Raleigh (North Carolina)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Washington D.C.

One of the most intriguing of the twenty was Toronto. Information technology is North America's fourth largest city (later Mexico City, NYC, and LA). The metro area population tops six million, and fits the transportation/didactics/tech workforce criteria, plus one informal criterion (hip place to live),andinformation technology'southward just outside the U.S. Being in Canada means healthcare is assured (by the regime) and, should Jeff Bezos want to get to the mattresses, Toronto is a large upwards-yours to the Trump assistants. Where Microsoft'south Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen bought sports teams to play with, Bezos bought the WaPost as mentioned above, and it has been the biggest thorn in the President's side other than The New York Times.

Most Westward Coast cities were out because they were too close to Seattle; only LA survived to the circular of 20.

Denver was considered one of the likely final finalists when the twenty were appear and is the near surprising city not to exist in the reported round of three. Information technology may be that Denver ranked high on all attributes, but other than perchance cost-of-living was a winner in none. New York and DC dwarf Denver in terms of universities and tech workers nearby. Gov. John Hickenlooper told Colorado Public Radio two weeks ago, "I know there were issues effectually, are nosotros too close to Seattle? Wouldn't they rather take their second big hub on the East Coast?"

Of the two finalist metro-NYC sites, Newark was the long shot. Information technology has adult a commercial corridor stretching from Newark Penn Station (driver rail, light rail, subway, Amtrak), Panasonic'due south new US HQ, and Prudential Insurance, to the Prudential Center loonshit, Amazon subsidiary Audible, and a iv-college commune with 40,000 students. Newark Airport, a 10-infinitesimal train and monorail ride away, beats overcrowded LaGuardia hands down. But Newark is however rough in many ways, and if Amazon gentrified the city, there would be the optics of minorities beingness pushed out, where Long Island City would simply displace lower and middle-income people of all stripes.

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