This article is missing some key facts. It's important to realize that A9 (Amazon's subsidiary in downtown Palo Alto) has at most 500 people located there. They

This article is missing some key facts. It's important to realize that A9 (Amazon's subsidiary in downtown Palo Alto) has at most 500 people located there. They have the equivalent of 2-3 buildings, and they're not large buildings. Amazon's footprint there is really the same as a mid-size startup (ie, the A9 all-hands fits in one large restaurant). I can understand why a city would not want a large employer in a downtown area that provides free food to its employees--this clearly destroys the business for nearby restaurants. Amazon, famous for its frugality, doesn't provide free meals. OTOH, you can regularly see Palantir employees walking to their cafeteria. Excluding the free food issue, I don't understand why you wouldn't want to encourage big companies to setup small offices in your downtown.