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You have to consider that this may be a political move by Bezos. The term "anti-trust" has been brought up a lot lately in regards to 'Big Tech.' If Amazon beco

You have to consider that this may be a political move by Bezos. The term "anti-trust" has been brought up a lot lately in regards to 'Big Tech.' If Amazon becomes a big employer in a lot of low population states, it would effectively be buying itself those states's Senators and creating an 'Amazon Industrial Complex.' On the other hand, Bezos might want to just move the margins and try to make a purple state blue. For a big state, that might make have a bigger impact and make more sense, especially since you're not going to find 50,000 software engineers in Montana. I think Cincinnati could be a good choice. I don't know much about Cincinnati, except that it's in Ohio and borders Indiana and Kentucky, and that it's not a tech hub. But, I don't think it would be that hard to convince a lot of people to move there. If the move is really successful, it could create somewhat of a tech hub there, which would have spillover effects in those other states (giving them 3 for the price of 1?).

dodobirdlord 9y ago
I would not be too surprised if the final decision was Columbus. There's no shortage of land, there's reasonable access to tech talent, a reasonably solid major research university, prices are comparatively low, and the city also has a positive reputation in a way that neither Cleveland or Cincinnati have. Further, the current governor and legislature of Ohio have really been going to bat in recent years to try to turn Columbus into a tech hub to generally revitalize Ohio.
adventured 9y ago
It's plausible. One of the things that protected Walmart for the last 25 years, was its high distribution among red states and mid to low population areas (blue cities have notoriously disliked Walmart and worked to keep them out). They overwhelmingly sought to appeal to the lower to middle classes in terms of their customer demographics and still have wide support there politically. Have to agree that Amazon will go for either the mid-west or east coast as the hub. It's the logical political choice, to re-balance itself away from the west coast as a center. To compete with Walmart & big retail politically, it'll need far greater physical representation within states.
fooey 9y ago
As a generalization, the people who want to work for Amazon tend to be more on the progressive wing, and an HQ in a heavily conservative region would make it harder to hire talent. I would guess places like Denver/Boulder (where Google has a site coming), Boston, Portland, or Las Vegas are much more likely than Austin, Charlotte, or Salt Lake City
- coredog64 9y ago
  Although Austin is in Texas, it is famous for being independent. It's also fairly progressive.
- sremani 9y ago
  Anybody who says People's Republic of Austin (ref: Bernie movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREkqCvLzSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREkqCvLzSo) is not on progressive wing is kidding. Also, Whole Foods is head-quartered in Austin, so there could be "synergy" there.
  - fooey 9y ago
    Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse They just get diced up and have no voice in state or federal government, and you end up with things like the NC and Texas bathroom bills. Why would a company like Amazon move to a state who's already so wrong on human rights issues? That's just asking for boycotts and mass resignations. I'd wager it's vastly more likely Whole Foods will move away than Amazon moves in. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the main motivations for HQ2 was to move Whole Foods, and anyone else they acquire, into Amazon proper.
    - reaperducer 9y ago
      > Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse Progressive islands in conservative states is pretty much all there is, with the exception of California and New England. Chicago is the progressive island that turns conservative Illinois blue on the map. Seattle is the progressive island that turns conservative Washington blue on the map. New York, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and a few others are the progressive islands that turn conservative upstate New York blue on the map. Houston, Austin, Dallas as the progressive islands that have not yet turned Texas blue on the map. etc... etc...
balls187 9y ago
I dont think it's political. Seattle is a competitive market, which is slowly trending towards SV, SFO. A 2nd HQ makes a ton of sense for Amazon.
pc86 9y ago
> For a big state, that might make have a bigger impact and make more sense, especially since you're not going to find 50,000 software engineers in Montana. I bet you would if you announced next month that Amazon was opening an 8,000,000 square foot facility in Montana and would be hiring software developers at Amazon wages.
thinkling 9y ago
Have you seen any evidence that Bezos is willing to trade the interests of his company for a beneficial impact on society? I haven't, and it doesn't seem in keeping with what I know about him. He's going to look for the best place for Amazon in the medium and long term. Of course personally I'd love it if they chose a swing state and added 50-100,000 progressive-leaning voters to its population...
- eppsilon 9y ago
  He was willing to (personally) buy the Washington Post, but I agree that it doesn't mean politics will factor into his decisions at Amazon.

dodobirdlord 9y ago

I would not be too surprised if the final decision was Columbus. There's no shortage of land, there's reasonable access to tech talent, a reasonably solid major research university, prices are comparatively low, and the city also has a positive reputation in a way that neither Cleveland or Cincinnati have. Further, the current governor and legislature of Ohio have really been going to bat in recent years to try to turn Columbus into a tech hub to generally revitalize Ohio.

adventured 9y ago

It's plausible. One of the things that protected Walmart for the last 25 years, was its high distribution among red states and mid to low population areas (blue cities have notoriously disliked Walmart and worked to keep them out). They overwhelmingly sought to appeal to the lower to middle classes in terms of their customer demographics and still have wide support there politically. Have to agree that Amazon will go for either the mid-west or east coast as the hub. It's the logical political choice, to re-balance itself away from the west coast as a center. To compete with Walmart & big retail politically, it'll need far greater physical representation within states.

fooey 9y ago

As a generalization, the people who want to work for Amazon tend to be more on the progressive wing, and an HQ in a heavily conservative region would make it harder to hire talent. I would guess places like Denver/Boulder (where Google has a site coming), Boston, Portland, or Las Vegas are much more likely than Austin, Charlotte, or Salt Lake City

coredog64 9y ago
Although Austin is in Texas, it is famous for being independent. It's also fairly progressive.
sremani 9y ago
Anybody who says People's Republic of Austin (ref: Bernie movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREkqCvLzSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREkqCvLzSo) is not on progressive wing is kidding. Also, Whole Foods is head-quartered in Austin, so there could be "synergy" there.
- fooey 9y ago
  Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse They just get diced up and have no voice in state or federal government, and you end up with things like the NC and Texas bathroom bills. Why would a company like Amazon move to a state who's already so wrong on human rights issues? That's just asking for boycotts and mass resignations. I'd wager it's vastly more likely Whole Foods will move away than Amazon moves in. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the main motivations for HQ2 was to move Whole Foods, and anyone else they acquire, into Amazon proper.
  - reaperducer 9y ago
    > Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse Progressive islands in conservative states is pretty much all there is, with the exception of California and New England. Chicago is the progressive island that turns conservative Illinois blue on the map. Seattle is the progressive island that turns conservative Washington blue on the map. New York, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and a few others are the progressive islands that turn conservative upstate New York blue on the map. Houston, Austin, Dallas as the progressive islands that have not yet turned Texas blue on the map. etc... etc...

balls187 9y ago

I dont think it's political. Seattle is a competitive market, which is slowly trending towards SV, SFO. A 2nd HQ makes a ton of sense for Amazon.

pc86 9y ago

> For a big state, that might make have a bigger impact and make more sense, especially since you're not going to find 50,000 software engineers in Montana. I bet you would if you announced next month that Amazon was opening an 8,000,000 square foot facility in Montana and would be hiring software developers at Amazon wages.

thinkling 9y ago

Have you seen any evidence that Bezos is willing to trade the interests of his company for a beneficial impact on society? I haven't, and it doesn't seem in keeping with what I know about him. He's going to look for the best place for Amazon in the medium and long term. Of course personally I'd love it if they chose a swing state and added 50-100,000 progressive-leaning voters to its population...

eppsilon 9y ago
He was willing to (personally) buy the Washington Post, but I agree that it doesn't mean politics will factor into his decisions at Amazon.