7 ms·

I think Philadelphia is a good choice. Center City is a 30 minute drive to Philly international airport. Land is relatively cheap, much cheaper than NYC, Boston

I think Philadelphia is a good choice. Center City is a 30 minute drive to Philly international airport. Land is relatively cheap, much cheaper than NYC, Boston, or dc. We have an ivy league school in the city, with another less than an hour away, as well as many other schools in the area. We have a large metro population with a good size technical and business industry already. We also have rail and sea shipping available. and there is also a convenience factor being nearby to NYC and DC both being a hour and a half train ride.

dkhenry 9y ago
I don't understand how Philadelphia is not near the top of the list. The cost of living is way lower then any other top 10 metro area, There is a huge local talent base, and lots of highly ranked feeder schools.
- the_d00d 9y ago
  Where are you getting your numbers from? Philadelphia's cost of living is higher than say.... Dallas (And Houston And Austin). Plus DFW metropolitan area is the 4th largest in the US (7.2 million) whereas Philly is 7th (6 million). Sorry..I couldn't resist using Dallas as an example considering it is American Football season. Sources: Cost of living (1) https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&city1=Philadelphia%2C+PA&country2=United+States&city2=Dallas%2C+TX https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou... Cost of living (2) http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/dallas-tx/philadelphia-pa/75000 http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/dallas-tx/philadelp... Population https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statist...
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
And if Amazon attracts enough talent to turn Philly into a tech hub then PA will have all the same "one city runs the show and the rest of the state resents them" dynamic that NY and IL do. It's probably still a win for Philly though.
- kingbirdy 9y ago
  Philly is at least half way there already - it's just Philly and Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia is bigger.
  - madcaptenor 9y ago
    And people in Philly basically don't think about Pittsburgh. Sure, it exists, but it may as well be in another state.
bradleyjg 9y ago
PHL has no trans-pacific flights. These are the American cities which you can fly to and from Shanghai nonstop: Chicago, Dallas, LA, NYC (+Newark), San Francisco (+San Jose), Detroit, Seattle, Boston. Atlanta starting next year. In Canada there's Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.
- AshleyGrant 9y ago
  PHL is a hub for American. There's no reason they couldn't start trans-pacific flights from PHL if the demand exists.
  - trevyn 9y ago
    This reminds me of the SFO-ZRH route that spun up as a result of Roche buying Genentech: http://travelskills.com/2015/06/24/trip-report-swiss-roche-coach-sfo-zurich/ http://travelskills.com/2015/06/24/trip-report-swiss-roche-c...
- AbortedWalrus 9y ago
  Philadelphia is an hour by train to Newark Airport, which does non-stops to Beijing. It's not as ideal as it being in the local airport, but it's also not that far away.
  - peterwwillis 9y ago
    United flies to both Shanghai ($795) and Beijing ($535) non-stop from Newark.
AbortedWalrus 9y ago
I posted this elsewhere but I'll repost here: The Navy Yard literally ticks every box of their requirements: 30 Mile proximity to population center: It's IN the city. 45 Minute proximity to international airport: It's about 15 minutes drive from the airport, or you can take mass transit. 1-2 Miles from Major highways: It sits basically ON I-95 Close to Major arterial roads: Within 10 minutes of 295, NJ Turnpike, I-76 Access to mass transit at site: Bus routes to site, subway stop a 5 minute shuttle ride from site 500,000 sqft of development space: Currently prepped for 4,000,000 sqft of office development, shovel ready Up to 8,000,000 Sq Ft of Development space beyond 2027: 13.5 Million square feet of space at full build out. Literally every box ticked, in a tax haven. The city could justify a BSL expansion to the Navy Yard with this sort of development, so they could throw that in as a deal sweetener. There is also the Schuylkill Yards district in planning which would involve capping the train yard next to 30th street station. Both Schuylkill Yards and the Navy Yard have master plans in place, and the Navy Yard is ready for this basically day one. Both are Keystone Opportunity Zones and have abatements on almost all state and local taxes. Philly really is a perfect fit.
- ecshafer 9y ago
  I was thinking center City. But you're right, navy yard would be a good fit.
- irl_zebra 9y ago
  Thought you were talking about Navy Yard, DC. It it just about the same.
prostoalex 9y ago
Philadelphia has gross receipts tax https://business.phila.gov/overview-of-business-income-and-receipts-tax/ https://business.phila.gov/overview-of-business-income-and-r...
- ecshafer 9y ago
  Yeah... That we need to get rid of. or that could be a concession. I think Comcast has something similar, their hq is here.
- AbortedWalrus 9y ago
  Any development Amazon did would be in KOZ (Keystone Opportunity Zones) which have existing tax abatements on most forms of taxes. Comcast was the initiator and argued for those tax incentives, so you know they've got to be pretty good. That means no fighting with state or local legislatures as the tax incentives are in place. Amazon would automatically qualify since they would be coming in from out of state.
peterwwillis 9y ago
The problem with Philadelphia is it's got too many poor people. There is a significant amount of crime, a lack of available housing, and a lack of land that would be easy to develop. Trying to acquire and develop land in Philly runs into problems of reducing the amount of affordable housing. The city has advertised for bids multiple times to develop new properties, and only one or two people will bid. When someone does bid, it is for ten times the cost of other similar private development, and with many fewer available units than needed. And of course, there is already no parking, and parking garages are being demolished regularly in center city to be replaced with high priced rental units. Assuming you got the space for your HQ and finished construction within a few years, where are your young tech people going to live? Out in the suburbs on regional rail, away from the amenities in the city? Gentrify a few more neighborhoods and build more ugly cubic-modern apartments? I just don't see where they'd put all those new people.

dkhenry 9y ago

I don't understand how Philadelphia is not near the top of the list. The cost of living is way lower then any other top 10 metro area, There is a huge local talent base, and lots of highly ranked feeder schools.

the_d00d 9y ago
Where are you getting your numbers from? Philadelphia's cost of living is higher than say.... Dallas (And Houston And Austin). Plus DFW metropolitan area is the 4th largest in the US (7.2 million) whereas Philly is 7th (6 million). Sorry..I couldn't resist using Dallas as an example considering it is American Football season. Sources: Cost of living (1) https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&city1=Philadelphia%2C+PA&country2=United+States&city2=Dallas%2C+TX https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou... Cost of living (2) http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/dallas-tx/philadelphia-pa/75000 http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/dallas-tx/philadelp... Population https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statist...

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

And if Amazon attracts enough talent to turn Philly into a tech hub then PA will have all the same "one city runs the show and the rest of the state resents them" dynamic that NY and IL do. It's probably still a win for Philly though.

kingbirdy 9y ago
Philly is at least half way there already - it's just Philly and Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia is bigger.
- madcaptenor 9y ago
  And people in Philly basically don't think about Pittsburgh. Sure, it exists, but it may as well be in another state.

bradleyjg 9y ago

PHL has no trans-pacific flights. These are the American cities which you can fly to and from Shanghai nonstop: Chicago, Dallas, LA, NYC (+Newark), San Francisco (+San Jose), Detroit, Seattle, Boston. Atlanta starting next year. In Canada there's Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.

AshleyGrant 9y ago
PHL is a hub for American. There's no reason they couldn't start trans-pacific flights from PHL if the demand exists.
- trevyn 9y ago
  This reminds me of the SFO-ZRH route that spun up as a result of Roche buying Genentech: http://travelskills.com/2015/06/24/trip-report-swiss-roche-coach-sfo-zurich/ http://travelskills.com/2015/06/24/trip-report-swiss-roche-c...
AbortedWalrus 9y ago
Philadelphia is an hour by train to Newark Airport, which does non-stops to Beijing. It's not as ideal as it being in the local airport, but it's also not that far away.
- peterwwillis 9y ago
  United flies to both Shanghai ($795) and Beijing ($535) non-stop from Newark.

AbortedWalrus 9y ago

I posted this elsewhere but I'll repost here: The Navy Yard literally ticks every box of their requirements: 30 Mile proximity to population center: It's IN the city. 45 Minute proximity to international airport: It's about 15 minutes drive from the airport, or you can take mass transit. 1-2 Miles from Major highways: It sits basically ON I-95 Close to Major arterial roads: Within 10 minutes of 295, NJ Turnpike, I-76 Access to mass transit at site: Bus routes to site, subway stop a 5 minute shuttle ride from site 500,000 sqft of development space: Currently prepped for 4,000,000 sqft of office development, shovel ready Up to 8,000,000 Sq Ft of Development space beyond 2027: 13.5 Million square feet of space at full build out. Literally every box ticked, in a tax haven. The city could justify a BSL expansion to the Navy Yard with this sort of development, so they could throw that in as a deal sweetener. There is also the Schuylkill Yards district in planning which would involve capping the train yard next to 30th street station. Both Schuylkill Yards and the Navy Yard have master plans in place, and the Navy Yard is ready for this basically day one. Both are Keystone Opportunity Zones and have abatements on almost all state and local taxes. Philly really is a perfect fit.

ecshafer 9y ago
I was thinking center City. But you're right, navy yard would be a good fit.
irl_zebra 9y ago
Thought you were talking about Navy Yard, DC. It it just about the same.

prostoalex 9y ago

Philadelphia has gross receipts tax https://business.phila.gov/overview-of-business-income-and-receipts-tax/ https://business.phila.gov/overview-of-business-income-and-r...

ecshafer 9y ago
Yeah... That we need to get rid of. or that could be a concession. I think Comcast has something similar, their hq is here.
AbortedWalrus 9y ago
Any development Amazon did would be in KOZ (Keystone Opportunity Zones) which have existing tax abatements on most forms of taxes. Comcast was the initiator and argued for those tax incentives, so you know they've got to be pretty good. That means no fighting with state or local legislatures as the tax incentives are in place. Amazon would automatically qualify since they would be coming in from out of state.

peterwwillis 9y ago

The problem with Philadelphia is it's got too many poor people. There is a significant amount of crime, a lack of available housing, and a lack of land that would be easy to develop. Trying to acquire and develop land in Philly runs into problems of reducing the amount of affordable housing. The city has advertised for bids multiple times to develop new properties, and only one or two people will bid. When someone does bid, it is for ten times the cost of other similar private development, and with many fewer available units than needed. And of course, there is already no parking, and parking garages are being demolished regularly in center city to be replaced with high priced rental units. Assuming you got the space for your HQ and finished construction within a few years, where are your young tech people going to live? Out in the suburbs on regional rail, away from the amenities in the city? Gentrify a few more neighborhoods and build more ugly cubic-modern apartments? I just don't see where they'd put all those new people.