4 ms·

I dont understand it. We seem to have decided as a culture that absolutely everything had to be in like five cities. Its a major contributor to division and pol

by api 8y ago

I dont understand it. We seem to have decided as a culture that absolutely everything had to be in like five cities. Its a major contributor to division and polarization and a trend that is destroying the middle class.

CPLX 8y ago
At least we have five of them. Pity those poor English, for example.
abcdcba 8y ago
I mean there are a lot of economic reasons for that, right?
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  Yep. A company like Amazon will have some natural needs. No other city can really beat NYC for meeting those needs. Not Chicago. Not Toronto. Not Raleigh. Not Jersey. And certainly not Texas. By air, land, and sea the best and most bountiful transport links to the rest of the US, or to the Europe-Africa side of the world, are out of NYC. Now maybe we can change that? But we don't seem to be working towards changing it. So as of today, and for the foreseeable future, NYC is the best hub.
  - taysic 8y ago
    I think they could meet those needs elsewhere but they can be choosey so why not.
jowiar 8y ago
Taking the slider to the other extreme, you end up with company towns everywhere, and there are a whole lot of burned out husks of civilization that are memories to that. Until we truly solve remote, there will be some concentration. And there's value to that as an employee. If your employer goes kaput, or you're stagnating in your career, or you have an abusive boss, there are plenty of opportunities available, and enough of them that one shock to the system won't break the local economy. Of course, the flip side of that is that real estate values go through the roof.
- hueving 8y ago
  >Taking the slider to the other extreme, you end up with company towns everywhere Why would you go to the other extreme? There are hundreds of large cities around the US that could easily headquarter these big companies and not become company towns.
  - jowiar 8y ago
    Hundreds is a stretch. When you get down to the hundredth-largest city you’re at Des Moines, population 217k. At that point, if the company were to say “zero our taxes or we leave”, the city would do as told. How small can a city be and have a healthy relationship with an employer of 25,000?
    - api 8y ago
      These kinds of demands for special treatment need to be made illegal. That would help.

by api 8y ago

CPLX 8y ago

At least we have five of them. Pity those poor English, for example.

abcdcba 8y ago

I mean there are a lot of economic reasons for that, right?

bilbo0s 8y ago
Yep. A company like Amazon will have some natural needs. No other city can really beat NYC for meeting those needs. Not Chicago. Not Toronto. Not Raleigh. Not Jersey. And certainly not Texas. By air, land, and sea the best and most bountiful transport links to the rest of the US, or to the Europe-Africa side of the world, are out of NYC. Now maybe we can change that? But we don't seem to be working towards changing it. So as of today, and for the foreseeable future, NYC is the best hub.
- taysic 8y ago
  I think they could meet those needs elsewhere but they can be choosey so why not.

jowiar 8y ago

Taking the slider to the other extreme, you end up with company towns everywhere, and there are a whole lot of burned out husks of civilization that are memories to that. Until we truly solve remote, there will be some concentration. And there's value to that as an employee. If your employer goes kaput, or you're stagnating in your career, or you have an abusive boss, there are plenty of opportunities available, and enough of them that one shock to the system won't break the local economy. Of course, the flip side of that is that real estate values go through the roof.

hueving 8y ago
>Taking the slider to the other extreme, you end up with company towns everywhere Why would you go to the other extreme? There are hundreds of large cities around the US that could easily headquarter these big companies and not become company towns.
- jowiar 8y ago
  Hundreds is a stretch. When you get down to the hundredth-largest city you’re at Des Moines, population 217k. At that point, if the company were to say “zero our taxes or we leave”, the city would do as told. How small can a city be and have a healthy relationship with an employer of 25,000?
  - api 8y ago
    These kinds of demands for special treatment need to be made illegal. That would help.