[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

The reason there was discussion in the first place is because Calgary does meet all the requirements (what does shipping have to do with it, BTW?) which is why it was fun to talk about.

Did you miss what Amazon does? Did you miss what several of the requirements are about?

Sure it doesn't have the best options for all the requirements, but checks the boxes nonetheless.

Okay, thank you for at least making an argument. Lets review.

-Metropolitan areas with more than one million people (CHECK)

Not in the top 50 metropolitan areas in North America. (STRIKE)

-A stable and business-friendly environment (CHECK)

Based on the slumping Calgary economy? Not really. Calgary's reliance on a single industry makes it subject to wild fluctuations in the economy and human resource availability.

-Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent (CHECK)

Okay, that's pretty generic, but I will give you a mark on that one. But how does Calgary differentiate itself from other metro centers in North America in this regard? Does Calgary make the top 10? The top 25? The top 50?

-Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options (Did you say thinking 'world class?' CHECK)

Okay, again, that's pretty generic. But how does Calgary differentiate itself from other metro centers in North America in this regard? Does Calgary make the top 10? The top 25? The top 50?

-Proximity to population center 30 Miles (CHECK)

Okay, again, that's pretty generic. But how does Calgary differentiate itself from other metro centers in North America in this regard? Does Calgary make the top 10? The top 25? The top 50? Seriously, you have to start finding something that Calgary is top of the charts in. So far the city is well down the list.

-Proximity to International airport Within approx. 45 Minutes (CHECK)

And Calgary International is not a very good airport. Does it compare to the big cargo handlers?

-Proximity to major highwaysand arterial roads Not more than 1-2 Miles (CHECK)

Most importantly, how close is it to the main arteries that service most of Amazon's customers? It's hundreds of miles away from a main artery that services any of Amazon's primary market.

-Access to mass transit At site (CHECK)

What site? Calgary doesn't meet the minimum requirements for the site.

-Initial Square Foot Requirement 500,000+ Sq. Ft. Phase I (2019) (CHECK AND CHECK)

Calgary falls short here. In fact, Walmart had to build a 400,000 sq ft space in Balzac to meet their warehouse needs.

-Total Square Foot Requirement Up to 8,000,000 Sq. Ft. Beyond 2027 (not many cities wouldn't make themselves be a CHECK with this)

You have this one right. Not many industrial parks have this much space available. This is a select few, and probably limited to New York/New Jersey, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, and a couple deep water ports on the east coast.

Again, not blowing away the competition with what the city offers, but has the requirements to propose anyway.

And that's just it, Calgary is not blowing away the competition, not even the Canadian competition. There are dozens of sites better south of the border and not needing to deal with the hassle of crossing the border with goods.

When I first heard about this I initially thought of Calgary and hoped they would throw their hat in the ring, just because of where my heart is. But then I started thinking pragmatically about it, and it just didn't add up. I live in one of the largest metropolitan areas on the continent, and even it is unprepared to meet the expectations of Amazon. We service a ton of goods as a hub, but we don't meet the needs of the Amazon reqs. This will likely go east, and go someplace that has similar capacity as Seattle. If it is in Canada, I would say Toronto. Even with the advantages Toronto has, I think it goes to an eastern port city with growth potential, like Jacksonville or Charleston, or an established site like Philadelphia or Newark.