Quote:
Originally Posted by Roughneck
So Denver and Austin are popular choices even though they don't have great access to Amazon's major market, are landlocked, and don't stack up in the air cargo department, and are on the wrong half of the top 50 Metro populations.
It's almost like the logistical requirements you think they're looking for aren't the ones they're actually looking for.
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Popular choices? I wouldn't go so far as to say that. They are cities that have expressed interest in tossing their hat into the ring, and the people writing the articles suggest they would be good landing areas for Amazon. There was obvious bias to certain criteria by those working on those articles. For example the reliance on the cost of housing by the reference from Zillow. There's a lot more to the decision than where cheap housing is. I can understand the idea of referencing this as part of the criteria for the articles though, but I think they may have gone a little overboard in this regard.
I can understand the appreciation for Denver. It is a beautiful city and does have some interesting options in its favor. Denver has pretty good infrastructure and is a fairly new city in the big picture. It has a great airport which acts as a hub for many carriers, and it does handle a decent amount of cargo. Denver does have a good tech sector, ranked in the top 10 markets for tech workers. Denver does offer some decent educational options with Colorado State (Denver), University of Denver, Regis University, and Metropolitan State, servicing about 65,000 students.
Denver does has its drawbacks. Cost of living isn't cheap, with an 79.83 CLI score. At 2.85 million people, can it handle the requirements of adding another 50,000 to the workforce? Can the infrastructure handle the increase demand for almost everything? You have to consider the climate and the impact it could have on business operations. For example, Denver ranks top five for flight delays for American airports. It is isolated because of its geography. Being the mile high city does have its drawbacks.
Another city that jumps out at me as a potential candidate is Dallas/Ft. Worth. 4th largest metro city in the nation with a population of over 7 million people. Great infrastructure and logistical systems. DFW is one of the biggest airport hubs in the nation and handles a massive amount of air cargo. DFW is also a hub for rail and truck traffic. The city also boasts being top 20 for tech jobs and can rely on a number of great universities (U of T Dallas, Texas A&M, SMU, TCU, University of Dallas, etc.) and colleges for filling the job pool. With a CLI of 67.86 it comes in as one of the lowest in the nation. Coupled with low taxes Dallas seems like a natural target.
I just don't see how a small Canadian city can compete. If Amazon was thinking of a small city, they would be best to target Memphis, where everything is cheap. Meets all measures from a business point of view. The only thing hurting it is the lack of a tech sector, but based on Amazon's business, Memphis might be the best place for them in the long run. I just don't see how a city that size could deal with the massive rapid increase in people and the pressure it would place on the infrastructure.