OT: CNBC gives Pittsburgh a D+ in suitability for the home of Amazon's second U.S. headquarters.

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Whatever happened to Luke, anyhow? He has basically dropped off the face of the earth. I haven't seen a picture of him in a bar surrounded by women in a long time.

What, do you miss him?

Luke never faced the consequences of having a city vehicle and driver run him and the posse out to Star Lake for a concert and drinkfest. The best though was when he was up at Seven Springs for a weekend and got snowed in. The city is buried under an avalanche of snow while Mayor Juice Box is schussing down the slopes.

 

[LurkerLazarus]

That actually was pretty hilarious, that he was getting drunk and laid in the mountains and basically refused to come home and take care of business. Although, sneaking into the US Open was also a classic.

 

[GreggK]

As a NYer I want nothing to do with Amazon, but let me say, that list is total BS.

NY gets an F for talent? Apparently they used a "Per Capita" list to determine this. On those lists, a place like Madison Wisconsin rates higher, but considering the NY, NJ Conn area has about 23 Million People, there are MANY more graduates than in a place like Denver or Seattle.

"Stability" seems to be a judgement call to me as does location.

Hilarious that people actually thought they would move to Atlanta or Raleigh.
No one can match the talent in NYC. Sorry guys, all your taxes breaks can't buy you brains.

 

[Op2]

I'm sure a key issue for Amazon will be attracting talented workers to the new location. Pittsburgh has one of the worst climates in the country -- hot, humid summers -- little sun in a dreary winter. Also, Pittsburgh has a horrible transportation system with the roads being pothole filled mazes with miserable traffic jams being the rule. The weather and the road system is enough to cause Amazon to reject Pittsburgh.

I'll agree with most of that but hot, humid summer? I'm not sure about the humid part but Pittsburgh summers aren't hot unless you're from somewhere really cold.

 

[tboyer]

Hilarious that people actually thought they would move to Atlanta or Raleigh.
No one can match the talent in NYC. Sorry guys, all your taxes breaks can't buy you brains.

I agree the tax breaks are probably minor compared to labor force. There is plenty of IT talent in Raleigh/Durham (or, for that matter Charlotte) and of course Atlanta.

If the choice turns out to be Arlington/Queens, the first one certainly makes sense because Bezos lives in DC much of the year.

I think Queens is a great choice. Gives Amazon access to the NYC labor force -- and maybe not so much for IT but for marketing/financial expertise. Amazon is really big on managing by metrics. Queens is actually a better commute for a lot of that labor force than Manhattan or Brooklyn, housing costs aren't quite as nutty and you have just incredible cultural diversity.

Really if you look at at the 30 city list, Arlington and Queens just happen to be two of the most culturally/racially diverse areas of all those cities (Miami would also be up there).

One thing Seattle is racial/cultural diversity -- it's a very white upper-class city. Getting into Queens and Arlington helps Bezos build a more diverse, more international work force which is going to help them as they grow.

 

[BobPSU92]

I agree the tax breaks are probably minor compared to labor force. There is plenty of IT talent in Raleigh/Durham (or, for that matter Charlotte) and of course Atlanta.

If the choice turns out to be Arlington/Queens, the first one certainly makes sense because Bezos lives in DC much of the year.

I think Queens is a great choice. Gives Amazon access to the NYC labor force -- and maybe not so much for IT but for marketing/financial expertise. Amazon is really big on managing by metrics. Queens is actually a better commute for a lot of that labor force than Manhattan or Brooklyn, housing costs aren't quite as nutty and you have just incredible cultural diversity.

Really if you look at at the 30 city list, Arlington and Queens just happen to be two of the most culturally/racially diverse areas of all those cities (Miami would also be up there).

One thing Seattle is racial/cultural diversity -- it's a very white upper-class city. Getting into Queens and Arlington helps Bezos build a more diverse, more international work force which is going to help them as they grow.

 

[Media Fan]

The Brookings Institute would appear to disagree with CNBC. Below is a link to their report of just 2 months ago. The article points out that there is still work to be done, and I am concerned about the leadership of the current mayor, Bill Peduto, who I consider 2nd rate. Still, the city is well positioned as a technology leader and the future is bright.

"Brookings just released a report on Pittsburgh’s innovation economy that drives this point home. The city’s current position—as a center of world-class research institutions, technology-intense manufacturing, and high-skill workers—is the result of a decades-long process that began in small, niche research labs at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh and has grown organically into region-wide competencies, now attracting investments from major firms such as Google, Uber, and GE."

"Pittsburgh embodies a new growth model. The city’s current position is the result of quiet leadership from across the public, private, and civic sectors, by people who understood the need to move away from a sole reliance on heavy industry, and developed the robust innovation ecosystem powering today’s growth. Up to this point, focusing on developing technological strengths has put Pittsburgh among the thirty or so global cities that are positioned as leaders in next-generation technologies."

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/metr...7/09/25/why-the-future-looks-like-pittsburgh/

Good for you; that has been my impression as well.

 

[CoastFan]

"One thing Seattle is racial/cultural diversity -- it's a very white upper-class city."

Wouldn't agree with this characterization now. The Seattle metro area demographics are starting to mirror that of the San Francisco Bay area and for basically the same reasons. The West Coast locations and the high tech industries will do that.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

In places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, they would be just another player.

NYC is the clear outlier in that list...metro populations of the other 3 combined ALMOST reach that of the Big Apple.

 

[LemonEars]

I'll agree with most of that but hot, humid summer? I'm not sure about the humid part but Pittsburgh summers aren't hot unless you're from somewhere really cold.

I've lived a number of places and have traveled a bit. I've been in Pittsburgh for about 40 years. The weather in Pittsburgh seems unique in that there are very few pleasant (say 60-77 degrees with low humidity and sun) weather days. Pittsburgh winters are long, dreary, cold, and damp. Summers are usually 85ish with high humidity and plenty of rain. Other areas of the country that I have experienced have similar conditions except spring and fall have plenty of pleasant days. Pittsburgh doesn't seem to have many pleasant days. Winter seems to last until mid-May and then summer begins. Summer lasts until early October and then winter begins. Weather-wise, Pittsburgh is a miserable place to live.

 

[lein]

I haven't followed the Amazon drama other than being in the NW, I hear about the Seattle vs Amazon bickering over tax policy.

This whole 2nd HQ strikes me as just a play by Amazon to have leverage over Seattle and eventually city #2. Do what Amazon wants else we'll move our HQ people (and taxdollars) to the other city.

I suspect they'll relocate to some warm weather area, get a sweat deal, then immediate demand concessions from Seattle that match what they got elsewhere.

 

[CoastFan]

I haven't followed the Amazon drama other than being in the NW, I hear about the Seattle vs Amazon bickering over tax policy.

This whole 2nd HQ strikes me as just a play by Amazon to have leverage over Seattle and eventually city #2. Do what Amazon wants else we'll move our HQ people (and taxdollars) to the other city.

I suspect they'll relocate to some warm weather area, get a sweat deal, then immediate demand concessions from Seattle that match what they got elsewhere.

Power plays between government and corporations are a two way street. Government can leverage the heck out of (big) businesses as a (direct or indirect) tax cash cow until the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg is killed.
I live in the Seattle metro area. Obviously Boeing is a very large employer in the area. Of course, a number of years ago Boeing moved their corporate HQ to Chicago. They are also manufacturing elsewhere now to a certain extent.
The debate as to who is "at fault" will always consist of much differing points of view, depending on where one's socio-political perspectives are.
That's the way things have always been it seems. Businesses, and people, go where they believe their futures are best served.

 

[TheGLOV]

See the link below. No, yellow seats were not cited as a reason. They should have been, but weren't.

From the article:

"If Amazon plans to stick to the stated criteria for its coveted second headquarters location, it may want to look south, at least according to a new CNBC analysis using data from our 2017 America's Top States for Business study and the Census Bureau.

The analysis gives high grades to a number of southern cities, including Atlanta, Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina. Other strong contenders are within the Washington, D.C., area, including Northern Virginia; and Austin, Texas. All have strong workforces, reasonably good economies and business-friendly regulations."

And,

"Other cities that have attracted attention with their bids may also have a hard time measuring up. Detroit, which is reported to have developed its bid in cooperation with neighboring Windsor, Ontario, nonetheless rates a C+. The local economy has improved considerably since the city's 2013 bankruptcy, but it is not quite there yet.

It is a similar story for Pittsburgh, which has performed well in other studies, including the Moody's analysis. But our grade is a D+, due in large part to Pennsylvania's relatively stagnant economy."

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/20/these-cities-may-win-war-for-amazons-new-headquarters.html

I suspect this article could generate a lot of . Then again, we probably shouldn't be surprised (by Pittsburgh's rating, but also by the that results).

This just means that Pittsburgh must be the front-runner!

 

[GreggK]

I haven't followed the Amazon drama other than being in the NW, I hear about the Seattle vs Amazon bickering over tax policy.

This whole 2nd HQ strikes me as just a play by Amazon to have leverage over Seattle and eventually city #2. Do what Amazon wants else we'll move our HQ people (and taxdollars) to the other city.

I suspect they'll relocate to some warm weather area, get a sweat deal, then immediate demand concessions from Seattle that match what they got elsewhere.

There isn't just one City #2. It is going to be NYC and DC together.

So no, they won't relocate to some warm weather area.

 

[Op2]

I've lived a number of places and have traveled a bit. I've been in Pittsburgh for about 40 years. The weather in Pittsburgh seems unique in that there are very few pleasant (say 60-77 degrees with low humidity and sun) weather days. Pittsburgh winters are long, dreary, cold, and damp. Summers are usually 85ish with high humidity and plenty of rain. Other areas of the country that I have experienced have similar conditions except spring and fall have plenty of pleasant days. Pittsburgh doesn't seem to have many pleasant days. Winter seems to last until mid-May and then summer begins. Summer lasts until early October and then winter begins. Weather-wise, Pittsburgh is a miserable place to live.

I didn't realize Pittsburgh had so many cloudy days but I looked it up and sure enough it's true.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-sunshine-by-city.php

 

[LemonEars]

I didn't realize Pittsburgh had so many cloudy days but I looked it up and sure enough it's true.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-sunshine-by-city.php

Yep, your link confirms what I have been experiencing. Pittsburgh averages only 2021 hours of sunshine for the whole year. This is the lowest of any city in the list. It's little wonder why Amazon rejected Pittsburgh as a headquarters city.

 

[GreggK]

NYC is the clear outlier in that list...metro populations of the other 3 combined ALMOST reach that of the Big Apple.

Certain people just don't want to believe a major corporation would consider NYC because of their political beliefs.
They assume that of course, every single corporation would want to go to a place they consider to be "friendlier"

But as we have recently learned with FoxConn, things can go wrong when a company might choose to go to one of those places.
In this particular instance, FoxConn is going to have to "import" thousands of chinese engineers to Wisconsin.

 

[LurkerLazarus]

Yep, your link confirms what I have been experiencing. Pittsburgh averages only 2021 hours of sunshine for the whole year. This is the lowest of any city in the list. It's little wonder why Amazon rejected Pittsburgh as a headquarters city.

Damn, if I were you, I'd just never step foot in Pittsburgh again. It would do wonders for your outlook.