Amazon HQ2

[cl94]

I've gotten the impression from living in Arlington that DC has similar levels of density in certain pockets, unlike my hometown of Seattle where tall buildings are pretty much only in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Everett.

Population density within the District is lower than it might be otherwise due to the ban on skyscrapers that are taller than 13 stories.

Precisely. Arlington and a few other areas just outside the District are actually DENSER because of the ban (14 stories including the ground floor). It's quite weird walking around and having every building be the same height.

[paulthemapguy]

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/02E465EA-E139-11E8-A5F4-C69C003E438C

According to MarketWatch there have been gripes and laughter in the wake of recent reports on HQ2 being split between two areas (NYC and Arlington).

>>when you take so long deciding on a location for HQ2 that the need for an HQ3 arises...

Also why would they choose two locations that are almost in the same region.  I'm from the Midwest, so I'm biased toward a more central location--like Dallas?  Weren't they also considering Dallas, too?

[Henry]

About time they picked a location! I wouldn't be surprised if HQ3 is eventually created, so that the cities that didn't get HQ2 could get a chance to bid again.

[ErmineNotyours]

You have to order two HQ2s in case someone steals one of them off your front porch.

[spooky]

About time they picked a location! I wouldn't be surprised if HQ3 is eventually created, so that the cities that didn't get HQ2 could get a chance to bid again.

If they're creating two HQ2s, then hasn't HQ3 already been created? Unless one is HQ2.1

[kalvado]

About time they picked a location! I wouldn't be surprised if HQ3 is eventually created, so that the cities that didn't get HQ2 could get a chance to bid again.

If they're creating two HQ2s, then hasn't HQ3 already been created? Unless one is HQ2.1

HQ2.1 and HQ2.2.018.a

[westerninterloper]

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

[TXtoNJ]

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

It's because Bezos knows his fortunes are tied to Wall Street and the national security state.

[kevinb1994]

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/02E465EA-E139-11E8-A5F4-C69C003E438C

According to MarketWatch there have been gripes and laughter in the wake of recent reports on HQ2 being split between two areas (NYC and Arlington).

>>when you take so long deciding on a location for HQ2 that the need for an HQ3 arises...

Also why would they choose two locations that are almost in the same region.  I'm from the Midwest, so I'm biased toward a more central location--like Dallas?  Weren't they also considering Dallas, too?

They didn't return to Dallas, so they're out. They did revisit Chicago, though. Also between Arlington and NYC is the Northeast Corridor-Northeast Regional Amtrak-NJ Transit line (originally lines built by predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad, except for the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad built and opened in 1910 for the original Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Midtown Manhattan).

[jakeroot]

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

Chicago's got a pretty good attraction too, but the crime makes DC look like Beverly Hills.

I've gotten the impression from living in Arlington that DC has similar levels of density in certain pockets, unlike my hometown of Seattle where tall buildings are pretty much only in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Everett.

Population density within the District is lower than it might be otherwise due to the ban on skyscrapers that are taller than 13 stories.

Precisely. Arlington and a few other areas just outside the District are actually DENSER because of the ban (14 stories including the ground floor). It's quite weird walking around and having every building be the same height.

In terms of pure density, even with its lower height buildings DC is still pretty dense. those middle height buildings are everywhere, unlike some other urban areas, where single family housing picks up 10 blocks from the center of the city. DC still has single family housing, but they're in the form of townhouses for the most part.

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but when L'Enfant design DC, he was emulating Haussmann's Parisian boulevards. Paris has since built La Defense, to make up for a similar building height restriction. DC made up for it by having two jurisdictions close by which did not have height restrictions.

[kevinb1994]

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

Chicago's got a pretty good attraction too, but the crime makes DC look like Beverly Hills.

I've gotten the impression from living in Arlington that DC has similar levels of density in certain pockets, unlike my hometown of Seattle where tall buildings are pretty much only in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Everett.

Population density within the District is lower than it might be otherwise due to the ban on skyscrapers that are taller than 13 stories.

Precisely. Arlington and a few other areas just outside the District are actually DENSER because of the ban (14 stories including the ground floor). It's quite weird walking around and having every building be the same height.

In terms of pure density, even with its lower height buildings DC is still pretty dense. those middle height buildings are everywhere, unlike some other urban areas, where single family housing picks up 10 blocks from the center of the city. DC still has single family housing, but they're in the form of townhouses for the most part.

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but when L'Enfant design DC, he was emulating Haussmann's Parisian boulevards. Paris has since built La Defense, to make up for a similar building height restriction. DC made up for it by having two jurisdictions close by which did not have height restrictions.

And to draw further comparison(s) between the two, both are the capitals of the countries they are located in.

[jakeroot]

And to draw further comparison(s) between the two, both are the capitals of the countries they are located in.

Hence why Napolean dropped all that cash on Paris in the mid-19th Century. Grand Boulevards for the Capital! L'Enfant wanted the same thing.

[TXtoNJ]

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but when L'Enfant design DC, he was emulating Haussmann's Parisian boulevards. Paris has since built La Defense, to make up for a similar building height restriction. DC made up for it by having two jurisdictions close by which did not have height restrictions.

Whoa - that timeline is way out of whack. DC was designed in 1791, while the Haussmannian renovation wasn't commissioned until 1853, a direct response to the cloistered street barricades that made suppressing the 1848 revolts so difficult.

[kevinb1994]

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but when L'Enfant design DC, he was emulating Haussmann's Parisian boulevards. Paris has since built La Defense, to make up for a similar building height restriction. DC made up for it by having two jurisdictions close by which did not have height restrictions.

Whoa - that timeline is way out of whack. DC was designed in 1791, while the Haussmannian renovation wasn't commissioned until 1853, a direct response to the cloistered street barricades that made suppressing the 1848 revolts so difficult.

Whoops. Didn't know that that was the case.

[kphoger]

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

Chicago's got a pretty good attraction too, but the crime makes DC look like Beverly Hills.

Not really.  I just picked three types of crime and compared the three cities in question.  Chicago and DC are pretty comparable when it comes to crime.  NYC is the outlier of the three, with significantly lower crime.

Always fact-check the media hype.

[webny99]

Vancouver's skyscraper situation is reminiscent of some Asian cities. There's a main city centre but there's a ton of other smaller hubs with shopping and housing, usually in the form of 30+ storey buildings. Check out "Vancouverism" on Wikipedia.

Well put. I remember thinking, when I was in Vancouver, that its city center looks like what I imagine large Japanese cities to look like.

[kevinb1994]

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

Chicago's got a pretty good attraction too, but the crime makes DC look like Beverly Hills.

Not really.  I just picked three types of crime and compared the three cities in question.  Chicago and DC are pretty comparable when it comes to crime.  NYC is the outlier of the three, with significantly lower crime.

Always fact-check the media hype.

Yeah NYC does has lower crime as compared to Chicago and DC. It hasn't always been this way, though. Back when my father was growing up in Parsippany-Troy Hills (technically in Troy Hills Village) in the 60s and 70s (my mother and her family arrived from Taichung-Taipei-Taoyuan via SFO->JFK in the early-mid 70s and settled in Jackson) it wasn't as safe due to lead poisoning of children and the notorious crack epidemic.

[kphoger]

Yeah NYC does has lower crime as compared to Chicago and DC. It hasn't always been this way, though. Back when my father was growing up in Parsippany-Troy Hills (technically in Troy Hills Village) in the 60s and 70s (my mother and her family arrived from Taichung-Taipei-Taoyuan via SFO->JFK in the early-mid 70s and settled in Jackson) it wasn't as safe due to lead poisoning of children and the notorious crack epidemic.

I can only easily find data back as far as 1985 but, FYI, it was a tighter bunch back then.

[jakeroot]

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but when L'Enfant design DC, he was emulating Haussmann's Parisian boulevards. Paris has since built La Defense, to make up for a similar building height restriction. DC made up for it by having two jurisdictions close by which did not have height restrictions.

Whoa - that timeline is way out of whack. DC was designed in 1791, while the Haussmannian renovation wasn't commissioned until 1853, a direct response to the cloistered street barricades that made suppressing the 1848 revolts so difficult.

Yes, this is true. Thanks for pointing that out. Got my dates and names mixed up. They both had similar ideas in mind with troops movement and line of sight ideals. Being able to see the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, or being able to see the Capitol building in DC, for example.

Pretty clear this decision is coming down to talent and transport. NYC and DC are two of the biggest tech markets in the east, and have very good transit compared to places like Dallas. NYC and DC are also global centers, no other east coast or midwest cities attract talent like they can already.

Chicago's got a pretty good attraction too, but the crime makes DC look like Beverly Hills.

Not really.  I just picked three types of crime and compared the three cities in question.  Chicago and DC are pretty comparable when it comes to crime.  NYC is the outlier of the three, with significantly lower crime.

Always fact-check the media hype.

I should have said Arlington (since that's where Amazon would be). Murder rate in Arlington, per 100k persons, is 5.3 (same as national average) according to FBI data from this September. It also shows a rate of 16.7 for DC: https://goo.gl/UyU5Vn

[paulthemapguy]

Not really.  I just picked three types of crime and compared the three cities in question.  Chicago and DC are pretty comparable when it comes to crime.  NYC is the outlier of the three, with significantly lower crime.

Always fact-check the media hype.

(graphs)

Pretty sure Amazon isn't going to put their HQ in a crime-ridden poor neighborhood of ANY city.

[kphoger]

I should have said Arlington (since that's where Amazon would be). Murder rate in Arlington, per 100k persons, is 5.3 (same as national average) according to FBI data from this September. It also shows a rate of 16.7 for DC: https://goo.gl/UyU5Vn

Would an HQ2 in Chicago be in the city itself or in one of the suburbs?  I remember both possibilities in the original bids.

Pretty sure Amazon isn't going to put their HQ in a crime-ridden poor neighborhood of ANY city.

This highlights the limited usefulness of crime statistics.  Some neighborhoods are much more violent than others, even within the same city.  Furthermore, comparing city to city (or neighborhood to neighborhood) doesn't give you any understanding of whether those numbers you're comparing are high or low–just how they compare to each other.  Unless you have some sort of baseline for what "normal" is, than the statistics only mean so much.

[Brandon]

I should have said Arlington (since that's where Amazon would be). Murder rate in Arlington, per 100k persons, is 5.3 (same as national average) according to FBI data from this September. It also shows a rate of 16.7 for DC: https://goo.gl/UyU5Vn

Would an HQ2 in Chicago be in the city itself or in one of the suburbs?  I remember both possibilities in the original bids.

If Chicago, it would be only in Chicago.  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel is heading up the bid.  I sincerely doubt he'll want any part of it in any suburb.

[abefroman329]

Not really.  I just picked three types of crime and compared the three cities in question.  Chicago and DC are pretty comparable when it comes to crime.  NYC is the outlier of the three, with significantly lower crime.

Always fact-check the media hype.

(graphs)

Pretty sure Amazon isn't going to put their HQ in a crime-ridden poor neighborhood of ANY city.

Actually, that's how urban regeneration frequently works, because the land is cheap there.  That's exactly how it worked in several neighborhoods in DC.

[Bruce]

Tuesday announcement expected for Long Island City and Crystal City.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/business/amazon-hq2-cities.html

[Doctor Whom]

Here we go. Nashville gets a smaller swag bag.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/amazon-hq2-decision-amazon-splits-hq2-prize-between-crystal-city-and-new-york/2018/11/12/316d2a32-e2c9-11e8-8f5f-a55347f48762_story.html?utm_term=.1bc33661ce3e