Posted by:
Amyjo
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Date: October 20, 2017 12:47PM
With the prospect of bringing more than 50,000 jobs to the region it decides upon for its second home, next to Seattle. At least 73 cities have put in bids to be the one Amazon chooses.
"[A]lthough the $5 billion project is sure to inject billions of dollars into the local economy and provide work for thousands of residents, some economists are warning that hosting the retail giant could bring on some equally giant headaches.
"It feels like 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,'" Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told NBC News. "It's a real prize, but they're going to need to be very disciplined. It's a big deal, a big project with lots of moving parts."
While residents of the chosen city will likely reap the benefits of high-paying jobs and skyrocketing property values, they may also have to contend with some pain points as Amazon gets settled.
Traffic jams and labor pains
"It's a big construction project, and all large projects can be a bit of a nuisance to the existing residents," Zandi said of the proposed eight-million-square-foot headquarters.
For a start, that means an influx of construction workers and materials coming to and from the site. This will raise the cost of labor for other businesses, Zandi said, since Amazon will be competing for workers.
"People will move in to take the jobs, but it will probably put pressure on other businesses in the community who have the same labor pool," he said. "Some businesses might not be that excited."
Traffic patterns in the chosen city will also be forever changed as thousands of workers commute to and from the new headquarters. Amazon is targeting metropolitan areas with more than one million people and within a 45-minute drive to an international airport.
"There could be all kinds of traffic problems associated with a burst of construction and a change in location of employment," Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution, told NBC News.
And, while traffic jams may already be a way of life in cities like Phoenix and Chicago, they're "the kinds of problems cities like Buffalo and Rochester and St. Louis dream of having," he said, noting that these are "problems of prosperity."
However, Tom Kucharski, president and CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara — which is launching a joint bid with neighboring Rochester — said he sees the benefit of Amazon choosing a city looking for a resurgence.
"The benefit we have is, through the structural reordering of industries over the past 100 years, we have infrastructures that can accommodate new investments in rail, airports can ramp up greater service," Kucharski said. "Where a lot of other communities may struggle with housing and workforce, we are sitting here ready for this opportunity....
While each city has made its own particular case, Moody's scored the competing cities in five categories: business environment, human capital, cost, quality of life, and transportation and geography.
Using a data-driven approach, it found Austin, Texas, was in first place, with Atlanta a close second. Philadelphia, the Rochester-Buffalo joint bid, and Pittsburgh rounded out the top five.
Ultimately, the winning factor will likely be the good will of residents, said Zandi.
"Amazon wants to be welcomed by the community. If there are people protesting or objecting, I would think it would have an impact on Amazon's location decision," he said. "They want to make sure the community wants them as much as they want to be there.""
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/why-amazon-s-new-5-billion-headquarters-may-ruin-your-n811411