nowensone

No, no hostile words were used, nor angry opinions stated, and the response wasn't random either, you're either the recipient or victim of corporate locations, a mix of both in this and the Bad News thread, which were presumably created in part for those respective scenarios. In the case of Johnson City, it sounds like they don't have a long list of other opportunities, so I think it's part of a broader point to be wary of things like this, and companies who do this with any frequency. I'm now wondering if you have some connection at play here. But to be fair, I'm certain I had had a few beers when I posted that, so perhaps you read my mind and not my words.

I see nothing there that says personally angry, and I have no connection with Johnson City, but I do feel for them a bit. The article KJH referenced explains how they arrived there, and some of their responses, the lack of integrity reference was to the info contained in the article. One can detect some fishy-ness there. And Toz nailed it, couldn't help but think of Chiquitta when I read that, even if it's not really the same.

That is the kind of unique approach that could work, this example is inadequate, humorous though. To echo various positions, this sounds like an NFL team threatening it's home city for a new stadium, just don't see the equivalent here, Seattle has had difficulties with Amazon and there will be no compromise/accommodation from what I've read. CLT's best approach given the flood may be to half-ass an intentionally low-ball offer, with it's own "demands", and play nonchalant/hard-to-get, with a subtle sell. As great as this may be, there is a bit of a smell about it.

But didn't crossing giant river-like boulevard of Liberty Central Pkwy [correction] strike you as a massive negative? Very fond of some aspects of Cincinnati, but I don't think it compares like that, the areas you refer to are nice, though are slightly plastic and hollow, I'd choose the north areas to highlight.

Sounds a bit fishy, and find it hard to be positive about this, Johnson City got screwed, and we could be yet another spring board ourselves given the integrity displayed here. Reality/economics are what they are, but what comes goes.

Late to this, and understand your comment for what it is, though I'd argue much will change if we make it another 500 years into the future, one can simply look 500 years into the past to see how that may go. Dick measuring has pretty much defined the entirety of world history at that.

Greensboro has gotten more love for certain on the asphalt, though lets not wax romantic here, nor be catty. It is as auto-centric as any example derided generally, and is likewise quite congested, per capita. Holden is no exception, a factor of time of day being important, if you mean that stretch of bridge over I-40, yeah, that has fallen in use as travel/centers shift elsewhere.

Yeah my son had fun as we raised it by 50m at a time, Denver is certainly in an ideal position!

http://www.floodmap.net/ Pretty cool, you can specify the water level to increase by. It's a little buggy but still in beta.

If they're thinking long term, they will want to stay away from coastal cities, $5+ billion is a lot of investment. Posting a cool flood map site I found in the Coffee house.

If only that were bizarre enough to work... although it would make the case for 50 other cities. Winter, Lake Placid, 1980. That's the kind of atypical surprise pitch that just might work, if done in a nuanced manner, not too self-effacing, retain confidence and dignity in ourselves, but hook them with the big sell - the Rome was a sleepy hamlet once too kind of argument.

Wow, see, that's the kind of thing I am worried about.. As to the Boston leak, there are seemingly legitimate reports of it, though they mention "several" senior execs in favor of it, that would only be statistically significant if those senior execs make up a high enough percent of the team making the selection. It is however worrisome in how different of a location Boston is from CLT, I can just imagine the debates on subjects like culture, politics and history behind closed doors.

Forgive a slight amount of cynicism, but mostly curiosity, why do you think they can handle it? Don't mean the standard fare product, rather that rare 1% level of professional.

We have a few people in this thread alone who are talented/persuasive writers, so I couldn't help but wonder who is editing/reviewing any proposals we submit. So at the CRP and Chamber, is there that level of talent, and transparency? http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article172576831.html?CID=9370888&BSD_SID=30745

I think its time to call this one a failure and spawn a new version of the Matrix.

Those lengths were of the full loop itself, not "sides", so areas of squares versus circles not really relevant here unless the argument is some loops are more square-like than circles. Some do more resemble the former.

^ Probably, and I agree with KJH's east coast assessment, not because it matters to their distribution network (although it might to a degree), but because it can matter from a risk/disaster recovery standpoint, and I truly do think they are looking at costs here as well. Seems to me to explain the comment about easy air travel to the cities they mention, all of which are very expensive.

The lengths: 285: 63.98 miles 485: 67.6 miles 465: 52.79 miles Those don't seem to gel to the area numbers, I just learned that calculating area from perimeter is not really possible though in these cases the loops are fairly circular.

Good data/arguments presented here, though the Brookings analysis is disappointing as it is incomplete, not just simple, and therefore questionable. You can't leave out metrics like cost of real estate and living, unemployment rates, number of candidates seeking jobs, and available contiguous/adjacent space among other things. Considering Amazon's stated requirements, that would eliminate some of their "contenders" outright. As said previously in the thread, they specifically mention travel to certain places which would seem to preclude those very places from being candidates as well. Didn't even think of Baltimore, seems a longshot but could be a sleeper pick no one expected. Charlotte looks as if it could actually stand a chance..

Those numbers can't be right, initially I thought that because I drive half of Indy's every 2-3 weeks and it's a colossal, long pain and no better than several others on that list I've driven often that it is supposedly much smaller than in comparison. A quick loop length check of several of those reveals the area numbers can't be right, or they're eliminating water and other such things in area calcs. I think length would be the better assessment of a loop anyway. To your argument, I think we're fortunate in that by the time we're needing 6-10 lanes in each direction we won't be able to afford it. Or transportation modes will have actually evolved.

Yeah its got that Tolkien-like fantasy look that distorts all narratives of reality into "I want that".

Rather ominous, the metros in scope by that path are pretty obvious, with little escape by major population centers in Florida in particular. Makes one wonder at the extreme growth in places in this country, and how that might change. Still though, I keep returning to the thought that at a macro level, this has to be a net positive for the economy, excepting the human element of the equation.

My immediate short list upon hearing this on NPR earlier was Austin, then Atlanta. Metro size + Tech community + required amenities + COLA + Political stature. Of course CLT is worth considering but we have a few unfortunate impediments - a self-defeating legislature, a still too recent HB1 debacle (doubt that will soon be forgotten by a Seattleite), and the fact that the North Extension is delayed until next year, meaning the appearance of massive amounts of dirt and shovels, in NODA in particular, is also delayed. Given a visit that might have been the subtle edge. The thing I noted that they said is that Proposals had a six week deadline, and that was it, and that incentives would be a big component of their decision. Holding a huge breath but the state has stumbled ineptly several times of late and does not inspire confidence. RTP would be interesting, and possibly a better cultural fit, but seems too small, even though supposedly Amazon explicitly said that the metro population must be greater than 1 million. We would need the likes of Hugh McColl on this one.

Not seeing the 10 "stories" in that render, no matter how you slice it, unless a subterranean level, but that is seemingly nullified by the statement "In addition to the hotel, current plans call for about 13,500 square feet of ground-floor retail".

That's giving the Hampton/Hilton block one hell of an endorsement...