I just don't know how it could have worked given what they wanted. The HQ2 would have needed to be outside of Houston somewhere - Woodlands/Conroe, Cypress/Tomball, Katy/Fulshear.
Houston already is diverse. There is no problem trying to diversify further, but the idea that Houston is just an oil town is false.
It is an oil town. Medicine follows but everything revolves around energy here. Austin will likely be more relevant than Houston in 10-20 years. Denver and Portland too. Can't keep banking on oil and gas fellas.
If it provides the infrastructure and business model to diversity in to futures, swaps and ERP consulting for wind, deregulated power, liquefied natural gas exporting, natural gas liquids and consolidating the entire pipeline sector; and no one else wants to build any refineries, they can probably bank on it for a while.
HEB >> Whole Foods Also D.C. area gives them West Coast <---> East Coast but it's just my best guess I think wherever they go will be a shame because the richest man in the world shouldn't need billions in welfare.
Would be nice if it were Austin, and then they some how incorporated Houston's Ship Channel into a major transport hub for goods to further grow the Houston Amazon Distribution Center. Probably unlikely.....but i can dream HQ2 will likely be Austin or Atlanta IMO
That and notice how 3 of the 20 areas listed are in the DC metro area (NOVA, Montgomery County, DC proper). My roommate is from there and is hoping it ends up in Montgomery county but the effects will be felt everywhere. More to my point- they're probably deciding where in the DMV to put it, entertaining a few last minute desperate offers and using the other cities as leverage. ****ing bastards.
As a progressive that lived in Austin for 15 years...you ain't wrong. It's holding the city back. The refusal to be proactive when it comes to infrastructure is infuriating. While it seems like Austin is a natural fit, I'm not so sure that's necessarily true due to their inability to get anything done. They can't seem to understand that this isn't 1975-1995 anymore. Austin has changed. It can still be "cool" even if they finally learn to accept growth.
That's a good question. Austin certainly doesn't need it to promote growth. We are already one of the fastest growing cities in the country, and have been for years. I have mixed feelings about the whole Amazon thing and Austin. Our youngest kid is about to graduate from college (last one, thank goodness!) and while this would provide a lot of opportunities in animation (his major), those jobs already exist in Austin. "Greater Dallas" might be a better fit. The area is already like a giant amoeba swallowing up the surrounding countryside. Of course, the people Amazon would be looking to hire would rather, in the main, want to live in Austin, in my opinion. While I think Amazon would fit better in Dallas than it would fit in Austin, Austin is a serious option. That is, if Amazon is willing to swallow a large chunk of Far East Austin and locate the bulk of the campus there. That could work, and that little used north/south high speed toll way is out there. There is better infrastructure in that area than some might realize. Add some high speed spurs going out there to our little rail system, which is very doable. Yeah, I can see Amazon picking Austin, dammit.
