Amazon's quest for the perfect HQ2 location has got a lot of cities showing off their good side and offering greater-than-life incentives. However, would it really be so great for the local citizens?
The Democratic mayors of the cities on the short list, which include Bill de Blasio of New York and Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, are all about "fighting inequality and gentrification, creating affordable housing, increasing the minimum wage, and generating 'inclusive' prosperity." Yet, they're the ones incentivizing Amazon with hundreds of millions of dollars (sometimes even billions), without realizing that they're going against everything they've envisioned for their own cities.
"New investments will drive up housing costs, displace low-income families, strain the transportation network, and widen the gap between rich and poor residents, if Seattle's experience is any guide."
– Amy Liu, Director of Metropolitan Policy Program
These aren't the only costs that cities are going to have to deal with. Amazon's HQ2 will likely bring in tens of thousands of hopeful jobseekers, which will make it much harder for new jobs to be filled by local citizens.
On a national level, as the new tax conditions spur investment on U.S. soil, companies are looking to Amazon HQ2 as a catalyst for what's to come. If Amazon asks for cities to lavish them with incentives and subsidies in order to take the #1 spot, then other mega-companies, like Apple, will follow suit. Soon enough, multi-billion dollar deals between local cities and tech giants will be the norm.
"Bring the bidding war on." – Mike Rawlings, Mayor of Dallas, TX
As a resident of Los Angeles, I can't even imagine what it'll be like if Amazon plopped their HQ2 here. Just thinking about more traffic on the 405 is sending shivers down my spine.
No comments:
Post a Comment