Amazon's Reality Check for MD

[Anonymous]

In the wake of losing HQ2, Maryland officials need to have a "come to Jesus" moment. Yes, you can spit it as a win for the whole region - but that's really not very productive. The state and MoCo need to take a very hard look at where we came up short, and address those issues head-on. The Amazon ship has sailed, but Apple is also exploring a second, smaller headquarters - and it looks like Montgomery County isn't even in the conversation:

https://www.tysonsreporter.com/2018/11/13/apple-eyes-fairfax-county-as-arlington-lands-amazon/

There is an economic gap forming between VA and MD, and it could grow that much wider over the next 10-20 years. I think Gov Hogan will ask the hard questions that need to be asked. I'm not as confident that other MD leaders will heed the call.

[Anonymous]

People keep saying this, but in some ways CC was just a better choice in that it had existing empty buildings with a Metro stop. White Flint had a big plot of land miles from the nearest public transit.

Which...great for Crystal City but there was very little MoCo could do about that.

[Anonymous]

There are so many office buildings in the North Betheda area and close to Rockville Pike that has sit empty. MoCo isn't attracting businesses as it should. Lots of housing goes up, but nearly not enough businesses. I see parts of Rio going dead. Parts of Rockville town center looks just sad. Kentland and the Copley was nowhere near crowded. We visited Rose and Pike over the weekend and it was rather empty.

[Anonymous]

Glad MOCO didn’t sell their souls to Amazon. All those tax breaks and incentives are a form of government assistance, aka welfare to the employees.

[Anonymous]

OP, why did you have to create another VA vs Moco thread? Couldn't you have used one of the other 10 that is already open?

[Anonymous]

Can't help but wonder if all of these threads are started by the same person!? I remember reading earlier on it would probably be better for the areas that did not actually get the headquarters. Still have access to the jobs without the huge tax burden to pay. Amazon does not have the reputation of being a particularly good neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glad MOCO didn’t sell their souls to Amazon. All those tax breaks and incentives are a form of government assistance, aka welfare to the employees.

Except for the fact Virginia negotiated a great deal, and didn't "sell its soul." It gave Amazon less than HALF the incentives that NYC did, and nothing close to that $8 billion whopper MD offered. New York ends up paying about $60,000 per job for HQ2, Virginia will pay $23,000 per job. But yeah, we're so much better off without Discovery. Or Amazon. Or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People keep saying this, but in some ways CC was just a better choice in that it had existing empty buildings with a Metro stop. White Flint had a big plot of land miles from the nearest public transit.

Which...great for Crystal City but there was very little MoCo could do about that.

I thought there was a metro stop at White Flint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People keep saying this, but in some ways CC was just a better choice in that it had existing empty buildings with a Metro stop. White Flint had a big plot of land miles from the nearest public transit.

Which...great for Crystal City but there was very little MoCo could do about that.

I thought there was a metro stop at White Flint.

There is. I get get off there sometimes—I’d guess it’s about a 10-min walk to the mall site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad MOCO didn’t sell their souls to Amazon. All those tax breaks and incentives are a form of government assistance, aka welfare to the employees.

Except for the fact Virginia negotiated a great deal, and didn't "sell its soul." It gave Amazon less than HALF the incentives that NYC did, and nothing close to that $8 billion whopper MD offered. New York ends up paying about $60,000 per job for HQ2, Virginia will pay $23,000 per job. But yeah, we're so much better off without Discovery. Or Amazon. Or whatever.

+1 Virginia's incentives are among the lowest yet they won the bid. MoCo's basically threw themselves at Amazon with it's $8B bid and still nothing. I am a MoCo resident and getting disturbed by Maryland's inability to attract more businesses. All I see is residential homes popping up and no real plans to accommodate the new population. If you think your public schools with a 28:1 kid ratio with no aid, I can't imagine what it will be like in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People keep saying this, but in some ways CC was just a better choice in that it had existing empty buildings with a Metro stop. White Flint had a big plot of land miles from the nearest public transit.

Which...great for Crystal City but there was very little MoCo could do about that.

I thought there was a metro stop at White Flint.

There is. I get get off there sometimes—I’d guess it’s about a 10-min walk to the mall site.

It is 1/2 of a mile.

[Anonymous]

It’s montgomery county VOTERS who need to have the ‘come to Jesus’ moment. We are absolute idiots and vote in people that just spend spend spend and who have created a huge welfare state in ourcounty and just tax residents to pay for it.

Baltimore, afterall , has a huge new amazon warehouse so it’s not like Maryland has a problem it’s moco.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't help but wonder if all of these threads are started by the same person!? I remember reading earlier on it would probably be better for the areas that did not actually get the headquarters. Still have access to the jobs without the huge tax burden to pay. Amazon does not have the reputation of being a particularly good neighbor.

It's got to be. I don't know a single soul who is this OBSESSED doing a comparison of MD (MoCo especially) to NoVA and to take every opportunity to say that MD is an arm pit poverty stricken, jobless state inhabited by immigrants (all of them poor, of course).

[Anonymous]

Ugggh. You remind me of the excellent candidates who telephone obsessively to demand how they "came up short" when they were not selected. It's not a failure. Someone/Some place had to be chosen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s montgomery county VOTERS who need to have the ‘come to Jesus’ moment. We are absolute idiots and vote in people that just spend spend spend and who have created a huge welfare state in ourcounty and just tax residents to pay for it.

Baltimore, afterall , has a huge new amazon warehouse so it’s not like Maryland has a problem it’s moco.

You're right. Baltimore made the top 20, right? You all are foolish to think that CC didn't have this from the beginning. Article after article talks about how CC had this all along because of what? Location, Location, Location. Next to 2 metro stops, 15 minutes from Jeff B's mansion, a skip to National Airport, readily available space.. Never mind the huge Pentagon contract that it's trying to win. Amazon fooled the 200+ cities thinking that they had an actual chance. What was surprising was the HQ2 split with NY. That's the only surprise here, although Bezoz has a place nearby there too. Hey, I voted for Blair and then Floreen and was disappointed that uber liberal Elrich won the County Exec. but after studying up more on him, he is actually a very sensible guy. We need to work on the infrastructure to make sure that we attract businesses here in the first place. We can't just allow developers to build and build only to leave us with more congested roads and overcrowded schools. There has to be a balance. You should read up more on him and what he plans to do. The County Council has also stated very specifically that their number 1 goal is the economy and figuring out how to get additional businesses here- they know the reality. Let's not open up thread after thread here in DCUM bashing Mont County though and painting this gloom and doom picture that we're all living in dire poverty.