# Amazon HQ2 Deadline Tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374 "2017-10-20T17:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/1 "2017-10-20T17:24:13Z")
I would bet on Rochester. Lots of educated people, lots of empty office space. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/2 "2017-10-20T17:42:26Z")
I’ve not been following. Who else is in the running? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/3 "2017-10-20T17:49:01Z")
Pretty much everyone but Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/4 "2017-10-20T17:51:12Z")
Psych! It’ll be Bellevue, Washington. The logistics manager got a deal on a year pass for the Evergreen Point Bridge, and it was just too good to pass up. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/5 "2017-10-20T17:52:11Z")
My bet is on Newark, New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/6 "2017-10-20T17:56:29Z")
Nitpick: the deadline was yesterday, October 19, but the final selection won’t be made until some time next year. Details are in the [RFP](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/Anything/test/images/usa/RFP_3._V516043504_.pdf) here. (PDF warning.) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/7 "2017-10-20T17:57:08Z")
I’m not sure what deadline is tonight. They stopped accepting applications at midnight yesterday. There won’t be any decisions made until sometime in 2018. ETA: What Dewey Finn said… ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/8 "2017-10-20T17:57:24Z")
Just about every city that qualifies (and some that do not – like Madison, WI) have applied Forbes says Atlanta, Austin, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Boston are their top 5 > **[Amazon Is Most Likely To Build Its Second Headquarters In One Of These Five...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marciaturner/2017/10/19/amazon-is-most-likely-to-build-its-second-headquarters-in-1-of-these-5-cities/#22368c256168)** > > With bids due today from cities vying to host Amazon's second headquarters, lists of likely top contenders are proliferating. These five cities appear on most or all of them. Brian ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/9 "2017-10-20T18:49:11Z")
San Antonio was smart enough to withdraw. Thank God! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/10 "2017-10-20T18:57:06Z")
The cynic would suggest that San Antonio knew they’d never win, so they chose to appear noble, by declining to compete. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/11 "2017-10-20T19:00:56Z")
😃 Well, we don’t have to listen to that cynic, right? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/12 "2017-10-20T19:15:43Z")
My money is on Austin or Atlanta. Probably the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/13 "2017-10-20T19:23:02Z")
Local news has been blathering on about how Portland is in the running. Like this place needs another tax-subsidized billion dollar company. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/14 "2017-10-20T19:28:53Z")
Denver has made a bid, and they’re optimistic, although I understand that other cities have pledged more money and tax incentives. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/15 "2017-10-20T20:13:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > My money is on Austin or Atlanta. Probably the latter. Atlanta put in what local officials called “a formidable bid”. The mayor of Atlanta said it was “the most aggressive economic attraction package that the state of Georgia has ever put forward" and "…you’re going to see that we left nothing on the table.” Atlanta/Georgia have put together some pretty aggressive packages before. One has to wonder what all is in there… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/16 "2017-10-20T20:35:40Z")
Atlanta bribed the 1996 Olympics away from Athens, Greece and put some events in Athens, GA. If the city wants Amazon, it knows how to get it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/17 "2017-10-21T19:22:03Z")
I love Amazon and shop there all the time but I would have loved one city or state to tell Bezos to F himself. Using tax breaks to bribe companies just transfers tax burdens from companies (that use a huge amount of resources and infrastructure) to workers. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/18 "2017-10-21T19:45:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I love Amazon and shop there all the time but I would have loved one city or state to tell Bezos to F himself. Using tax breaks to bribe companies just transfers tax burdens from companies (that use a huge amount of resources and infrastructure) to workers. Boston’s bid has been [released](https://www.scribd.com/document/362130405/Boston-Amazon-HQ2-Proposal#from_embed). The only thing I can find about tax incentives is a small paragraph on page 115: > [@](#): > > As part of the Massachusetts Economic Development Incentive Program, a TIF is a tax incentive available to businesses in Massachusetts. In return for substantial job creation, a municipality may provide a business with real estate property tax relief based on the business’s incremental real estate property taxes for up to 20 years. In addition to a real estate property tax exemption, a business may be eligible for a personal property tax exemption for existing and new property (personal property is considered movable property, exclusive of land and buildings). Tax Increment Financing is not the same in Massachusetts as it is in most other states, where TIFs are used to fund infrastructure improvements using incremental property tax revenues. Massachusetts does utilize this mode of financing, but we refer to it as District Improvement Financing (DIF). It’s possible they kept anything specific out of the public release or would negotiate that later. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/19 "2017-10-21T22:47:54Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Atlanta put in what local officials called “a formidable bid”. The mayor of Atlanta said it was “the most aggressive economic attraction package that the state of Georgia has ever put forward" and "…you’re going to see that we left nothing on the table.” > > Atlanta/Georgia have put together some pretty aggressive packages before. One has to wonder what all is in there… Yeah, but every city that put in a bid said the same thing. You don’t really expect them to say “We’re offering a pro forma bid and an incentive package that is only pretty good.” St. Louis’ bid includes four counties (one in Illinois.) Kansas City put in a bid (that includes the Kansas side), as well, so the state of Missouri bundled both bids AND offered to throw in a hyperloop to link the two cities with a 25-minute commute. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374/20 "2017-10-22T02:50:58Z")
Memphis put in a bid too. [LINK](http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/industries/logistics/2017/10/11/city-boosters-roll-out-memphisdelivers-promote-push-amazons-hq-2/753823001/) “While Memphis is not able to compete with some cities on a ‘check the box’ criteria, we do offer a very unique and appealing environment that is especially appreciated once experienced,” said Carpenter. “Simply stated: You can’t put us in a box. But Memphis delivers.” Translation: We don’t have what you wanted, but maybe we can pay you enough to come here anyway. Hey look, we lighted our famous bridge orange to look like your logo. Oh yeah, FedEx lives here. And our residents love the city so much that they paint graffiti about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq2-deadline-tonight/799374.md?page=2)