Candidate Cities at Amazon HQ2 Consider Projects

To attract Amazon, it seems that cities will do everything – even improve their infrastructure.

Cities approve projects to strengthen public transit, enrich education and make housing more accessible, making them more attractive to the tech giant.

Cities often make lofty promises in the hope of becoming the basis of a business. But experts say that with Amazon and its promise of 50,000 jobs and $ 5 billion in local investment, it's different.

"I'm not sure we've ever seen it on the same scale as the Amazon HQ2 research," said Sean Slone, who helps transport and infrastructure policy at the Council of State Governments, at USA Today.

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Amazon has specifically identified its needs for its potential HQ2 site, and two of the most important ones are education and transit. It is in these areas that cities seem to focus.

In May, Atlanta, a competitor of HQ2, consolidated its public transit system in the Transit Link Authority of the Atlanta area. Earlier this year, Georgia announced that it planned to spend $ 100 million and build a rapid transit bus corridor along a busy street in Atlanta. The city has included the project in its pitch at Amazon, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In Washington, DC, widely considered a favorite for HQ2, earlier this year, the three zone governments agreed to infuse the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. DC proper, Virginia and Maryland have each agreed to provide $ 500 million a year to fund the recovery of Metro's rapid transit system, which runs through every state, the Washington Post reported.

Detroit is now pushing a ballot for a regional transportation system that would connect the city and its regional suburbs after its bid for HQ2 failed due to lack of transportation, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Educating the future workforce – for Amazon or any large company

Other states are looking at their workforce and are realizing that they need to change the way they approach education to attract big fish like they do. ; Amazon.

Kansas City, which has not been selected, is making efforts to revise its computer courses and train new teachers.

"You can draw a dividing line between Amazon and the legislation that has just been passed," said Ryan Weber, head of the KC Tech Council, a local group that advocates for technology education, at USA Today. "I think it was a priority because of Amazon's response."

Cities like Cincinnati and Sacramento, which also failed in HQ2 cities, are now putting their technological employment programs to the test as they try to reinforce technological talents through learning programs and student-centered programs.

Amazon is not the only company that cities are looking for, especially one that Amazon no longer considers. But the HQ2 contest is perceived as a wake-up call for cities across the country as they look at why their offers have failed and see the changes they must make to be competitive, according to the Wall Street Journal.