The appearance of the winners of Amazon's HQ2, before Amazon

Instead of a new home, Amazon has chosen two. Two places, with views of the waterfront and organic stores and abandoned buildings, will one day house tens of thousands of high-tech workers.

We spent much of this week in these two cities, Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, and Long Island City, Queens, to capture life there, as Amazon named them one of the winners. 14-month beauty pageant for its new headquarters.

Together, the two zones – the two neighborhoods, not the cities – could help make Amazon one of the largest private sector employers in the East Coast technology sector. Once Amazon is fully installed, neither one nor the other will probably be the same.

Long Island City is home to the country's largest social housing project. But for many people strolling through the area's park that runs along the East River, stand out the bright new rides, baby shops, cafes and yoga studios.

Since 2010, more apartment buildings have been built in Long Island City than in any other area of ​​New York. Apartments in dozens of new buildings are selling on average over $ 1 million.

Many residents fear that the arrival of Amazon will only intensify gentrification, making the neighborhood less affordable for people with limited means. According to Amazon, it is planned to hire at least 25,000 people over the next decade, who will earn an average of $ 150,000 a year.

That same number of people, earning the same amount, should occupy the offices of Amazon in Crystal City by 2030.

Crystal City, just across the Potomac River and from Washington, was the vision of a local developer, Robert Smith, who in the 1960s began building commercial buildings and condominiums on land formerly occupied by industrial buildings and junkyards.

The neighborhood is named after a crystal chandelier that Mr. Smith hung in the first building.

Over the past twelve years, many of the area's important tenants have left, causing a prolonged decline in Crystal City, leaving it with no strong residential or commercial identity. But a recent boom in the Washington area has contributed to some redevelopment work in and around Crystal City, that Amazon, like local officials who introduced the area to the company, began to talk about National Landing.

In the end, said Amazon, she chose these two locations, out of more than 200 who had thrown their hats into the ring, because of the talent she could recruit.

And with an army of well-paid workers, will come the amenities.

Just steps away from Amazon's future headquarters in Crystal City, you'll find a new Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market, as well as a bar and restaurant featuring a drag evening. In Long Island City, bars line a main shopping street with a Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant and trendy chicken and waffle restaurant owned by rapper Nas.

The hope over time, for officials who have spoken out, is that Amazon will help them consolidate their neighborhoods as destinations, with easy access to transportation, plenty of housing and enough things interesting to do so that they are no longer eclipsed by Washington. and Manhattan right on the other side of the water.

Karen Weise, Corey Kilgannon and Cecilia Kang contributed to the report.