This coupled with the Amazon news is starting to get distressing. With the amount of companies that copycat them it’s like the rich are getting richer and the economic benefits are still going to be concentrated only in the most affluent cities. The rest of the country desperately needs real industry and good paying jobs - and will go to huge lengths to try to get them but it appears nobody can come up with a business plan. We’re truly heading for Elysium.
It's exciting. Google has been talking about expanding its presence forever. At least since purchasing the Chelsea Market complex. The Youtube studio is an amazing space. As is the AWS Loft downtown. Cornell Tech will have a new campus on Roosevelt Island. And Brooklyn has its New Lab / Navy Yards that is almost a tech city unto itself. It feels like there's community. And a multitude of events every day and night. With rents stabilizing, and burgeoning FinTech and AI momentum, I just think everyone at some point in their lives should consider a stint in the city ;)
I wonder if the banks, who are increasingly branding themselves as "tech companies"[1], are worried about Google and Amazon encroaching on their territory.<p>My understanding is that at least part of the appeal of NY to Google and Amazon is the quality and quantity of systems engineers at banks and hedge funds.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-15/lloyd-blankfein-wants-goldman-sachs-to-push-technology" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-15/lloyd-...</a> (among many other such articles)
New York, especially Manhattan and nice parts of Brooklyn also have a great public school system. It’s very, very big with dozens of schools. This is critical for any parent obviously.<p>My kids go to PS11, which is excellent, just a few blocks from Google HQ (I don’t work at Goog) with some real diversity in the classroom, literally kids of all possible colors from around the world. Interestingly, none of the other parents I know work at Google. I wouldn’t mind if that number ... doubled.<p>Right now we’re looking at middle schools and I am pleased to say the options in district 2 are fantastic, again.
One of the reason is that, people who are incharge of these decisions are invested in these cities. They've real estate in these cities.<p>So, using public money of the company to invest in these cities increase the value of their personal investments :)<p>It won't be changing anytime sooner.<p>Shareholders aren't bothered. I wouldn't be surprized if majority of shareholders by value live in these cities too.
I wonder how much goodwill Google could have generated by locating this hub in say Orlando or Des Moines.<p>Even if they spent 150k per engineer in relocation costs (1 time fee), it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t make that up in terms of cheaper real estate and lower salaries.<p>There were obviously some benefits in choosing New York City (and I realize it’s an expansion technically), but still, it’s so......unimaginative.<p>Would have been a great contrast to Amazon’s bait and switch yesterday.
If it's going to make NYC a major engineering hub, on a similar scale as Mountain View, then it's a huge deal. If it's going to be mainly non-technical roles, then meh.
Counterpoint: these jobs are increasingly meh and will not be impactful on the local economy.<p>Lifetime comp (salary + retirement benefits) for Amazonians in Crystal City will probably be less than for comparable Federal workers.<p>Google is like any other white collar business now - a small cadre of well paid execs surrounded by an army of people just doing ok.<p>80% of Googlers in NYC will probably have lower lifetime earnings than firefighters or cops once you factor in pensions<p>These companies are just factories with desks