Driving around (and now being driven around) the Dallas/Ft Worth area, it amazes me how much vacant land there is.
There was a fantastic IBM ad many years ago. Some young hotshot executive brings the old-guard elite exec to the middle of nowhere and declares it’s where the new big facility will be.
To wit:
Old: “But how will anyone get here?”
Young: “We’re here, right?”
Old: “But how can we communicate with the rest of the company?”
Young: [hands over cell phone]
Old: “But what will this cost?”
Young: “Dirt cheap.”
Old: [gets the point]
...years later, I note how Apple and others have major facilities in, well, the middle of nowhere.
Amazon doesn’t so much need a huge warehouse anywhere in particular. They need an inexpensive location to get & put a bunch of smart people to orchestrate acquisition, purchase, & delivery. Atlanta is a prime area for that.
I hate seeing cities sprawl over every inch of vacant land like an anthill with all the traffic smell and noise and other chaos-it is why I chose to live as far away from it as I can get, here in BFE. As much as I care for my man, I dread when it is my turn to stay at his place-he lives in a gated enclave, but the noise and smell is there, if only faintly...
He also said he figured Amazon probably asked for too many tax breaks and other concessions not given to most businesses-and those in charge decided they were too greedy...