RELATED: Amazon narrows HQ2 search to 20 cities, moving to next phase in contest for $5B economic prize
Amazon this morning dropped a list of 20 cities that made it to the next round in the tech giant’s very public HQ2 selection process, and most of the immediate reaction is about which cities didn’t make the cut.
In the mind of the internet zeitgeist, the biggest snub appears to be Detroit. The Washington D.C. area is represented by three candidates in the top 20. New York/New Jersey got two, and so did Texas. But the Motor City was left out in the cold. Reaction is starting to trickle out from officials and those involved in Detroit’s bid.
https://twitter.com/AbdulElSayed/status/953996747054952448
https://twitter.com/nwarikoo/status/954007876003037189
https://twitter.com/kirkpinhoCDB/status/954013411444174850
Despite framing HQ2 as a competition open to all of North America, Amazon heavily favored the U.S., with Toronto as the only Canadian city to advance to the next round. Calgary came in with a strong push, as did several other Canadian cities that didn’t make the cut
HQ2 was briefly the top trending topic on Twitter in Canada. Some people were excited, while others were less enthused.
https://twitter.com/JoeYoun9/status/954009151734034439
https://twitter.com/mitchvandenborn/status/954005352000958464
With three sites in the top 20, the Washington D.C. area emerged as the clear favorite. Home to a variety of important Amazon-related assets — AWS data centers in Northern Virginia, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post — and proximity to the federal government make D.C. an interesting potential landing spot for HQ2.
https://twitter.com/crtr0/status/954011799992524800
https://twitter.com/G_dood/status/954009281069805570
While the list contained plenty of predictable favorites, there were a couple surprises. The first one that sprang to mind for many online and in the GeekWire newsroom was Miami.
https://twitter.com/doug_hanks/status/954003001680670721
https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez/status/954004561882222592
https://twitter.com/JaneKCall/status/954010624110993408
Beyond the nuts and bolts of where HQ2 ends up, a lot of chatter focused on Amazon’s process. Narrowing the field down to 20 opens up the possibility for other rounds of cuts later, bringing to mind a reality show elimination ceremony.
https://twitter.com/kevinjoy5/status/954013609809580032
https://twitter.com/WadeJGarret/status/954013611910926337