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Unlike the condescending/facetious replies to your question that pretended people have a problem with progress and prosperity, I'll try to actually answer some of the concerns. I live in Chicago, which is regarded as a strong candidate for AMZ HQ2. We have probably the second best public transport system in the country and an unsaturated housing market, amazing engineering and science schools, access to a good pool of candidates, and little competition from others in the industry. However, the concerns we have are that Chicago would turn into another silicon valley with over inflated cost of living and insane real estate market inflation. While Chicago wages are not comparable at face value to those on either the east or west coasts, once you take into account the price of housing, food, and travel, middle class Chicagoans don't have it bad at all. The worry is that the SV effect will hit Chicago, and non-tech workers will be priced out of living downtown or in the Chicago metro area even. Also, Chicago has retained some of the qualities of the Midwest that Midwesterners tend to find desirable or endearing, such as few "celebrities" and a "salt of the earth" mentality. But overall, people are willing to give it a chance and hope for the best. Most everyone I know that expresses these sentiments would still appreciate the benefits of having AMZ in town, and the jobs and money it will bring along with the boost to the local economy (and maybe it'll put a damper on the growingly ridiculous efforts of Cook County and state Democrats st raising money from really dumb taxes disguised as social welfare projects as they try to tax their way out of decades of corruption and misspending, giving out ridiculous pensions to state and city employees whike passing the buck to the next generation). |