[ams6110]

Don't know why they wouldn't. Indy is a major interstate highway and air transport hub. FedEx has a big operation at Indianapolis. Columbus less so, but it's less than an hour away and directly connected by interstate. Both have affordable housing, generally low cost of living, and business-friendly government.

[afjl]

Not the guy who you commented to, but I'm guessing he thinks it's due to the talent pool they can recruit from by locating in a large metropolitan/suburban area.

[muninn_]

Right. Not to mention in the case of Columbus you have 60,000 students, proximity to other large cities, room for growth, a nice little airport ripe to be ruined by heavy business traffic, and it's the state capitol. A company like Amazon can come into Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, or Columbus and basically dictate what they want - we want this land, we want this infrastructure, we want these flights at the airport - and it can all be accommodate with great benefit to the city as well. The only real downside to either of those three cities, aside from needing a few more tech workers or maybe more public transportation investment, is that they aren't "cool". It's not cool to have low cost of living and no interesting geographic features with mediocre weather.

People who think Amazon is going to set up shop in NYC or LA or something are delusional.