[_cerv]

From the tone of the article and what I would expect to see from some of the comments here eventually, you would think that Seattle united in fighting its corporate fascist oppressors by taxing it fairly to cover the problems the capitalist class creates and in response, Amazon is moving far and away from the scene of the crime; both straw structured arguments are patently false.

There has always been a vocal minority in Seattle that has bemoaned any kind of growth and change in the city, and the recent cause that they latched on was all of disruptions Amazon was claimed to be at fault for, or how the "tech bros" ruined the city. These were probably the same people who hated that the Microsoft of a decade or two prior washed the city over with a tech scene, they probably complained that Boeing made noisy jets for the military industrial complex and those "av bros" were destroying neighborhoods with hundred and hundreds of months of established character. This is a west coast city that I have lived most of my life in and around, it has always been changing and growing, and I along with my wife, friends, and family, love it for the opportunities and ever evolving landscape.

Then there is the argument that Amazon is taking its toys and going to play ball elsewhere, used as proof that somehow Amazon wasn't going to work with the city to begin with. Amazon is probably at the top of the current curve of growth, and some of their recent announcements in jobs and locations show somewhat of a diminished drive to expand. Additionally, to pick up and leave, or to leave the region all together is pretty expensive and disruptive to operations. Bellevue is right across the lake. It offers a city government that wants to grow as fast as possible and as dense as possible, and willing to work with anyone. The recent announcement that the local transit authority was on schedule with the light rail expansion in Bellevue lines up with Amazon and a few other companies looking to expand in the city. Bellevue is looking to be a great place to be "in Seattle" without having to be in Seattle.