Op-ed: Amazon HQ2 could be Ama-geddon for Columbus

Good news: Columbus is still on the list to get Amazon HQ2.

Bad News: Columbus is still on the list to get Amazon HQ2. 

There are more people than just the current President who have bad things to say about Amazon. Many residents in Seattle, where Amazon’s first HQ is located, have decided that the company has done more harm than good to their fair city, referring to the company as “Amageddon.”   

What’s their beef?  

First, the fast and huge rise in housing costs has taken a toll on Seattle’s resources.

When everything costs more, the poor lose places to live. In 2010, the city needed about 2,300 beds nightly in homeless shelters. Today, that need has grown to 170,000 according to Mary’s Place a non-profit shelter with 8 locations around Seattle

Second, traffic has become a total nightmare.

The average Seattle commuter is stuck in traffic more than twice as long as the average Columbus commuter based on 2017 data from Inrix.

Thirdly and surprisingly, the Seattle restaurant business has become somewhat of a bust.

You gotta figure, with all those high paid Amazon execs gathering in one place every day, it would be a foodie boom. But research done by the public radio program Marketplace showed that diners aren’t hanging around after hours much anymore but rather heading right home or grabbing quick take out.

Many restaurant owners had high expectations when the Amazon HQ went in nearby but more often than not, those expectations were not met.

One chef even called it a “soul-sucking experience.”

Perhaps San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg had it right when he pulled his city out of the running for the new site.

Anybody think Andy G. should do the same? 

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