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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
Sort of. I'm not sure it's really the highest of high end tech talent -- there really isn't a high end "local" tech school and most of the local base is heavily defense IT -- and that's why the VaTech thing was an incredibly creative and smart move. I am not a D, but I have to say, the state and local governments here played this incredibly smart.
Northam took a beating on twitter - 75% of the comments were negative (the others were folks from Georgia and the Tidewater area saying they would happily take Amazon). That said, I heard some interesting comments on NPR this morning, mostly with regard to transportation and potential house pricing impacts in the area. They basically said the addition of 25,000 jobs over a ten year (give or take) period isn't that significant given the already very solid job growth in the 'area' (assume that means the DC metro area, not necessarily Crystal City/Arlington) to the tune of some 50-75,000 jobs a year the past few years. Certainly, some folks already here will take those jobs. Metro is being expanded (I thought I heard the new Metro stop in Alexandria will be to service the Amazon campus) and if behavior at HQ2 is is similar to behavior at HQ1, 75% of the employees there take public transportation. I still would rather not have HQ2 anywhere near NoVa, but is what it is.