AP/Ted S. Warren
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the opening of the Spheres at Amazon's Seattle campus.
- A new survey reveals just how much people want Amazon's second headquarters in their city or town.
- A majority of people say they would like to have HQ2 in their city, though that percentage dropped a bit when people were asked what incentives they would want their hometown to offer the company.
- Most cite economic benefits as the upside of Amazon coming to town.
Amazon in your backyard? Most say yes, please.
In a recent survey by our partner, MSN, 67% of respondents answered "yes" to the question: "Would you want Amazon to build a campus in your city?"
That's not too surprising. Amazon promises to bring 50,000 jobs and a $5 billion investment in the city that finally gets chosen to be the site of HQ2. Who wouldn't want that?
In fact, it's something that people across the political spectrum seem to agree on. People who identified themselves as Democrats were slightly more likely than Republicans to answer the question affirmatively, but only by a small margin. 70% of the polled Democrats said they would want Amazon's HQ2 in their city, while 64% of Republicans said the same.
Still, Democrats were much less likely than Republicans to be on board with cities offering Amazon incentive packages for HQ2. Only 55% of responding Democrats answered "yes" to the question: "Would you back government incentives to lure a big company?" while 68% of those who identified as Republicans did. That compares with 61% nationally who said they would support incentives.
Younger respondents were more wary of government incentives - only 51% said they would support it. But, 65% of those between the ages 45 and 65 said they would approve of government incentives to bring in Amazon.
714,000 people from across the US responded to MSN's survey.
60% of respondents said they prioritize "growing economically" versus only 40% prioritizing "maintaining current feel and culture" of where they live. With the exception of plus or minus three percentage points, that holds true for all age, gender, and political demographics.
That may provide some insight into the priorities of American cities as they vy for Amazon's new HQ2. People want the jobs and the increased economic benefits, and they're not too concerned about the negative aspects it may also bring.
In fact, most - 63% - cite economic growth as what they think would be the biggest effect of an Amazon campus. After that, 21% say it would bring more traffic and 13% say it would cause a higher cost of living. Almost no one - just 3% - thinks Amazon would bring lower taxes.
Whether or not Amazon coming to town would be a good or a bad thing for a city is hotly debated. Many are excited about the prospect of new jobs and the secondary benefits of that, but others warn about the "prosperity bomb" of gentrification that may soon come afterward in the form of increased rent prices.
It may largely depend on the city, however, as an investment the size of HQ2 would affect each city differently.