The Triangle area was considered by Amazon to hold its second headquarters building. Raleigh remains a strong competitor for businesses like Amazon due to its growing job market.
Amazon’s choosing of where the headquarters would be located is based on four criteria. This criteria includes a population of more than one million people, a stable, friendly business environment, the ability to attract talented workers and creativity in location.
“I think it would be really cool for the headquarters to come here. I love Downtown Raleigh and the new building would bring in lots of jobs,” said Eric Wagner, senior.
According to rankings by CBNC, a Raleigh location shows promise in population size, location creativity, and has potential in stability and talent. The amazon headquarters would supply around 5,000 jobs overtime for the Raleigh area and spend five billion dollars.
“It’s a really good opportunity for those who live in Raleigh, it could benefit our economy heavily,” said Wagner.
However, many people also have concerns about the Amazon headquarters increasing living costs in the Raleigh area. According to The News and Observer, the Amazon building would increase the rent growth by two percent. There are also concerns that Raleigh will not be able to provide apartment housing that will cover the influx of workers the building would bring in.
“The construction, as annoying as it may be, will create jobs for the Raleigh Area and benefit the city,” said Ethan Kulp, senior.
While there are 20 other finalists in the race for the Amazon headquarters, Raleigh is ranked highly in numerous areas on the Milken Institute’s list of best cities. It holds the 4th place spot in short-term job growth from 2016 to 2017, and the 9th place spot in high tech GDP concentration and number of high tech industries. Milken ranked Raleigh as the 2nd best United States city based on their economy.
Out of 238 original cities that could have made the potential short list, Raleigh was included in the final 20. The placement of Raleigh in this shows the city’s promise for continuous economic growth in the future and opportunities for big business enterprise, including the Amazon headquarters.
“I feel that even if it raises living costs, it will only better the Raleigh area in the future and allow us with more opportunities, as well as give a way to modernize the area,” said Kulp.
