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New York Times article details new clues, insights into Amazons upcoming HQ2 decision
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The New York Times reported this week that the retail giants search for a new home included asking how to avoid soaring housing costs and paralyzing traffic. - photo by Herb Scribner
Amazons second headquarters has a specific goal: Dont be like the Seattle office.

Though its still unclear where Amazon will build its second headquarters, The New York Times reported this week that the retail giants search for a new home included asking how to avoid soaring housing costs and paralyzing traffic.

Amazon representatives said that the company faces high traffic and affordable housing issues in Seattle. But it hopes the new headquarters wont have those problems.

According to The New York Times, Amazon recently finished up its visits to all of the 20 finalist locations for the second headquarters. The company will now conduct follow-up visits and interviews to find the right spot.

In Denver, the company spoke about public transportation. In Atlanta, Amazon talked about property taxes. And in Toronto, Amazon asked about housing affordability.

All of this to combat the issues presented by Seattle.

The pace of change has been so fast and housing supply has not kept up and the transit system has not kept up, Alan Durning, executive director of Sightline Institute, a nonprofit research group in Seattle focused on sustainability, told The New York Times. Theres a visceral public reaction to the whole rapid pace of change in the city symbolized by, and perhaps blamed too much on, Amazon.

Read more at The New York Times.

Amazon has been quiet about where it plans to build its second headquarters. However, analysts and experts (as well as internet theorists) have all offered their own ideas about which city will win favor with the retail giant.

One report identified Washington, D.C., as the most-likely location based on expert interviews, a viral news story and lobbyist efforts. Meanwhile, experts identified Atlanta as the competitions biggest front-runner due to the citys transportation hub and thriving student pipeline.

Not to be outdone, the Wells Fargo AI system, called Aiera, picked Boston to be the city for Amazons next headquarters due to the citys media sentiment, macro analysis and how Amazon stock price reacted to news coverage, to determine which locations are favorited, according to CNN.