Amazon is on the hunt for the best North American location for its next headquarters, nicknamed HQ2. A request for proposals from Amazon, released in September 2017, contained seven pages of selection criteria that emphasized a preference for strong talent in software development and related fields and a business-friendly environment to foster further hiring and innovating.
It’s no surprise that 238 proposals were submitted by the October 19, 2017 deadline. Amazon will hire up to 50,000 workers and invest $5 billion in its new location during the next decade. Furthermore, Amazon predicts that “In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.”
Amazon will announce the final site selection in 2018, but I'm here to argue that its HQ2 belongs in San Diego. An attractive destination for visitors and tech professionals, San Diego perks include world-renowned computer science facilities, diverse talent, convenient international travel access and premium office location availability.
There are many reasons why San Diego is the best choice for Amazon's new headquarters. Here are the five main reasons why I think Amazon will choose San Diego:
1. Quality of life: The appeal of life in San Diego is unmatched. Repeatedly, San Diego gets mentioned for its quality of life and consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the United States. Traffic, by the way, is something San Diego has much less of compared to other top metro areas (I'm looking at you, Seattle).
2. Talent pool: The University of San Diego has one of the best computer science programs in the world. It is also home to the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and the area is rich with diverse talent in technology, biotech and life sciences. Also, it doesn't get much attention, but there has been a tech talent surge in Mexico over the last few years. These workers could potentially commute to San Diego for work.
3. Travel convenience: San Diego has access to two international airports. The San Diego International Airport is right downtown, the most convenient international airport in any major metro area. With the Cross-Border Xpress, the Tijuana International Airport is less than 30 minutes from downtown San Diego. The proximity to Mexico gives businesses immediate access to a border terminal and a highly skilled international workforce in Mexico.
4. Recruitment potential: Because of the quality of life, fantastic weather and accessibility, getting additional talent from all over the world to relocate to San Diego would never be a problem.
5. An established Amazon presence: San Diego already has an Amazon office. It's a modest 107,000-square-feet space in University City, but it's already here for good reason. Mark Cafferty, head of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., noted that Amazon made the decision to expand in San Diego because "They feel that they can grow and find the talent here."
For all the reasons mentioned above, the move would be good for Amazon, but having Amazon move to San Diego would be transformative for the city and the residents of San Diego.
