From Seattle to SoFlo: An Open Letter to Amazon

Communities all over the US are puckering up and making their case for why they should be home to the next Amazon headquarters. It’s a PR masterstroke by Amazon: deliver us creative incentives and we will create 50,000 new jobs and inject $5 billion into your city’s infrastructure.

There has been endless speculation as to which city will take home the grand prize. The New York Times went so far as to complete an in-depth analysis of the eight pages of criteria that Amazon put forward in its request for proposals (RFP) and named Denver as its top contender.

But while every market (including ours), is coming to the table with statistics about housing costs, transit options and the number of flights available per day, we’ve cut through the clutter with a rundown of what Amazon really needs to know about South Florida:

Hello! Hola! Ola! Ciao! Miami is a rich amalgam of cultures and ethnicities offering companies a deep, diverse talent pool and an opportunity to avoid spending money on those damn Rosetta Stone tapes.

We don’t have winters – heck we don’t even have fall. But we do have stone crab season (yum).

And year-round beach weather. Which means flip-flops are always appropriate. Our Cuban friends call them chancletas.

Speaking of our Cuban friends… Let’s talk about café con leche. It’s the perfect remedy for all-nighters at HQ2, and you can’t find it anywhere else in the US.

Miami Transit

Once the coffee wears off and it’s time to head home, we have the perfect weather for walking, biking or running. Citi bikes are everywhere, miles of waterfront paths skirt the city, and transit options include the MetroMover, TriRail, and the soon to open Brightline – the country’s first privately-developed rail system in more than 100 years.

Is flying more your speed? We’ve got three major airports with domestic and international flights leaving at all hours of the day.

You’re probably wondering about hurricanes. Yes, we get them from time to time. They make life difficult for a few days, but we always rebound strong. Plus, they come with advanced warnings. And hurricane parties – for real!

Because if there’s any city that knows how to throw a good party, it’s Miami.

Just ask Mr. 305. Or is he now Mr. Worldwide?  Either way, living in South Florida means you’ll one day find yourself rocking out at a Pitbull concert.

Florida has no state income tax. We’ll repeat: No. State. Income. Tax. That means we have more money for cocktails and stone crabs and flip flops and Cuban coffee and, yes, Pitbull tickets.

Your move, Denver.

Subscribe

Share

Comments