The Mighty Amazon

Amazon has been looking for a site for its second headquarters. Suitor-cities across the nation begged for the leviathan to ensconce itself in their environs.

Now Amazon has announced a list of 20 spots it's considering:

Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus (Ohio), Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Montgomery Country (Maryland), Nashville, Newark, New York City, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Toronto, Washington D.C.

A few notes.

1) Sorry all you also-rans.  The list tends to be major metropolitan areas, so you were never in the running to begin with.  And most are in the East or Midwest, which makes sense since you don't want to be too close to the other HQ in Seattle.

2)  Chicago?  A fine city--I've lived there--but the way Illinois (and Chicago) is being run, I'd stay away.

3)  Columbus, Ohio?  Let's get serious.

4)  Los Angeles?  It might seem to make sense if you're planning to take over show biz, but please stay away--traffic is already impossible.

5)  Newark can probably offer you a pretty sweet deal, since it's badly in need of renewal.  But are you willing to do that renewing?

6)  New York City is certainly the home of many a large business, but it's pretty crowded and they won't appreciate you, anyway.

7)  Raleigh was hip twenty years ago.  Is it still the place to be?

8)  You may have to do a lot of lobbying, so I could see being located in D.C.  But otherwise, would you really want to hang there?

9)  I guess my hometown of Detroit never had a chance.  But hey, when I was growing up, three of the five biggest companies were headquartered there.  Maybe you should give it another look.