Westword Readers Debate Amazon Coming to Denver

Although we have no idea where Amazon will build HQ2, this week we found out (some of) what Colorado is willing to offer the online retail giant should it bless this city with its jobs and prestige. In anticipation of that announcement, we thought of ten things we'd want to see in the proposal. That inspired plenty of comments from our readers, who'd already had a lot to say about earlier Amazon stories, including coverage of the flag it placed by Union Station: Whole Foods, a new link in the grocery-store chain it acquired this year. Find those articles after the comments.

Says David:

Increased traffic - Check!
Higher housing and rent prices - Check!
More out of state cocks who don't know what the hell the far left lane is for - Check!
More people not paying for light rail - Check!
Higher prices at mediocre restaurants - Check!
More litter and trash in our open spaces - Check!
A 'fee' on crap to bypass TABOR - Check!
A sweetheart deal to Amazon and developers who don't really need it, and shaft local businesses that are struggling - Check!

Welcome Aboard!

Adds John:

50,000 new jobs equal at least 100,000 people, 100,000 more cars on crumbling roads, more douchebags from other places trying to get to the dispensary before it closes clogging up constricted roads, more auto accidents, more lives changed forever, more waiting to eat at subpar restaurants because you'll never get into the ones you really want to go to because there's 100,000 more people here. Crazy, no sensical rant now over. Amazon, stay elsewhere.

Argues Adam:

I notice the people who seem to be most vehement in opposing HQ2 are baby boomers who think moving here in the '80s makes them in charge. Even though baby boomers have destroyed the economy, passed TABOR, defunded infrastructure budgets, failed to fund the schools, and in their RNOs oppose any meaningful affordable housing.

Explains Brian:

Hopefully we won't see that Denverites have to shoulder Amazon's tax burden, while they add to our traffic woes and put smaller, better paying employers out of business. But in this environment, I won't hold my breath.

Posits Will: