[ATXPhil]

I've been hearing that Denver is pretty high on Amazon's right now going into the presentations for several reasons:
- Reasonable cost of living compared to the coastal cities
- Decent talent pool and growing tech scene
- Massive airport that is truly international with direct flights to Asia & Europe, as well as convenient 2 hour flight to Seattle
- Pretty good mass transit system including the light rail that connects most areas of the metro, downtown and the airport (this will be a HUGE factor in their decision from what I'm hearing)
- Cool city with great nightlife, attractions and entertainment
- Land available for a true campus build out

This is just heresay I've picked up on in real estate circles and from friends in Austin that are Seattle transplants but have friends back home connected to Amazon. The incentives pitched in the contest will undoubtedly impact the final decision, and Jeff Bezos reportedly bought a home in the D.C. area recently so it's still probably anyone's guess at this point. Austin has some advantages in the talent aspect but the transportation issues and small airport with limited direct flights are pretty big negatives that will likely hurt our chances. I'm cautiously optimistic but not getting my hopes up.