Why cities might not want Amazon’s HQ2

A new report by Indeed.com has found that rising housing prices in cities are pushing out whole classes of workers.
For example: There are 77 percent and 67 percent fewer people holding trailer mechanic or concrete finisher jobs, respectively, in expensive urban areas. In general, people with lower-paying careers were vastly underrepresented, as they simply can’t afford the sky-high rents.
Here comes HQ2: Boston is on Amazon’s short list for its second headquarters, but 50,000 Amazon employees house-hunting in an already strained housing market could be disastrous. Other cities on the list could face similar problems if selected.
Why it matters: Even more low-income workers stand to get priced out. To prevent this, cities may be forced to implement drastic measures to ensure access to housing—like the “Amazon tax” Seattle just passed.

Courtesy MIT Tech Review