Amazon's HQ2 Isn't Coming To Ohio

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio will not receive Amazon's HQ2 project. The online-retail giant announced it would instead split its second headquarters between Long Island City, New York and northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.

For most of a year, cities across the U.S. were invited to bid on what was considered a massive development opportunity. The original, non-split project, was projected to bring 50,000 high-paying jobs and some $5 billion in investment. Sealed offers to Amazon were submitted by many metro areas and few details of what each city offered are available.

What is clear is that Amazon made the predictable move — it headed to the coast, near two national hubs: New York City and Washington, D.C. Both regions will get $2.5 billion in investment and approximately 25,000 jobs.

"These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a news release.

The news was not greeted with universal acclaim. Amazon's plans come amid concerns about overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure in the exploding Long Island neighborhood located just across the East River from Manhattan. Housing in Washington, D.C. and its suburbs is already scarce and rent is sky-high.

"Amazon is a billion-dollar company. The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here," U.S. Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who will soon represent parts of Queens, said on Twitter.

Few details on what Columbus, or even Cleveland, offered Amazon in terms of tax incentives are available. But if evidence of what other communities offered is a guide — for example, Newark, New Jersey offered about $7 billion in tax incentives, Business Insider reported — we can guess city leaders were willing to give up a lot.

Still, 25,000 or 50,000 new jobs would have meant a lot to any Rust Belt metro area. It would have gobbled up empty housing stock, boosted the residential tax base of most suburbs, and rejuvenated ossifying economies. Any metro area in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, or Indiana would have been remade by Amazon HQ2.

In the end, the Rust Belt had three contenders among the final 20 bids: Columbus, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh. To no one's shock, all were passed over for the coastal hubs of New York City and Washington, D.C.

Listen to the way New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio touts the selection of his city. Imagine instead that Amazon had chosen a Rust Belt town.

"We're talking about the single biggest economic development deal in the history of New York City," de Blasio said Monday on NY1. "We're talking about a number of jobs that would make this company the single largest private employer in the city, when it fully plays out."

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Patch's Noah Manskar contributed to this report

Photo by Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images