Some cities enticed Amazon with gimmicks

The guessing game is over: Amazon.com says it will open new corporate outposts in Northern Virginia and New York, two already-crowded metropolitan areas that are likely to become even less affordable with a new influx of tech workers.

In some ways, the decision isn’t surprising, as Amazon had made it clear that the company wanted to base its new offices, nicknamed HQ2, in a metropolitan area with at least a million residents that’s near universities and an international airport.

But in September 2017, when the company first announced plans to open a second headquarters outside Seattle, nothing felt outside of the realm of possibility. In total, 238 cities competed to host HQ2 in a drawn-out process of elimination that felt reminiscent of “America’s Next Top Model” just with more talk about technology.

While some cities stuck to offering traditional incentives — namely, billions of dollars in tax breaks — others that weren’t considered obvious front-runners turned to gimmicks and publicity stunts to get the attention of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

• In Tucson, economic development officials kicked off their bid by promising to deliver a 21-foot saguaro cactus to the company’s headquarters in Seattle. But the saguaro “stayed put, packed for a trip but waiting in the nursery yard,” the Arizona Daily Star reported.