Amazon's Omnipresence in American Cities

Scott Shane explores Amazon’s vast influence in the modern world by taking a closer look at the many ways it has deeply affected labor, commerce, transportation, and everyday life in Baltimore. 

He starts with the area’s Amazon fulfillment centers—located on former General Motors and Bethlehem Steel sites. In a city that has lost most of its unionized industrial jobs, Amazon jobs are in demand, even without providing comparable pay and security. In addition, local officials have offered Amazon $65 million in tax breaks and loans to locate in Baltimore.

"But economists say online shopping has also erased thousands of retail jobs, and critics point to other costs, including traffic congestion and environmental effects, so assessing the company’s net impact is difficult," notes Shane.

Shane continues on by tracing Amazon’s expansion into a multitude of sectors and industries far beyond its start in online retail, including government and institutional procurement, freight and shipping, and cloud computing and software. While Baltimore offers just one example of a city contending with Amazon’s far-reaching influence, its experience highlights the important decisions city officials need to make and the lessons to be learned from past missteps.

"[Amy Webb] called the contest for Amazon’s second headquarters a 'ridiculous parade, a beauty contest' in which communities nationwide offered up inducements while failing to make a cleareyed assessment of costs and benefits. With its capabilities, market sway and long-term strategy, she said, Amazon now conducts itself like a 'nation-state,'" writes Shane.