Sep 19, 2017 3 min read

In 1987, it was announced Atlanta was a finalist to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, along with Athens, Toronto, Melbourne, Manchester, England, and Belgrade, the capital of what was then Yugoslavia.

The reaction from some corners of the world, many parts of the United States, and even from Atlantans who considered themselves to be savvy and realistic, was that Atlanta had zero chance. It was a dark horse to even be the bid city for the United States, lapping the likes of Minneapolis and San Francisco. The thinking was, well, Atlanta was a robust and growing metropolis that had shaken off its segregationist legacy, but it just wasn’t quite on the same par as places like Toronto or Athens when it came to international cachet.

Turns out, though, Atlanta ended up winning the Olympics.

That’s a lesson Pittsburgh-area residents should absorb as city and Allegheny County officials launch a bid to nab the much-ballyhooed second headquarters for Amazon. The online retailer is looking to create a second base of operations in a yet-to-be-determined North American city that, among other things, is within 45 minutes of an international airport, has more than 1 million people, has a mass-transit system, provides access to major highways and has “the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent.”

Whatever municipality Amazon ultimately chooses will land quite a prize – a $5 billion investment from Amazon, multiple structures, a whole host of businesses supporting Amazon and its employees and, perhaps most importantly, 50,000 jobs that will pay excellent wages. It would be a tremendous boost to the regional economy.

Now, you can bet your last dollar some observers have already decided it’s hopeless – the odds are zilch Pittsburgh will become the home of Amazon’s second headquarters. There’s got to be some other city out there that has more of what Amazon is looking for, and the region will just have to content itself with the Steelers, Penguins, and the hangdog fatalism that has plagued it since manufacturing collapsed in the 1970s.

But Pittsburgh-area residents shouldn’t be so quick to write off the city’s chances. Consider that Pittsburgh is the home to top-drawer institutions of higher learning like Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, has an international airport that is already well-regarded and is on the verge of being refurbished, and is readily accessible to interstates 70 and 79. Moreover, it regularly tops lists of America’s most livable and most attractive cities, has a relatively low cost of living and land on which to build.

And let’s not forget Pittsburgh’s cultural amenities, growing diversity, and that it’s one of three North American cities where Uber is developing self-driving vehicles.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto put it this way: “With an unmatched portfolio of technological talent and intriguing development parcels, Pittsburgh is uniquely positioned to submit a winning bid for Amazon’s facility. This is a transformational opportunity unlike any that we’ve ever seen.”

Allegheny County and Pittsburgh are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to getting the second Amazon headquarters, devoting money and manpower to the effort. We hope it pays off. And we shouldn’t discount the possibility that it will.