美国国家公共电台 NPR Denver Failed To Land Boeing. Now It's Using Lifestyle To Woo Amazon

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Across the country, hundreds of cities are making their pitch to Amazon. City officials have until Thursday to convince Amazon to open their second headquarters in their town. At stake - potentially 50,000 jobs and $5 billion worth of investment. One city that keeps showing up on lists of favorites is Denver. From member station KUNC, Benta Birkeland reports on how the area is pitching itself.

BENTA BIRKELAND, BYLINE¹: Walking through downtown Denver, it's impossible to avoid construction. The city's booming and new buildings are going up everywhere. Denver's filled with trendy restaurants, bike paths, museums and tourists. On this crisp, autumn day, there's a bright blue sky overhead and snow-capped mountain peaks in the distance. Millennials, like 25-year-old old Abigail Scott, are flocking here for good jobs and to live close to the outdoors.

ABIGAIL SCOTT: The sunshine is one of my favorite parts. The fact that the snow melts in, like, 5 hours is also another great part. I like that the mountains are visible almost all of the time from the city, gives you a little reminder² of what you get to go to.

BIRKELAND: The lifestyle here is the central part of the city's pitch to Amazon. J.J. Ament is with the Metro³ Denver Economic Development Corporation.

J J AMENT: Few places in the United States and the world combine our great business climate with our great quality of life.

BIRKELAND: For Denver, there's some history here. Sixteen years ago, another Seattle company, Boeing, chose Chicago over Denver for its new headquarters. Many cities are offering Amazon larger tax breaks and more cash up front than Denver's willing to put on the table. But the state's governor, Democrat⁴ John Hickenlooper, says the region has bigger selling points.

JOHN HICKENLOOPER: The young people that might be in some other city and looking for where to, you know, not just get a job, but to build a family, build a life, that they're going to be more attracted to Colorado.

BIRKELAND: But there is a lot of competition from cities, like Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Raleigh. Rich Fitzgerald is the Allegheny County executive. Lately, he's been putting up to 60 hours a week on Pittsburgh's bid.

RICH FITZGERALD: Companies have kind of discovered Pittsburgh's a great place to do business, and that's why Google is here and Intel is here and the Uber driverless car is here. And in fact, not only are young people staying, but there's more young people coming to Pittsburgh.

BIRKELAND: He says Pittsburgh has another leg up. The colors of the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins⁵ are black and gold, just like Amazon's logo. But sports teams aside, this is an economic decision for Amazon. It says it needs a skilled workforce⁶, major universities, an international airport and mass transit⁷ - all ingredients that Denver has. In fact, a New York Times analysis said the city was the best fit for Amazon. But some Coloradans are wary⁸ about the idea of even more growth.

ANDREA SHINN: There's not really an infrastructure⁹ to support 50,000 more jobs.

BIRKELAND: Twenty-eight-year-old Andrea Shinn is a chef. She grew up in the Denver region. She's worried about traffic getting worse and housing prices rising higher than they already are.

SHINN: And it seems like more people are coming every day, which is wonderful for the economy, I suppose. But I think we've been a little sideswiped, and people are coming a little faster than we can anticipate.

BIRKELAND: But Shinn says she understands how the climate and lifestyle draw people to Colorado. She hopes if Amazon does choose Denver, the city won't lose what makes it special to her. For NPR News, I'm Benta Birkeland in Denver.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

7 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

8 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。