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AOL Sucks
When AOL built its new corporate headquarters outside Washington D.C. a decade ago, the company set off an explosion of poorly planned exurban sprawl. By plopping its campus in the middle of nowhere and miles from any public transportation, AOL helped overwhelm local highways with commuter traffic that's now among the worst in the nation and spurred the overdevelopment of the formerly bucolic horse country of Loudoun County, Virginia.
County officials offered AOL lots of tax breaks to come and create this smog-choked mess, but now, the company's top executives have decided that they'd rather be somewhere more interesting. The tech company announced yesterday that AOL's senior management would be fleeing its dreary Dulles office park for the better bagels, pizza and public transportation of New York City. Of course, the execs say that it's because they need to be closer to the advertising business. But I think the rich guys at the top simply hate the very life-sucking suburbs they helped create as much as the rest of us do. Before AOL's entire upper tax bracket decamps to Madison Avenue, Loudoun County should ask for its money back.
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AOL is still a company? What do they do?
Stephanie, you're laying the whole package on AOL's doorstep, but look at what you're saying here:
"County officials offered AOL lots of tax breaks to come and create this smog-choked mess.."
Once again, it seems politicians have at least an equal share of blame, but only "The Evil Corporation" is being saddled with it.
Shouldn't you really be saying "AOL & Loudoun County Politicians Suck"?
Luring AOL to move into what turned out to be an unsuitable location doesn't seem to be the only reason for criticizing Loudoun County's politicians. Check it out:
http://www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2007/09/18/opinion/editorials/991ed...
They're planning to reward themselves with a new government center/office complex.
GVC - well said. However, it's also the mindless leadership of AOL that encouraged it.
One of the primary reasons that companies move to new locations is to be closer to execs' homes. So these chumps were probably living out there and brought the company out. Ironically, this is a good thing in the end (perhaps) since, although they leave a mess in their wake, they've (maybe) learned something.
Corporate "leadership" is never "mindless", especially leaders at the level who are deciding to "moving a company". Corporate management exists for one primary purpose, to suck as much company wealth into their own pockets as they get away with. The owners (or major stockholders) WANT people like this, knowing that only people who will do ANYTHING to maximize their own wealth will ALSO have the skills required to screw the customer, without remorse, thereby maximized the wealth of BOTH. The owner's job is to limit the amount of wealth the management can take. Management's job is to screw everybody it can to maximize the amount they CAN take. Local government politicians are just participating in the invisible hand of the marketplace. Everybody (who matters) wins.
Local politicians giving away government services to their rich buddies, is about as normal a government purpose as you can find in America.
Why do we even have this news article here? In 2005, Loudoun County emerged as the wealthiest jurisdiction in the nation, with its households having a median income of more than $98,000. I don't feel sorry for all the rich people that live there. Stephanie dear, get a life.
AOL hasn't been a player in Loudoun for a few years now. Yeah, the traffic sucks here, but AOL's move was one of many (MCI, Sprint, and many other tech and telecomm companies are also in the area) that sparked a lot of development here. And without that congestion and development, the demographics wouldn't be around to have sent Senator Macaca into early retirement last year. If anything blame the local state and federal politicians who were damn slow in seeing the need for better transportation in the area (and don't forget the idiot "no taxes" politicians in the souther part of the state sucking on Northern Virginia's tax dollar teat while refusing to fund transportation improvements).
Anonymous, we don't feel sorry for the problems of the rich capitalist ruling class.