As 20 cities eagerly await signals from Amazon Inc., fresh analysis by a real estate and tourism consultant has both good and bad news for Toronto’s hopes of landing the tech giant’s second headquarters.

Resonance, with offices in Vancouver and New York, used its data on cities and Amazon’s “request for proposal” to rank which of the 20 shortlisted cities best meet the electronic retailing giant’s criteria for a new hub with up to 50,000 employees and billions of dollars of potential investments.

Amazon’s priorities, outlined in a bidding process reminiscent of those for Olympics hosting rights, include proffered economic incentives and the depth of tech talent. But the firm also values less traditional factors including cultural diversity and recreational opportunities for those workers.

Resonance was not surprised that its analysis pegged New York City as best hitting most of Amazon’s marks. The company was surprised that Toronto, the only shortlisted Canadian city, nabbed the number two spot in the study, ahead of Chicago, Northern Virginia and Los Angeles.

While Toronto is seen as Canada’s powerhouse, says Chris Fair, Resonance’s Calgary-raised president, “in the North American context I think most Canadians, and certainly Americans, would put Toronto somewhere down the list behind cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas and L.A.

“That’s why it surprised us to see Toronto come out at number two because we don’t usually think about Toronto as being second only to New York.”

He credits Toronto’s edge on “experiential” quality-of-life factors including nightlife, parks, safety, culture and pro sports.

The bad news for Toronto is that, when Fair factored in other considerations, including the city not offering tax breaks and Amazon planning a major expansion of its other Canadian office, in Vancouver, Toronto fell off the leader board. New York also fell down the list because of its scarcity of suitable real estate.

Resonance is predicting Chicago, Northern Virginia, and L.A. as the most likely sites for Amazon’s “HQ2”, giving Boston an outside shot.

Still, Fair says, Toronto’s surprisingly good showing bodes well for the city as it works to lure other big international employers.

“When the (Amazon search) dust settles I think we’ll see more and more companies following this kind of process, or at least making choices and decisions based on similar criteria that are not focused on just economics but on the quality of the places,” he says.

Amazon announced the shortlist in January and has reportedly finished visiting the 20 cities, including Toronto in March. Toronto Global, the agency co-ordinating the regional bid, said Amazon officials asked about “our tech sector and the benefits that come from our publicly funded health care and education systems.”

Toronto Global said Wednesday it has heard nothing more and is “awaiting direction on next steps.” Seattle-based Amazon has said the new site will be known by the end of 2018.

Officials in Arlington, Texas, which made a pitch as part of Dallas’s bid, say Amazon has eliminated the suburb despite a pledge of $921 million U.S. in “performance-based incentives.” Arlington’s mayor told CNN that Amazon wants a “more advanced urban setting.”

While Toronto Mayor John Tory is enthusiastic about the prospect of a huge Amazon hub here, others worry the prize would bring pain in the form of skyrocketing home prices, a siphoning of talent from the rest of the tech sector, and demands on government for special treatment.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The final concern came into focus earlier this month when Amazon warned Seattle city council it would halt expansion plans if the city moved ahead with a tax on large employers to raise $75 million (U.S.) to pay for badly needed affordable housing and services for homeless residents.

Seattle council scaled back the tax but still got a scolding from a “disappointed” Amazon vice-president who said the company remains “very apprehensive about the future created by the council’s hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here.”

Read more about: