Several cities explicitly framed their pitch around the appeal that Amazon could become the major local employer, and the catalyst for an urban revival. Baltimore promised the chance to “permanently tie Amazon to the renaissance of one of America’s greatest working-class cities.” Detroit’s proposal suggested that Amazon would further help the city shed “the blue-collar stereotype.” Camden, N.J., pitched itself as “a city rising” — a place Amazon could help lift up.

None of those cities were among the 20 finalists Amazon seriously considered.

“A bunch of cities in their initial proposal proposed that Amazon would be the center of their development strategy,” said Nathan Jensen, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin who tracked proposals for HQ2. “But these are the losers.”

Instead, in New York and Washington, Amazon will find not only all the assets a tech company requires, but also some reprieve from the attention its status as the behemoth tech employer within Seattle has given it. In its hometown, Amazon now occupies fully one-fifth of all prime office space.

In announcing the decision on Tuesday, Amazon’s C.E.O., Jeff Bezos, mentioned the company’s desire to “become an even bigger part of these communities.” But that role in New York and Washington will be relatively smaller than if the company had chosen a different kind of home.

In Northern Virginia and environs, even as Amazon grows to 25,000 jobs, the primary industries will long remain government services and defense contracting. In New York, Amazon isn’t even the only big tech company announcing a major expansion in the past week; Google plans to swell in size there, too — albeit in Manhattan rather than Queens.