Will an Amazon warehouse help Syracuse?

I fear the city learned nothing from Destiny USA.

When I first moved to South Bend from Syracuse, I was struck by the parallels between the two cities. Both are small, Rust Belt-adjacent communities that receive an inordinate amount of snow whose economics are often dominated by the universities they host.

In 2020, I became aware of another similarity between the two metros - both will soon be home to Amazon warehouses. 

At the start of my junior semester in South Bend, I was surprised to notice that some of my textbooks were now available with one-day shipping. Near-instant shipping in a city the size of South Bend? I was stunned. Having spent the summer interning in Chicago, I had only recently learned that one-day shipping existed in the first place. Now, I could order my textbooks (and LED lights, Halloween props, and other college student “necessities”) and receive them the next day without leaving campus. I was thrilled.

A sign outside the South Bend warehouse welcomes workers on their first day. Photo credits Santiago Flores/Sout…