Cities Recycle Their Amazon Pitches to Attract New Business

Philadelphia’s proposal lures a London investment firm; ‘this made us feel OK about taking that risk’

Some U.S. cities are learning something this year from Amazon: how to sell themselves.

Many of the 20 cities shortlisted as sites for the retail giant’s second headquarters are using the multimedia presentations they created for Amazon.com Inc.’s application to pitch to other companies.

“We already have seen businesses that have expressed...