The candidates for Amazon's HQ2 is down to 20 cities.Whittling down from 238 communities to make a bid, the online retail giant named its list of finalists for its second North American headquarters on Wednesday.The winning city could receive a major economic boost from Amazon's presence. The company said it is expected to bring $5 billion in investment and as many as 50,000 jobs.With Amazon's headquarters based in Seattle, the list of finalists clearly indicates a preference for a location in the eastern United States. Los Angeles and Denver are the only finalists not in the central or eastern time zone, and Toronto is the only one outside of the U.S.Up next: Amazon says it will "dive deeper" into candidate cities' proposals and make a decision sometime this year. In its original request for proposal document, the company said it preferred cities with a metropolitan area of more than one million people, a stable and business friendly environment and locations "with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent."The cities are:Atlanta, GAAustin, TXBoston, MAChicago, ILColumbus, OHDallas, TXDenver, COIndianapolis, INLos Angeles, CAMiami, FLMontgomery County, MDNashville, TNNewark, NJNew York City, NYNorthern Virginia, VAPhiladelphia, PAPittsburgh, PARaleigh, NCToronto, ONWashington D.C.