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It's sad seeing people impacted by these data centers considering how little voice they have. I don't think anyone wants to live near a data center unless they

by alyxya 1y ago

It's sad seeing people impacted by these data centers considering how little voice they have. I don't think anyone wants to live near a data center unless they actually worked there.

SirFatty 1y ago
I wonder how much property value is affected.
- mdasen 1y ago
  Since 2017, Louden County housing prices have gone up 59% according to Zillow. To put that in perspective, NYC is up 24%, LA up 56%, Chicago up 28%, SF up 7%, DC up 10%, Boston up 29%, Atlanta up 48%. Ashburn, which is where the majority of the data centers are in Louden County, is up 56% so even when you look at a smaller area around the data centers, it doesn't seem to have harmed property values. Even if you look at mansions on an acre of land a couple houses down from a data center, it looks like they've gone up in value at least as fast the average for both Louden County or Ashburn (https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/44335-Oldetowne-Pl-Ashburn-VA-20147/12392292_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/44335-Oldetowne-Pl-Ashbur... this place I randomly looked up is up around 70% according to Zillow). It doesn't look like it's impacted housing prices negatively. That doesn't mean it doesn't impact how some people care about their homes. Some people might prefer to pay higher taxes than look at a data center across the street. But it isn't economically hurting residents. Their property taxes are very low, they have the highest median income in the US, and their property values are going up faster than most.
ta1243 1y ago
And very few people work there relative to the impact. Sure nobody liked living near factories in ye olden days, but they did like the employment opportunities. You can see how few work there when you compare the size of the data centre and the size of the car park.
- tomhallett 1y ago
  But there is an upside to this - you get the benefits of being a city with big business (tax revenue, donations to the local schools, investments in infrastructure), but don't have increased commuter traffic.
  - gowld 1y ago
    Then the locality government gives tax incentives so the residents don't get any benefit in exchange for their polluted environment.
  - rurp 1y ago
    Are those benefits the norm in most cases though? I'm genuinely asking and don't know either way, but the companies building these data centers have quite a reputation for aggressively pursuing subsidies and tax avoidance strategies. Amazon for one has paid little to no federal taxes some years and they wouldn't be my first pick as an example of a magnanimous corporate entity, to say the least. Whatever benefits there are have to be weighted against the very real costs. Residential power bills spiking is a hugely regressive burden for many struggling households.
- axus 1y ago
  There's a lot of work building them, not permanent of course.
  - ta1243 1y ago
    And not the locals - as the local community can't sustain that amount of building. People come in temporarily while the work goes, then leave. This adds more pressure on the local community for again very little gain.
- mdasen 1y ago
  I don't think that the data centers are having a negative economic impact on Louden County residents. It's the richest country in the US with a median household income of $156,821. They also get really low property tax rates because the data centers are paying a lot of taxes compared to their costs. If there were lots more people working there, the county would need to spend a lot more money on roads and such. Instead, they're getting close to free money. I'm not saying that anyone should want data centers to take over their city/county, but there isn't a strong economic argument against them in Louden County. The people there are the richest in the US and they're getting great economic benefits from it. The question isn't economic. The question is whether that's the community they want to live in: rich and making lots of money off data centers or an area where they don't have as much money and don't have to look at the data centers.
dingnuts 1y ago
Did you read the article? It's about Loudoun County, the wealthiest county in the US. The people "affected" both are the ones making the decision about where to put the data centers and the ones profiting off them. Don't lose sleep. Also, those same people have the most ability to live wherever they want, and can leave. This isn't mountaintop removal in coal country. This is wealthy DC lobbyists being a little annoyed about a hum. The fact that there's even an article about it is evidence of the fact that the affected are wealthy. The article is their voice. The wealth that allows them to live in Loudoun County is their voice.
- alyxya 1y ago
  I hadn't heard of Loudoun County before. I also did read the article and here's a sentence from it. > But while most locals the BBC spoke to opposed the data centres, the industry has many powerful proponents, including US President Donald Trump. Also moving isn't something to take lightly. > "I never thought that a data centre would be built across the street from my house," she said. "I would not have bought this house if I had known what was going in across the street."
  - dylan604 1y ago
    > "I never thought that a data centre would be built across the street from my house," she said. "I would not have bought this house if I had known what was going in across the street." and let this be a lesson to anyone looking to buy with vacant land within whatever radius you want to apply. if you think you might be upset by something that could be developed in the future, you can do some basic research on what zoning the lot(s) have, if they are owned by someone/thing that is discernible and not a shell company (if it is a shell company that's probably an indication you won't like what's coming), etc. sure, the ultimate developer of the think you won't like might only purchase the lot just before they are ready to build (specifically to avoid this), ultimately they will have to file for plans. it's possible those plans have already been filed, but if you don't look into it, it's really on you since you have the problem with it.
    - 1y ago
dangus 1y ago
Much better than living next to a chemical plant. I thought the article and video were grasping at straws to find negative impacts. There’s no pollution on site so they have to talk about sounds that can’t be heard on the video and electrical poles. I think this is dangerously close to NIMBY territory. People who bought homes in the cheapest land possible in areas with ample available farmland are upset that someone else bought some other land. It’s quite easy to avoid that if you aren’t just buying on pure dollars per square foot like so many suburban buyers seem to be doing. When it comes to vibrant urban core you actually benefit by having a lot of different things nearby “in my backyard.” As an added bonus, businesses looking for cheap land for factories and data centers tend to stay away. But if we live in the city we’ll be “on top of each other” and I won’t have a walk-in closet to store all my clothes I don’t wear, and I won’t have a garage to store the car that I’m required to own to get around because nothing is nearby me, and I need a shed for my lawn mower because I can’t just share with my neighbors and I need my own yard because the public park is too far away, etc etc.

by alyxya 1y ago

It's sad seeing people impacted by these data centers considering how little voice they have. I don't think anyone wants to live near a data center unless they actually worked there.

SirFatty 1y ago

I wonder how much property value is affected.

mdasen 1y ago
Since 2017, Louden County housing prices have gone up 59% according to Zillow. To put that in perspective, NYC is up 24%, LA up 56%, Chicago up 28%, SF up 7%, DC up 10%, Boston up 29%, Atlanta up 48%. Ashburn, which is where the majority of the data centers are in Louden County, is up 56% so even when you look at a smaller area around the data centers, it doesn't seem to have harmed property values. Even if you look at mansions on an acre of land a couple houses down from a data center, it looks like they've gone up in value at least as fast the average for both Louden County or Ashburn (https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/44335-Oldetowne-Pl-Ashburn-VA-20147/12392292_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/44335-Oldetowne-Pl-Ashbur... this place I randomly looked up is up around 70% according to Zillow). It doesn't look like it's impacted housing prices negatively. That doesn't mean it doesn't impact how some people care about their homes. Some people might prefer to pay higher taxes than look at a data center across the street. But it isn't economically hurting residents. Their property taxes are very low, they have the highest median income in the US, and their property values are going up faster than most.

ta1243 1y ago

And very few people work there relative to the impact. Sure nobody liked living near factories in ye olden days, but they did like the employment opportunities. You can see how few work there when you compare the size of the data centre and the size of the car park.

tomhallett 1y ago
But there is an upside to this - you get the benefits of being a city with big business (tax revenue, donations to the local schools, investments in infrastructure), but don't have increased commuter traffic.
- gowld 1y ago
  Then the locality government gives tax incentives so the residents don't get any benefit in exchange for their polluted environment.
- rurp 1y ago
  Are those benefits the norm in most cases though? I'm genuinely asking and don't know either way, but the companies building these data centers have quite a reputation for aggressively pursuing subsidies and tax avoidance strategies. Amazon for one has paid little to no federal taxes some years and they wouldn't be my first pick as an example of a magnanimous corporate entity, to say the least. Whatever benefits there are have to be weighted against the very real costs. Residential power bills spiking is a hugely regressive burden for many struggling households.
axus 1y ago
There's a lot of work building them, not permanent of course.
- ta1243 1y ago
  And not the locals - as the local community can't sustain that amount of building. People come in temporarily while the work goes, then leave. This adds more pressure on the local community for again very little gain.
mdasen 1y ago
I don't think that the data centers are having a negative economic impact on Louden County residents. It's the richest country in the US with a median household income of $156,821. They also get really low property tax rates because the data centers are paying a lot of taxes compared to their costs. If there were lots more people working there, the county would need to spend a lot more money on roads and such. Instead, they're getting close to free money. I'm not saying that anyone should want data centers to take over their city/county, but there isn't a strong economic argument against them in Louden County. The people there are the richest in the US and they're getting great economic benefits from it. The question isn't economic. The question is whether that's the community they want to live in: rich and making lots of money off data centers or an area where they don't have as much money and don't have to look at the data centers.

dingnuts 1y ago

Did you read the article? It's about Loudoun County, the wealthiest county in the US. The people "affected" both are the ones making the decision about where to put the data centers and the ones profiting off them. Don't lose sleep. Also, those same people have the most ability to live wherever they want, and can leave. This isn't mountaintop removal in coal country. This is wealthy DC lobbyists being a little annoyed about a hum. The fact that there's even an article about it is evidence of the fact that the affected are wealthy. The article is their voice. The wealth that allows them to live in Loudoun County is their voice.

alyxya 1y ago
I hadn't heard of Loudoun County before. I also did read the article and here's a sentence from it. > But while most locals the BBC spoke to opposed the data centres, the industry has many powerful proponents, including US President Donald Trump. Also moving isn't something to take lightly. > "I never thought that a data centre would be built across the street from my house," she said. "I would not have bought this house if I had known what was going in across the street."
- dylan604 1y ago
  > "I never thought that a data centre would be built across the street from my house," she said. "I would not have bought this house if I had known what was going in across the street." and let this be a lesson to anyone looking to buy with vacant land within whatever radius you want to apply. if you think you might be upset by something that could be developed in the future, you can do some basic research on what zoning the lot(s) have, if they are owned by someone/thing that is discernible and not a shell company (if it is a shell company that's probably an indication you won't like what's coming), etc. sure, the ultimate developer of the think you won't like might only purchase the lot just before they are ready to build (specifically to avoid this), ultimately they will have to file for plans. it's possible those plans have already been filed, but if you don't look into it, it's really on you since you have the problem with it.
  - 1y ago

dangus 1y ago

Much better than living next to a chemical plant. I thought the article and video were grasping at straws to find negative impacts. There’s no pollution on site so they have to talk about sounds that can’t be heard on the video and electrical poles. I think this is dangerously close to NIMBY territory. People who bought homes in the cheapest land possible in areas with ample available farmland are upset that someone else bought some other land. It’s quite easy to avoid that if you aren’t just buying on pure dollars per square foot like so many suburban buyers seem to be doing. When it comes to vibrant urban core you actually benefit by having a lot of different things nearby “in my backyard.” As an added bonus, businesses looking for cheap land for factories and data centers tend to stay away. But if we live in the city we’ll be “on top of each other” and I won’t have a walk-in closet to store all my clothes I don’t wear, and I won’t have a garage to store the car that I’m required to own to get around because nothing is nearby me, and I need a shed for my lawn mower because I can’t just share with my neighbors and I need my own yard because the public park is too far away, etc etc.