A Pew Research Center poll conducted July 20 through August 9 found that 60 percent of polled Americans do not view data centers as good neighbors, answering that they would be “not to” or “not at all” “comfortable with a new data center operating in their area.” Nonetheless, there are instances of government in America making special deals to encourage the creation of data centers near people’s homes. It seems like public service is being flipped on its head.
One example of this phenomenon was the subject of a Wednesday The Guardian article. The article described concerns expressed by residents of Southaven, Mississippi in regard to a data centers of the company xAI that are near their homes. Noise is a primary matter vexing residents. In short, the residents are complaining about the data centers bringing a nuisance to the area.
The source of the complained of problem in this and other instances of data centers being placed near homes is not just the companies that build and operate the data centers, as well as seek to profit from them. Government is also responsible. For instance, the article in The Guardian related that Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite “oversaw a land swap deal with xAI that resulted in a new police and firefighter training center for the city.” The mayor is also quoted as declaring, “This development will produce unprecedented tax revenue for DeSoto county taxpayers that will enhance the quality of life for all.”
Maybe the city government will, as the mayor suggests, make big money off its and xAI’s scheme to bring data centers into the city. Surely, xAI hopes the money will roll in for it as well. But, there are residents who see the corporatist deal to make the data centers their neighbor as causing a significant detriment to their quality of life. It is yet another example of the disturbing tendency of government to reject defending the rights and wellbeing of residents and to instead pursue central planning actions that impose suffering on some people in the name of advancing a purported greater good.
