IS THIS THE FUTURE OF AMERICA?

Is this the future of America? This is Loudoun County, Virginia, home to about 250 data centers, making it the largest concentration in the world. In Loudoun, data centers are nothing new. They've been around here for decades. But recently, the area has reached a tipping point where residents are beginning to notice more of the drawbacks than the benefits of these hulking neighbors. Over the past 20 years, Loudoun residents have largely seen a direct positive impact of data centers on their lives. Property tax rates declined dramatically, and property values have actually gone up. Tax revenues from the data centers alone exceeded the county's operational budget by $35 million in 2024. The county has paved smooth roads, built sprawling athletic fields, a recreation center with an Olympic-sized pool, and an average of nearly 1.5 state-of-the-art public school buildings every year for the past 15 years. But more data centers are being built, and their presence is becoming increasingly disruptive. Residents complain about constant noise, transmission line proposals that would cut through their backyards, and fears about potential health and environmental effects. It's complicated. And for communities across the country that are considering their first data centers, there are real lessons to be learned from the canary in data center alley. So I decided to check it out. I'm on top of a garage to try and get a bird's-eye view. Over a series of visits to Loudoun County, I do kind of hear a kind of ringing somewhere. I wanted to see for myself what it's like to cross through communities surrounded by the cloud. Is the data center future that so many across the country seem to be afraid of all it's been built up to be? Check out my article at theverge.com