- Working class communities are rallying against data centers
- They oppose projects at significantly higher rates than affluent neighborhoods
- Projects that experience local opposition are six times more likely to be cancelled
A new analysis of the anti-data center movement has found that working-class communities oppose such projects at a rate five times higher than their wealthy counterparts.
Brian Merchant, author of the Blood In The Machine newsletter, has compiled data across numerous polls and first-hand reporting and, with the help of researcher Geoff Holtzman, has found that the American working class is the primary driver of opposition to data centers.
The analysis directly counters other arguments that suggest the movement is led by environmentalists or property owners who don’t want their views spoiled (also known as Not In My Backyard-ers, or NIMBYs), and likely wasn’t started as a Chinese influence campaign, as some Republicans claim.
Working class communities are rallying against data centers
In his contributed analysis, Holtzman states, “The highest rate of resistance comes from neighborhoods with a median income between $8,000 and $72,000. The lowest rate of resistance is in neighborhoods where the average household earns between $133k and $250k per year.”
The analysis also shows that in working-class areas where proposed data centers encountered local opposition, nearly a third of projects were canceled or delayed, compared to just over 5% of projects in areas without significant pushback.
What these results show is that the neighborhoods that are fighting back are actually achieving meaningful change.
As Holtzman explains, “The odds of cancellation are six times higher in neighborhoods that struggle than in neighborhoods that don’t. Increased cancellations in low-income neighborhoods are fully explained by high rates of pushback in those neighborhoods, so continued proposals in those areas can stir outrage, create resistance, and increase cancellation rates.”
Where are data centers built?
According to research published by Rice Business School, there are two main factors that come into play in determining the location of hyperscale data centers: access to energy infrastructure and access to cheap real estate.
The areas most likely to provide such facilities are working-class neighborhoods where land costs are low and building the infrastructure to power a data center will be cheap and (usually) met with less resistance.
Additionally, incomes in these neighborhoods match incomes from jobs that AI is most likely to replace, such as clerical roles and administrative work, which may be another factor why opposition in these neighborhoods is so high.
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