alt Hacker NewsI think much of the opposition to data centers is because companies are rushing to build them as quickly as possible. When you are building a traditional factory, you probably expect it to remain operational for 30+ years, so it makes sense to get the local community on board first. But a data center building could be obsolete in 10–20 years, if the requirements change enough that it's not feasible to retrofit it for new hardware.
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A data center looks like all the other warehouses next door. We have been building them for decades and repurposing them a few years latter.
> you probably expect it to remain operational for 30+ years,
You cannot afford this in the era of the modern regulatory state. You need projections showing you will be in the black in 5-10 to get financing most of the time. Anything you get after that is just gravy.
There are some exceptions for government intertwined industry (energy, farming, etc) but even then the long term risk is pooled and counter-balanced through financialization so nobody is holding the bag the whole time.
You're trying to put rational on irrational emotions. The reason people are so anti datacenter is because their favorite news site / social media told them to be anti datacenter. You're giving way too much credit to sheep's ability to think.