{"slug": "data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-don-t-want-them-in-their", "title": "Data centers are popping up everywhere. But most people don't want them in their neighborhoods.", "summary": "More than 53% of US households oppose the construction of AI data centers in their neighborhoods, according to a Redfin survey, making them less popular than new apartment complexes (39% disapproval) or mixed-use spaces (32%). Older Americans are most skeptical, with over two-thirds of baby boomers and 60% of Gen X-ers opposed, compared to 43% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z-ers. Despite local opposition, Redfin senior economist Yingqi Xu noted that data centers can boost tax revenues and education spending without raising residential property taxes, as seen in Virginia's Loudoun and Prince William counties.", "body_md": "As data center construction [rapidly expands](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/ai-optimism-is-now-coppers-biggest-driver-chart-of-the-day-173856691.html), most US households don't want it in their backyards.\n\nA survey commissioned by Redfin found that more than 53% of residents oppose the construction of an AI data center in their neighborhoods, making the facilities far less popular than even other forms of commonly griped-about development.\n\nResidents were less skeptical of new apartment complexes, with 39% disapproving. Thirty-two percent didn't want to see mixed-use spaces, and 48% were against converting single-family homes into multiple residences.\n\nData centers have come [under more scrutiny](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/heres-growing-public-opposition-data-190414161.html) in recent years as companies rush to construct them to meet artificial intelligence demand. Communities often oppose them due to their high electricity and water needs, as well as their industrial look and the noise some centers emit when running cooling fans or on-site power generators.\n\nLocal communities around the country have sought to block data center projects, and New York recently imposed a one-year moratorium on new large data centers so the state can study their environmental effects and develop a plan to regulate them.\n\nThe Redfin survey found that older Americans tend to be the most skeptical of data centers, with more than two-thirds of baby boomers and 60% of Gen X-ers opposing their construction, compared to just 43% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z-ers.\n\nAlthough data centers remain unpopular, Redfin argues that they can have some benefits for local residents. The listings company analyzed financial records for two major data center hubs, Virginia's Loudoun and Prince William counties, and found that the areas have seen tax revenues and education spending rise far more quickly than other nearby counties that have had less data center construction.\n\nThose revenue jumps have come even as the counties have cut personal property tax rates in recent years.\n\n\"Loudoun County's expanding data-center tax base has given local officials more capacity to invest in schools, including higher education spending and teacher compensation, without upping tax rates on homeowners,\" Redfin senior economist Yingqi Xu said in the report. \"Because data centers are taxed largely through personal property taxes on computer equipment, that revenue can help fund growing budgets without putting the same pressure on residential real estate taxes.\"\n\n*Claire Boston** is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.*\n\n**Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter**\n\n**Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance**", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-don-t-want-them-in-their", "canonical_source": "https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-dont-want-them-in-their-neighborhoods-161405393.html", "published_at": "2026-07-22 16:14:05+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-22 16:23:07.730029+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Redfin", "Yahoo Finance", "Yingqi Xu", "Loudoun County", "Prince William County", "New York"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-don-t-want-them-in-their", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-don-t-want-them-in-their.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-don-t-want-them-in-their.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/data-centers-are-popping-up-everywhere-but-most-people-don-t-want-them-in-their.jsonld"}}