Why should data center hubs, like NoVA, carry a disproportionate local burden for AI, a global service?

[Anonymous]

I recently visited Harper’s Ferry and drove from there back through Loudoun County to Dulles. North-western Loudoun County has (or had), for my money, some of the most beautiful countryside in the region, but it is apparently disappearing amidst an onslaught of cookie cutter subdivisions, presumably to house those working at the nearby data centers. I’d love to see a breakdown of employees of the data centers as - per the dynamics of the demographics of Loudoun County - I’d wager that they are overwhelmingly H-1Bs etc.. If so, I think there are valid questions to be raised about who this “development” is benefiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should areas where crops are grown carry a disproportionate load of the farming when everyone everywhere eats food?

Farms presumably generate some local economic activity, whereas data centers are run by companies based elsewhere and require very little manpower while using finite high-value resources. I think OP asks a valid question.

Thank you.

There are WAYYYYY more people employed per-acre in a data center vs a farm.

Is that true? The estimates I'm seeing range from 20-100 people.

DP. Right... and a farm is going to be more like 1 employee per 500-1000 acres (for cropland) or 1 employee per 200-300 acres (for livestock).

Data centers will be more like 5-10 employees per acre. That's far more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should areas where crops are grown carry a disproportionate load of the farming when everyone everywhere eats food?

Farms presumably generate some local economic activity, whereas data centers are run by companies based elsewhere and require very little manpower while using finite high-value resources. I think OP asks a valid question.

You're underestimating the overall value those data centers bring. Part of the reason that Reston has a large number of tech jobs is because companies have data centers in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should areas where crops are grown carry a disproportionate load of the farming when everyone everywhere eats food?

Farms presumably generate some local economic activity, whereas data centers are run by companies based elsewhere and require very little manpower while using finite high-value resources. I think OP asks a valid question.

Thank you.

There are WAYYYYY more people employed per-acre in a data center vs a farm.

Is that true? The estimates I'm seeing range from 20-100 people.

DP. Right... and a farm is going to be more like 1 employee per 500-1000 acres (for cropland) or 1 employee per 200-300 acres (for livestock).

Data centers will be more like 5-10 employees per acre. That's far more.

I'm interested in water consumption broken down by land use for farms versus data centers. Water is the resource we will be needing pretty soon like a third world nation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should areas where crops are grown carry a disproportionate load of the farming when everyone everywhere eats food?

Farms presumably generate some local economic activity, whereas data centers are run by companies based elsewhere and require very little manpower while using finite high-value resources. I think OP asks a valid question.

Thank you.

There are WAYYYYY more people employed per-acre in a data center vs a farm.

Nope. Not at all. Data centers are ghost towns.

I suspect there is confusion in the way data centers is defined. If you define it as call centers it is different than cloud computing servers. AI and crypto rely on the latter a great deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should areas where crops are grown carry a disproportionate load of the farming when everyone everywhere eats food?

Farms presumably generate some local economic activity, whereas data centers are run by companies based elsewhere and require very little manpower while using finite high-value resources. I think OP asks a valid question.

Thank you.

There are WAYYYYY more people employed per-acre in a data center vs a farm.

Is that true? The estimates I'm seeing range from 20-100 people.

DP. Right... and a farm is going to be more like 1 employee per 500-1000 acres (for cropland) or 1 employee per 200-300 acres (for livestock).

Data centers will be more like 5-10 employees per acre. That's far more.

I'm interested in water consumption broken down by land use for farms versus data centers. Water is the resource we will be needing pretty soon like a third world nation.

??? That should be obvious. Agricultural water usage is going to dwarf data center water use. And, generally speaking, the more scarce water gets, the more that will tilt towards agriculture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should areas where crops are grown carry a disproportionate load of the farming when everyone everywhere eats food?

Farms presumably generate some local economic activity, whereas data centers are run by companies based elsewhere and require very little manpower while using finite high-value resources. I think OP asks a valid question.

Thank you.

There are WAYYYYY more people employed per-acre in a data center vs a farm.

Nope. Not at all. Data centers are ghost towns.

I suspect there is confusion in the way data centers is defined. If you define it as call centers it is different than cloud computing servers. AI and crypto rely on the latter a great deal.

I don't think anyone would call a call center a data center. I don't understand what confusion you think exists.

[Anonymous]

What benefits are they bringing? It isn’t a plethora of jobs and tax revenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What benefits are they bringing? It isn’t a plethora of jobs and tax revenue.

Have you ever driven out to Reston? Why do think those tech companies have offices there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What benefits are they bringing? It isn’t a plethora of jobs and tax revenue.

Loudoun County is making out like a bandit with the revenue the data centers are bringing. Just look all the love the County officials are constantly lavishing on them.

The data centers also create jobs. But I’d wager those getting the jobs aren’t multi-generational NoVAns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What benefits are they bringing? It isn’t a plethora of jobs and tax revenue.

Have you ever driven out to Reston? Why do think those tech companies have offices there?

I live in the area. I know no one working at the clouds in western Fairfax / Loudoun. Yes, there are contractors in Reston.

[Anonymous]

I think you are underestimating how many data centers there are elsewhere. I live in the land of cornfields and they are putting in 2 data centers near me (on former farmland). One owned by Microsoft and one by Google.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you are underestimating how many data centers there are elsewhere. I live in the land of cornfields and they are putting in 2 data centers near me (on former farmland). One owned by Microsoft and one by Google.

How many people will work at the data center after it is built? Maybe more than a farm but not hundreds of people.

[Anonymous]

FWIW Electricity prices are climbing more than twice as fast as inflation: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/16/nx-s1-5502671/...ll-high-inflation-ai

[Anonymous]

Why not put the data centers in places where they can be powered by electricity from renewable sources (e.g. Texas wind and solar, geothermal in Iceland, etc.)? Also, why don’t utilities charge the companies a high rate, rather than passing it on to regional consumers?