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Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

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Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#491

Post by tptacek »

Henchman21 wrote: post #487
tptacek wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point you're basically making an argument against all commercial real estate.

Sure, and I think you won’t have to look too hard to find people who don’t want to live near commercial real estate. That is exactly the point. Why should any of us have to put up with evil? Why do the poor bear that load more than the rich? But also there’s no prairie around there. At all. What year were you last out there?

Plot a line from CHI1 to all of the nearest houses and get back to me with the the prices. I did one ray from CHI1 to Molitor Road and the first house I hit was over a half mil. Tell me more about the poor people these data centers inconvenience!

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#492

Post by mrguyorama »

no-name-here wrote: post #134
arcanemachiner wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like having my garbage picked up at the curb, but I wouldn't want to live downwind from a landfill. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-should-improve-society-som...

I think that’s how DCs mark an exponential growth in NIMBYism and its acceptance - we’re already seeing city-wide, county-wide, even state-wide bans, even in states where much of the state is very low density. If this kind of NIMBYism becomes accepted, I expect to see similar broader bans against multi-family housing, mass-transit, etc.

>we’re already seeing city-wide, county-wide, even state-wide bans, even in states where much of the state is very low density

Are we actually though? I bet you heard about the Maine datacenter moratorium that passed our state legislature. It generated tons of conversation here on HN.

Did you also hear that our Democrat governor vetoed it, and it did not become law?

How many of these moratoriums are actually getting into the law?

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#493

Post by DANmode »

tptacek wrote: post #455
ToucanLoucan wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the emotional truth that a lot of people are just not seeing. It takes so long to build trust. It takes seconds to obliterate it. And big tech as a whole has been obliterating it's trust for like... a decade now. You can't just isolate AI data centers, or even this potentially not-AI one, from everything else and be like "well opposition to this normal thing is ridiculous." Yes, it might well be. However ther…

I can't get past the premise here that data centers are using material amounts of water. You took all the time to write this, but then included an assertion I think we all broadly know isn't true.

Well, then quit beating up a straw man and come reply to the other thread you abandoned regarding what they’re putting into the water. =]

I don’t see DC water usage to be a problem, currently.

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#494

Post by nenxk »

I understand location is important for web/traditional data centers but why do they put these AI centers so close to people? Could they not put them somewhere far away like maybe in the middle some Nebraska farmland where it's just miles and miles of corn everywhere or the desert? I guess water would be an issue but it's closed loop no? Couldn't they just truck in the water and re use it or something?

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#495

Post by tptacek »

afavour wrote: post #462
tptacek wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't get past the premise here that data centers are using material amounts of water. You took all the time to write this, but then included an assertion I think we all broadly know isn't true.

I think you’re completely sidestepping the point of the OPs post about “emotional truth”. It’s indisputably true that a data center tapped a water supply without the supplier knowing about it and it caused water pressure in surrounding homes to drop: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/08/georgia-data-center... Whether it was a “material amount” of water is pretty irrelevant here. “affects my home water supply and…

You're right: I'm not taking seriously the idea of "emotional truth".

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#496

Post by fred_is_fred »

mixdup wrote: post #16
fred_is_fred wrote: post #2

What stood out to me was this: "By a 27-5 vote". That number seemed really high, so I looked it up - this isn't a city or a county or some kind of private tax distict - its was the nation's first city-county government. "The Metropolitan Council is the legislative authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, the nation’s first, fully consolidated city-county government, established in 19…

>this isn't a city or a county Yes it is, it's both of those things. Consolidated city/county governments are not a weird oddity that no one knows how to handle, they're not super common but they're not governmental arrangements from Neptune, either

Perhaps not from Neptune, but they don't exist in any of the 3 states I have lived in - so I was surprised.

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#497

Post by conductr »

darth_avocado wrote: post #80
conductr wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aesthetics are important. Everyone enjoys looking at a golf course, even non-golfers. Nobody wants to look at a datacenter. My general thought is, what’s the argument for placing them in populated areas to begin with? Why dedicate land use for it in Nashville? Wouldn’t putting it 40 miles outside town work just as well? Why don’t we create development zones specifically for these things? In Dallas we have a similar t…

Try living next to a constant 80-100 dB hum 24x7. You’d not be complaining about people being irrational.

We build residential right up to 20 lane freeways with heavy traffic speeding 75+ miles an hour. The tire humming is loud too.

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#498

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

49198684 | Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo | https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/08/04/metro-council-data-ce... | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49198684

More sources

1785853372 | Metro Council approved efforts to use eminent domain | https://www.wkrn.com/video/metro-council-approved-efforts-to...

1785900180 | Metro Nashville Council Marathon | https://www.wsmv.com/video/2026/08/05/metro-nashville-counci...

1785912178 | Metro Council approves eminent domain to buy proposed data center land near Nashville Zoo | https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/zoo-council-v...

1785922740 | Metro Council approves eminent domain legislation for Nashville Zoo data center | https://www.wsmv.com/2026/08/05/metro-council-approves-emine...

1785929744 | Metro Council approved efforts to use eminent domain | https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/metro-council-approved-eff...

1785933000 | Council OKs eminent domain action for proposed zoo-area data center site | https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/council-oks-eminent-d...

1785936000 | Council OKs Eminent Domain Action for Proposed Zoo-Area Data Center Site | https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/metro-coun...

1785938700 | Nashville Council passes mayor's bid to acquire zoo-adjacent property | https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2026/08...

1785942026 | Metro Council approves eminent domain to acquire land near Nashville Zoo from data center company | https://www.newschannel5.com/videos/news/metro-council-appro...

1785949424 | Metro advances eminent domain effort to try to block DC BLOX data center | https://wpln.org/post/metro-advances-eminent-domain-effort-t...

1785953564 | Moving forward with eminent domain may mean proposed data center 'unlikely' Metro Councilman says | https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/eminent-doman...

1785957300 | Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo | https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2026/08/05/counci...

1785963278 | Metro Council approves eminent domain to acquire land near Nashville Zoo from data center company | https://www.newschannel5.com/news/metro-council-approves-emi...

1786017061 | Council approves O'Connell's eminent domain plan | https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/08/06/council-app...

1786022777 | Council approves O'Connell's eminent domain plan | https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/policy/nashville-...

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#499

Post by afavour »

tptacek wrote: post #495
afavour wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re completely sidestepping the point of the OPs post about “emotional truth”. It’s indisputably true that a data center tapped a water supply without the supplier knowing about it and it caused water pressure in surrounding homes to drop: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/08/georgia-data-center... Whether it was a “material amount” of water is pretty irrelevant here. “affects my home water supply and…

You're right: I'm not taking seriously the idea of "emotional truth".

I don’t really get the point you’re making. That it’s illogical? Sure. Voters often are. They still get to vote, though. Sometimes you have to sell an idea through emotion. “I assure you the data center is not using a material amount of water” is not going move the dial.

Re: Nashville uses eminent domain to block data center near zoo

#500

Post by ToucanLoucan »

tptacek wrote: post #495
afavour wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re completely sidestepping the point of the OPs post about “emotional truth”. It’s indisputably true that a data center tapped a water supply without the supplier knowing about it and it caused water pressure in surrounding homes to drop: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/08/georgia-data-center... Whether it was a “material amount” of water is pretty irrelevant here. “affects my home water supply and…

You're right: I'm not taking seriously the idea of "emotional truth".

You should. Emotional truths get people killed and buildings burned just as effectively as real ones. Arguably even more effectively than real ones.
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