If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC

jtbigwoo wrote: post #67

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #3

They're being built in as much secret as possible because everything is. Everything about land development is adversarial and the people who keep their mouths shut wind up taking fewer 4-7 figure screwings along the way than the honest people. It sucks that this how it is but even just the most casual familiarity with all the rules and processes makes it obvious why this is the way it is. You could find more than eno…

We, as a society, set up rules to allow the people to have a voice in decisions via various means including public meetings and various review procedures. There is a cost to these rules, but the alternative you're describing is a system where rules and laws don't matter and anyone with the ear of a few influential people can do whatever they want. Just as an example, there's a data center in the early stages about 10…

Post by RajT88 » Tue, Jun 09, 2026, 12:28 AM UTC

nonethewiser wrote: post #130

RajT88 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100-200 FTE's per data center by one estimate. I have let's say 17 data centers being built in my town. 1700 jobs is not enough according to the people in opposition. The real number is likely higher, and my town is under 30k people.

Its not just quantity of jobs though. Are the jobs going to locals? Are the technicians coming from some small town that was chosen for the economics of building and runnign the datacenter? It seems fairly likely they would pick a small town that doesnt really have the knowledge base to serve as technicians. I mean it would be cool if they hired local.