Your Local Data Center Advocate

Previously, in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” YLDCA responded with a blog post to an individual Facebook comment. This format allows room to explore and expand on ideas, especially when they may be more complicated than first assumed. It is also useful as a means of speaking to multiple, unevidenced… Continue reading A Comical Thing Occurred En Route to the Agora

A recent article in Data Center Frontier summarized the publication’s Special Report on the Northern Virginia Data Center Market. It noted Northern Virginia’s continued prominence in the data center market. “The region is one of biggest success stories of the Internet economy,” noted the piece, “with the rapid growth of the data center industry transforming… Continue reading That’s Not My Job

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) recently commissioned a report claiming an urgent need to halt consideration of two pending comprehensive plan amendment applications that would potentially allow additional data center development within Prince William County because of environmental concerns. On May 12, Insidenova.com ran a story about the report without comment from county staff,… Continue reading Purveyor of Tin Foil Hats Commissions Study to Find Aliens are Controlling Our Minds With 5g Cell Phone Towers

A question commonly posed by those who doubt the benefits of additional data center development is if more data centers will really mean lower taxes from homeowners. Providing more municipal tax revenue per square foot than any other type of development, data centers measurably reduce homeowners’ tax burdens. Home to the largest concentration of data… Continue reading “The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward”

If data centers were a threat to our drinking water, we ought to be feeling parched by now. But we are not, even though there are already 33 data centers covering 5.5 million sq. ft. in Prince William County. This enviable portfolio of facilities has yet to lead to a water crisis in our community.… Continue reading The Thirst for Knowledge

One matter of concern raised by those with questions about the desirability of additional data center development is stormwater management. Any development or site disturbance of any kind presents stormwater management challenges that need to be addressed. This doesn’t represent a reason to shy away from further data center development in PWC.   First, it… Continue reading Prince William County Shouldn’t Be Impervious to Progress

A recent piece on datacenteradvocate.com discussed why global warming-related concerns should not lead us to shun additional data center development locally.   In the comments section of a social media post sharing the article, I was surprised to see this: This comment piqued my interest for two reasons. First, I’d not seen data centers cited… Continue reading Paging Ned Ludd. Ned Ludd to the Customer Service Desk Please.

If data center development were as environmentally harmful as some suggest, Prince William County would already be drought-stricken. Today, the county is home to at least 33 data centers. Thirty-three buildings that generated $80 million in tax revenue last year alone. Most of the community’s 467,000 residents likely didn’t notice them. Opponents of recent comprehensive… Continue reading “I need you guys to do me a favor and get off the shed”

Recently bristowbeat.com published a submitted OP-ED titled “Why the Prince William School Board School Should Oppose the Digital Gateway.” This piece, penned by a local resident in opposition to the proposed digital gateway project, comes in hot. While there are many claims offered within the piece, the author poses two questions that jump from the… Continue reading Fonzie Jumped the Shark

Municipal economic development professionals sometimes speak in hushed tones about “buffalo projects.” They tell the stories of the big game hunters. They weave tales about that moment on the phone, across the conference table, or on the golf course when the deal that changed the economic complexion of the community was cinched. Most economic development… Continue reading The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat

Data centers create high quality jobs. Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, wages in the industry grew by over 100% between 2001 and 2018, from an average of $61,310 to an average of $126,050. This is compared to only a 58% increase in average wages statewide during the same period. Demand for the professionals who operate… Continue reading When You Got a Job to Do You Gotta Do it Well

Many opponents of new data center development in Prince William County cite global warming as a reason they disagree that new facilities should be built in our community. While most reasonable people share concerns about global warming and agree that it should factor more into decisions about what the future of development and our society… Continue reading It’s Getting Hot in Here

Several critics of the proposed PW gateway project, in both op-eds and social media posts, tell us that data centers make all sorts of loud and objectionable noises that make them difficult to live with. Data Centers, however, are not subject to any special exclusions from Prince William County’s Code of Ordinances.   Even measured… Continue reading Come on Feel the Noise

According to Virginia Business, Corporate Office Properties Trust (COP)T is selling the data center in Prince William County known as PowerLoft for $222.5 million to an affiliate company of CloudHQ out of Washington, D.C. The property, LEED Silver Certified for energy efficiency, was built more than 10 years ago. It last sold in 2010 for… Continue reading $222 million for a loft?

The build-out of the PW digital gateway would likely take more than a decade, generating hundreds if not thousands of new construction jobs. The digital gateway is a huge opportunity for Prince William County.  It would be a massive economic development win that takes fullest advantage of Prince William County’s reputation as a community that… Continue reading Labor Pains

The Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University postulates that to “arrive at better decisions” we must deliberate. Deliberation, in turn, “requires open spaces for citizens to come together, good and fair information to help structure the conversation and skilled facilitators to guide the process.” The Greeks had The Agora. The Romans had the… Continue reading A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

The business of local government is getting more and more expensive, at least here in Prince William County. Prince William County homeowners have been seeing their annual tax bills grow steadily each year for some time. It seems likely that our tax bills will continue to swell Demands for more education, transportation, recreation, public safety,… Continue reading The Taxman Cometh

A recent letter to the editor in the Washington Post took issue with the January 15 WaPo piece about whether the existing data center overlay in Prince William County should be expanded to include adjacent parcels off I-66. The WaPo story touched on issues many issues including the history of development along Pageland Lane, the… Continue reading Oh Well

An article published on insidenova.com states that the digital gateway development promises to deliver as much “as much data center space as is currently in use or under development in neighboring Loudoun County.” If this is the case, we’re talking about adding something like $200m – $700m in tax revenue annually to Prince William County’s… Continue reading “I Like Money”

The battlefield can get crowded on nice days. It’s a lovely place for a stroll along bull run creek, or a photo of your children by the stone house. It is a marvelous recreational asset in addition to serving as a monument to (and place to learn about) the history of our neighborhood and our… Continue reading Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. And by Fences, I Mean Landscape Barriers.