On Development: The cloud is still made of concrete

Do we really need so many data centers?

If so, why do we need data centers?

Why do we need AI?

How many data centers have already been built (locally, statewide, nationally, globally)?

How many data centers do we need?

Will that need continue to grow?

Will it grow exponentially?

What is the price of a data center?

What is the cost of a data center?

What kinds of sites are best suited for data centers?

What else are those sites suited for?

What effect do data centers have on the water supply?

What effect do data centers have on the cost of the water supply?

What is the likelihood of higher water use and costs as the number of data centers increases?

What effect do data centers have on the electricity supply?

What effect do data centers have on the cost of electricity?

What is the likelihood of higher electricity use and costs as the number of data centers increases?

What effect will that have on climate change?

What public infrastructure is needed for the development of data centers? 

What effect will data center construction and operation have on the eventual cost of community services?

Will tax revenue from data centers mostly pay for rights of way and other benefits to the centers (as in a tax-increment financing)?

What is being done to make future data centers more efficient in terms of energy use and storage capacity?

Are data centers already becoming more energy efficient?

Have data centers become more efficient in terms of space needed for data storage?

What are the effects of the sounds of data centers on neighbors?

What effect of the inaudible sounds (i.e., very-low frequencies that people feel through pressure fluctuations) of data centers?

What mitigation plans are being developed to reduce the noises and low frequencies?

What percentage of data center use is focused on AI?

Is distrust of data center developers tied to AI? 

Does AI need greater regulatory oversight at the national level?

Do data centers in general need greater regulatory oversight at the national level?

What effect is data-center growth having on farmland use?

What effect is data-center growth having on farmland prices?

What effect is data-center growth having on the agricultural economy?

Are data centers the highest and best use of exurban land?

Are data centers operating in urban and industrial areas?

Would urban sites ease the pressure on the urban sprawl that results from exurban data centers?

How many American jobs will be eliminated due to artificial intelligence?

How many jobs do data centers typically create?

How many of these jobs will be filled by local residents?

What percentage of those jobs are temporary construction jobs that are often filled by out-of-state workers?

What percentage of construction jobs are filled by high-paid itinerant IBEW electricians?

Will construction booms be rising tides that lift all ships?

Will data center communities emerge as boomtowns and then fade in a post-construction bust?

What effect will this boom have on the country’s aging electric transmissions infrastructure? 

Is the explosion of data centers from coast to coast a collaborative or coordinated effort among private-sector businesses and state and federal policymakers?

Or is it a rush of competing wildcatters flocking to places where civic opposition and state oversight has not yet emerged?

Who will benefit from data centers?

Is there any organization or agency that monitors data on these and other questions?

Is there such a thing as enough data centers?

Will the number of data centers continue to increase as long as mankind remains on the planet?

Brian Williams is a semi-retired reporter and planner.