[alright2565]

> significant amount of resources

Most importantly, location!

Location is not fungible, and at least in my local area, data center developers seem to want to place their datacenters in up-and-coming areas, where they would block the development of higher-quality structures.

There's no reason the datacenters can't be built in the middle of nowhere, far from people, especially as they don't provide any jobs to the community.

[epistasis]

A great solution to this is a land value tax. How do you actually determine if the data center is not the best use for a parcel? If it can compete with other uses of land based on the land value. A land value tax makes the data center, or any other use, pay the community for exactly what it's taking away from the community.

[alright2565]

I agree, and I was considering mentioning a LVT in my comment.

I think it would have been pointless though, because LVT doesn't stand a chance: Conservatives would hear "tax" and immediately say "no", and progressives would be unhappy that their elderly mom wouldn't be able to live alone in their 6-bedroom childhood home.