Hacker News Reader

> 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.

View on HN

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.

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.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com