The AI data center boom is colliding with cities scarred by big industry

Across the United States, communities are grappling with the implications of new AI data centers being proposed in their neighborhoods. While data center companies promise job creation and economic growth, many residents express strong opposition due to environmental and energy concerns.

Shawmar Pitts, a lifelong resident of the Grays Ferry neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia, has firsthand experience with the impacts of industrialization. Growing up next to the East Coast’s largest oil refinery, which closed after an explosion in 2019, Pitts witnessed the health struggles of his community.

"I read the information they had on the table about how living near the refinery affects you, and I’m looking at all the sicknesses on this paper, and I’m like, ‘My mother has this, my sister has that...’ — every house, someone has something on that list," Pitts shared. This realization led him to become the managing co-director of Philly Thrive, an environmental justice group advocating for a moratorium on data center construction in Philadelphia.

Although no formal proposals for data center construction have been submitted, city officials have identified two potential sites: one in Northeast Philadelphia and another in Grays Ferry. The opposition to data centers is not isolated to Philadelphia; residents across the U.S. are voicing similar concerns, particularly in areas still feeling the effects of past industrial activities.