dredger wrote:StlAlex wrote: ↑12:55 AM - Feb 13
The state of Democracy:
Residents hate data centers, but our elected officials are working hard to make sure sure one gets built right in the middle of the city.
Residents want light rail, but our elected officials are working hard to make sure we don't get light rail.
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Maybe this quote from the NPR argument is how you can afford light rail. Maybe you got a mayor understands what Sean is telling the alderman
Sean Faust, a resident of Ward 1, was among a handful of speakers who called for “sensible” rules for data center development, pointing to the potential tax revenue from the projects that cost more than $1 billion.
“This is a revenue opportunity for our city,” he said. “We have police officers that are looking to get more money. We have city employees looking to get more money. We have SLPS that's talking about closing schools. We need revenue.”
Brother, if these data centers were being proposed in the parts of the city that are already industrial wastelands and not places that people have higher expectations for, you wouldn't see the opposition we see here.
There's also the very real problem of future expendability of these developments is being wholly overlooked. No matter how many people in this thread want to talk up AI, we have yet to see the abundant revenue that shareholders have been promised and the AI industry is one of the largest bubbles we have ever seen. (This is also all putting aside the fact AI steals and distorts human made content, will and already has stunted human job growth, is currently killing our education system, and is being used frequently in propaganda.....it's a moral evil). There is a world where the city bends over backwards to accomodate the unpopular billionaires just to get screwed when the bubble bursts and it's no longer needed. Or maybe it sticks around for a while, but do you think the technology will stop developing? Will these massive data centers always be needed? Remember how many office buildings were built downtown 40 years go? 1010 Market, 600 Washington, BoA Plaza, US Bank Plaza, ATT, and Met Square were all built between 1976 and 1988. I don't know for sure but I'm sure at least some of them received tax breaks. Objectively, we have an abundance of office space with no easy ways out, in large part because the city bent over backwards to accomadate the big businesses and suburban workforces and short term gain over the long-term health of the city.
And this is all assuming we get some insane tax revenue, none of which is a sure thing, and there aren't adverse affects that are being overlooked/ignored.
And SLPS closing schools is objectively good and much needed, anyone disagreeing is just objectively wrong. They don't have a funding issue whatsoever.
Edit: Another great example of the city not looking past its nose is the St. Louis Marketplace on Manchester. Look how great that turned out.....
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