An American county on track to have 60% of revenue come from data centers

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As Americans debate data centers, one county in Virginia is dependent on the revenues they generate:

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There is a credible argument there. Look at northern Virginia. So much tax revenue goes to northern Virginia now from being Data Center Alley, as some folks colloquially call it. The flip side can be found in Loudoun County [Virginia], or in a state like Alaska. I mean, the corollary here is that if you rely on oil and gas revenue for your state’s budget, eventually you will kind of be reliant on that industry to a point where you’re not able to successfully regulate it effectively to what the people want. And that’s what’s happening in Loudoun County, where within the past couple of weeks, staff for the county have started warning that their budget is on track to be 60 percent data-center revenues. And they’re actually very concerned about how much data-center money is providing a foundation for their living, and recommending against relying on so much data-center money.

Data centers can provide revenue. As noted in this discussion, they are an in-demand land use. They may not provide many jobs but they will pay property taxes.

As also noted, a community or county or state relying on a single industry for a large portion of revenues is a problem. That industry might be popular for a while. But it may not be popular forever. The rush of building data centers will slow. Technology may move on.

Given the opposition Americans have to data centers near them, it is more likely that:

  1. Data centers will cluster in certain locations and not others? I would guess at least a few communities or counties will approve data centers because of the benefits they perceive them to have.
  2. Data centers end up spread out across metropolitan landscapes. This may be due to utilizing certain locations that are not near residents or numerous communities approve data centers.

If I had to guess, I would go for #1: data centers will end up in places that want them. This may not be in counties that generate 60% of their revenues from data centers but some places will want to strike while this development option is hot.

Switching the Spelling Bee from a suburban convention center to a downtown theater

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A change this year to the location of the Scripps National Spelling Bee caused some concern:

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The bee’s move from a suburban convention center to Constitution Hall was a point of contention for spellers and their families because of inconveniences it caused. But Thursday’s finals had a lively atmosphere, with more intimate seating and better sight lines bringing the crowd closer to the action, and the broadcast got a reboot with ESPN’s Mina Kimes hosting alongside longtime analyst Paul Loeffler.

A bit more on the history of the location of the spelling bee:

At the prior venue, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, spellers moved freely throughout the building, roaming between their hotel rooms, the ballroom that housed the competition stage and a massive food court where they grabbed quick meals between last-minute study sessions…

The bee began in 1925 and was held at a series of Washington hotels before it moved to the suburbs in 2011.

Having been to a number of convention centers, I could see why some might have preferred an option where everything was in one place. Convention centers can be sprawling structures that are intended to help visitors keep their focus on the convention.

But I was intrigued to see that the shift this year was from a suburban convention center to a downtown theater. The DAR Constitution Hall opened in 1929 and is near numerous important Washington, D.C. buildings. Suburban convention centers might have more space for their structures and could offer easier driving access. Additionally, a majority of Americans live in suburbs and might be more familiar with suburban settings. (Sounds like a research question: do Spelling Bee contestants tend to come from urban, suburban, or rural settings? Are there patterns in the locations where they live?)

How about a compromise: holding the Spelling Bee at an urban convention center? These exist as well.

The suburban Illinois lawmakers and leaders for and against the BUILD plan

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With the BUILD plan under consideration in Illinois, some suburban leaders have announced they are for or against what the bill would provide for:

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Democratic state Sen. Laura Ellman of Naperville is among the plan’s proponents. Ellman and other lawmakers staged a news conference Tuesday in Springfield to outline a slew of proposals aimed at making housing more affordable for owners and renters…

Other suburban sponsors and cosponsors of BUILD-related legislation include state Sens. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights, Adriane Johnson of Buffalo Grove and Cristina Castro of Elgin.

Aligned against them are lawmakers including Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin of Barrington Hills; municipal leaders in South Barrington, Barrington Hills, Algonquin and other suburbs; and groups including the Illinois State Association of Counties, the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and the Northwest Municipal Conference.

At a city council meeting earlier this month, Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said the BUILD proposals promote housing density, not affordability…

McLaughlin hopes pressure from municipal leaders opposed to BUILD will be strong enough to persuade enough Democrats in the General Assembly to break with Pritzker and oppose the legislation.

Illinois has a lot of suburban residents (as does the United States as a whole). I would interested to hear from suburban lawmakers what they are hearing from these residents and voters. How many are for these proposed changes, how many are against? If people think their property values might be threatened, they tend to respond. At the same time, those seeking out housing might also be making their voices heard.

On a related note, if suburban voters are critical in national elections because of the number of them plus the number of suburbanites who might be swayed by particular issues or leaders, might legislative votes in Illinois come down to suburban representatives?

It would also be interesting to hear if there local leaders and communities who see such legislation as providing an opportunity for growth and change in their community. The population in the Chicago region and Illinois has been relatively stagnant in recent decades. Could adding more housing provide a new opportunity to add residents and status?

Whether Charlotte wants to grow more or not

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An Axios piece suggests many in the growing city of Charlotte in the surrounding suburbs do not want the rapid growth to continue.

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As Charlotte barrels toward a population of 1 million, the city of transplants and unicorn natives is uniting behind a common phrase:

  • “We’re full.”

But are there arguments made on both sides, some for growth and others against?

Charlotte built a reputation as a place to escape more crowded, costlier cities. Now, residents fear rapid growth is recreating what they fled, from the Atlanta-scary traffic to the New York sticker shock…

“There’s really no equilibrium for a city,” says Andrew Blumenthal, a real estate broker and vice chair of Charlotte’s planning commission. “Either you’re growing, or you’re not.”

  • But Charlotte is playing catch-up on infrastructure…

Regional leaders this week shot down multi-billion-dollar plans to add toll lanes to I-77, the commuter route between ballooning Fort Mill and Charlotte.

It sounds here like rapid growth has led to some concerns. Charlotte’s population has more than doubled since 1990. This puts pressure on roads and local services. This affects housing supply and demand. This changes the experiences of particular neighborhoods and communities.

But American communities tend to see growth as good. Growth means there is new construction, more business activity. A growing population means the city and region is more visible at the national level.

What do leaders and residents in Charlotte want the city and region to be? Growth is not inevitable and leaders and residents can help steer it in particular directions. They can make decisions that affect future growth and what people experience in the next few decades.

It would be nice to have some data about what people in the region want. How do they feel about the growth beyond the typical American NIMBY responses of how their properties and lives might be affected or the excitement about new opportunities growth might ring. Should Charlotte keep sprawling? Who do they envision living there? What might happen when the growth slows down?

Arlington, TX is where the American Dream lives?

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I don’t know how I missed that Arlington, Texas is the American Dream City:

This campaign apparently started a while back. here is what local leaders said contributed to developing this slogan:

“Arlington is multi-dimensional with a lot to offer families, businesses, consumers and visitors,” said Jay Warren, Arlington Marketing Communications Manager. “When building this brand, it was important that we approach it by looking at the entire community. We wanted to make sure it represents all of Arlington.”

With an excelling education system (four independent school districts, the University of Texas at Arlington and Tarrant County College), a strong entrepreneurial business community and diverse neighborhoods where the housing dollar stretches further than most cities, Arlington is a direct reflection of how the American Dream thrives when citizens have a can-do, independent spirit and city pride.

Throughout its history, even when faced with those who said it wasn’t possible, Arlington has become home to a host of international brands, including:

  • The nation’s first regional theme park of American family fun, Six Flags Over Texas
  • American manufacturing with the General Motors plant
  • America’s pastime with the Texas Rangers and the iconic Globe Life Park
  • America’s Team with the Dallas Cowboys and its world-class AT&T Stadium
  • And, the United States Bowling Congress, celebrating the most participatory sport in the world

Located between two major cities, Arlington is a large suburb of over 400,000 residents. It is a racially and ethnically diverse city with a household median income of over $75,000. The homeownership rate is over 54%.

Using “American Dream” implies two things about the city. It is possible to achieve upward social mobility in Arlington. It also signifies reaching a certain level of success, particularly the middle class status of suburban homeownership.

I do not know if these features are more true in Arlington than they are in other suburbs. The Opportunity Atlas suggests Tarrant County, TX, the county in which Arlington is located, may not have provided much mobility over the decades. Four other Texas suburbs are in the Top 10 of the recent US News & World Report list of best places to live (and Arlington ranks at #56 in Texas). At the same time, having multiple major pro sports stadiums would be noteworthy to sports fans.

Now this gets me thinking: what suburbs have upward social mobility and a middle-class lifestyle? This might preclude places that have people who all already made it or are not doing much better than their parents or previous generations.

Billy Joel and “The Great Suburban Showdown”

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I have not listened to an early Billy Joel album for a long time. In my quest to find more music that explicitly references suburbs, I recently ran into his song “The Great Suburban Showdown,” track number three on his 1974 album Streetlife Serenade. The character in the song is headed home for a visit and this is the chorus:

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I’ve been gone for a while
Made some changes in my style
And they say you can’t go home anymore
When the streets all look the same
And I’ll have to play the game
We’ll all sit around in the kitchen chairs
With the tv on, with the neighbors there

The song describes several common images of American suburbs:

  1. Family life in suburbia. Home is where mom and dad are. There are barbeques, neighbors.
  2. Things look the same and the suburbs have not changed.
  3. In contrast to #1 and #2, the main character is now living somewhere else. He has made changes to his life while the suburban life still looks and feels the same. Suburban life is dull and predictable but not other kinds of places are not like this.

The song refers to a “suburban showdown” where all this will come into conflict. Joel himself grew up in suburban Long Island; could he be referring in this song to his own experiences?

One person living in a 30,000 square foot house

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How does one person live all by themselves in a giant home?

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“When you’re real, you realize when you mess up,” he told Rooks. “I live in a 30,000-square-foot house by myself. You don’t think I know I messed up?”

I could imagine a positive story emerging out of this. A kid’s movie where a girl or boy discovers they are all alone among 30,000 square feet. All the rooms. The unique options that come with such a home. They can do whatever they want.

Or it could be a heartwarming adult tale where someone somehow acquires such a house and finds ways to use it for good. People who need a place to stay. Space for people to pursue their passions. What had been a house for the wealthy becomes a blessing for many.

But the way this true scenario is briefly described above makes for a sad story. It is such a large house and only one person lives there. It could be full of family and friends. The large house represents success and wealth but it is empty of people. American homes are not just status symbols and investments; they are for households of people to enjoy.

The story could have a happy ending. Perhaps relationships can be rebuilt. All that space could be used to host family and friends. An empty big house does not have to stay empty.

Visiting the many farmers markets in the Chicago suburbs

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As the weather warms up, residents of the Chicago suburbs can visit many farmers markets. This list shows 54 options held across the week and across the region.

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From my study of suburban communities and their character, here is what I would want to know about all these farmers markets: what makes them unique from each other? Are there features that connect them to the suburb in which they are being held? Here are a few factors that could influence this:

  1. The setting in which they are held. Is the market in a parking lot? A special space constructed for this? Near historic buildings? The setting could help set the tone and indicate the importance of the market.
  2. Are the goods sold significantly different across markets? Do some markets specialize in certain items compared to others? How much do the vendors differ across markets?
  3. Who is the intended customer? This could be tied to the goods sold and the setting as well as other things offered at the market. Do some try to attract kids? Which ones are dog friendly? How do the markets approach customers with different levels of resources?
  4. How does the farmer’s market fit in with the other events in the suburban community? Is the market the one regular event or is there a full calendar of options for residents and visitors to choose from?
  5. Who comes to the farmers market? Are these primarily for residents or do these draw more widely from neighboring suburbs?

This could be a research project with dozens of markets to visit and examine.

“Attainable housing” price points in a wealthy suburb

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A developer has proposed a new set of nearly 300 luxury apartments in Naperville:

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Their target demographics are people ages 25 to 35 and 50 to 64. The former group makes up about 16% of Naperville’s population whereas 21% are ages 55 to 64.

“The residential use will provide an additional housing opportunity to an underserved segment of Naperville’s population sometimes referred to as ‘renters by choice’ and folks looking for quality housing along the I-88 employment corridor,” the petition said.

Proposed rents run from $1,900 to $2,000 for a studio, $2,050 to $2,400 for a one-bedroom, and $3,000 to $4,400 for a two-bedroom. According to the petition, the majority of the units would be considered attainable housing for the city’s population.

Naperville’s average median income is about $150,360, the petition said. For the person whose average median income is $120,288, about 90% of the apartments at CityGate II would be considered attainable. For the person who makes $90,126, more than 60% of the apartments would meet that threshold.

Naperville is a wealthy suburban community. According to the American Community Survey, owner-occupied units have a median value of $540,000 and the median rent is $1,885.

The developer is not claiming this is affordable housing. The price points would need to be much lower, particularly given Naperville’s median household income. This is “attainable housing,” a different category with a different audience in mind. This is for young professionals and downsizers (looking at the age categories). This is for people who work white-collar jobs in the I-88 corridor, a set of properties crucial to Naperville’s development from the announcement of Bell Labs building a facility in the 1960s.

Another category of people communities like Naperville like to discuss as possible residents are civil servants. Could school teachers, police officers, and firefighters live in this new development? City employees?

Luxury apartments are for certain kinds of possible residents or existing residents. Is there a kind of semi-luxury apartments that could be approved?

The Chicago area leading the way in warehouses

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The Chicago region has become a center for warehouses in recent decades:

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Few places in the nation have been transformed so completely so quickly. Since 2000, retail giants and developers have erected more than 146 million square feet of warehouse space in the Chicago area — equivalent in size to roughly 1,400 Home Depot stores…

But Chicago is in a different league. The warehouse boom in the Chicago suburbs took off in earnest in the early 2000s with the construction of the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, the largest inland port in North America, where trucks and trains swap goods. It sits just outside Elwood, a Will County town of roughly 2,200 residents. In 2015, Amazon opened its first Illinois warehouse, in Joliet.

For a study about warehouses and pollution, researcher Gaige Kerr examined real estate listings from the commercial data company CoStar and determined that there were roughly 6,800 warehouses in the Chicago area as of 2022. Their combined square footage eclipsed that of warehouse space in the Los Angeles metropolitan area — home to the nation’s two largest shipping ports — by 13%.

Of the nation’s 25 largest metro areas, Chicago had the most warehouse square footage per person, Kerr found.

The article goes on to describe the effects on local communities and residents. See an earlier post about some of these effects in the town of Elwood. Is it good to have all these warehouses? Some local residents do not think so. All the people who order online and expect quick deliveries may disagree.

At the same time, these figures cited above tell an important story: the Chicago area is now full of warehouses. With the changes in the retail industry, outlying areas in the Chicago region became home to facilities and vehicles that could quickly transport goods.

These changes build on advantages the Chicago area already had. It is located in the central part of the United States. It is connected via waterways to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It was an early railroad center and has one of the busiest airports. It is the third largest metropolitan region in the US.

Would any city or metropolitan areas want to be known for warehouses? It is less glamorous than other industries. One figure might be interesting to add what is already reported here: how much do these facilities add to the local economy?