A different interpretation of data center issue

By Brian Borr

This is an essay that I wrote this morning regarding data centers. This seems to be a very popular subject out our way now as there is talk about building one near Dorr. 

PS. I used to hate writing essays for English class. Now I do it for fun.

Some thoughts about Data Centers from a tech savvy old man.

I’ve been reading a lot about tech centers on this group lately, and that is a good thing. Community involvement is what makes a community a community.

I’d say that about 9 out of 10 posts are in opposition to the proposed data center in this area. 

I’m neither for or against data centers. But I am all about being informed about them instead of just joining a mob and opposing them without thinking the issue through all the way.

Most mornings when I get up and get a cup of coffee, I go on Facebook and look at notifications and memories. My wife and I used to travel to New Mexico and Arizona in the winter and I shared a lot of pictures in what I called our Arizona Blogs. They were very popular with our Facebook friends and are a real joy to look back as much as 15 years and reminisce about the trips.

But those memories don’t just store themselves in a cloud like we are led to believe. The “cloud” is in all actuality what is known as “data centers”.

And it isn’t just Facebook.

When you Google something, the answer comes from a data center. When you look at your charge bill online, it comes from a data center. Pretty much everything that you see on your phone or computer comes from a data center.

The alternative is to do it the way that we always did it before. We cut down billions of trees and made paper out of them. Then we printed the data all out and mailed it to people. The post office delivered it in a week or two. If you got the wrong data, you could call, usually paying long distance for the phone call, and they would likely send you the right data in another week or two.

We’ve gotten pretty used to the convenience of having instant access to data, and for good reason. But very few things are without cost of one way or another.

So now the question is “where should these data centers be located?” This is like the question “where should airports be located?” And the usual answer is “Not In My Back Yard”, or NIMBY.

Who doesn’t love to fly and take four hours to make a trip that would take three days to drive. Most of us have done it, we just don’t like the noise of airplanes over our homes. Data centers are much the same. 

These types of issues go back as far as mankind.

When the automobile was invented, there was a lot of pushback on that, just like there is on data centers. Are automobiles good or bad? They are both good and bad. They pollute and have a lot of other downsides, but I don’t see many people going on Facebook saying that they want to eliminate cars and go back to horses and buggies.

Are data centers good or bad? They are both good and bad. The question is how to balance the good and the bad so that we can have the convenience of easily accessing data without totally wrecking the planet that we occupy.

I just wanted to share this to give some perspective as to data centers and their locations. 

One thing that I’m very impressed with is the amount of community involvement regarding the issue of data centers. I’m guessing that a lot of local residents will be attending their first township board meeting ever. But please don’t attend them like a lynch mob. Be respectful of the township board. They are just trying to do a mostly thankless job of balancing quality of life for the residents living in the township and growth of the township. 

I’ve been living in the same home in neighboring Leighton Township for over 47 years, and I’ve seen a lot of growth. The huge trucking terminal that snuck in at Division Street and 142nd Avenue comes to mind. We live on Division Street a couple of miles away and I’m sure that it will change the atmosphere a lot.

Same goes for  the fertilizer plant in Moline that now gives us upwards of 50 passes a day of the big fertilizer spreaders and spray rigs during planting season and crop season. But if we want to eat, someone has to grow the food. And if we want things, someone has to deliver them. 

My paternal grandfather was born in the late 1800s and I remember him complaining about some of the same types of things that I hear complaining about now. Mostly growth and longing for the “good old days”.

I hope you enjoyed my rather long post and give it some thought.

And I wish peace to all of you.

— Brian Borr, Leighton Township