YouTube

How Data Centers Avoid Local Planning

2026-07-29 · 17:39 UTC ·City Beautiful ·1 min read

Brief

City Beautiful’s July 29, 2026 explainer (presentation) outlines how hundreds of new U.S. data centers are stressing local infrastructure — power, water, and noise — and triggering a policy battle. The video synthesizes research (Justin Kollar’s 2026 JAPA paper, Pew Research Apr 13, 2026, Brookings) and contrasts state preemption trends with local actions like Monterey Park’s June 2026 ban.

Why it matters

Tech companies are building hundreds of large data centers across the United States, creating local planning challenges around increased electricity demand, large water withdrawals, and noise impacts (video cites Brookings and Lincoln Institute research).

Key details

  • Legal conflict is growing: Justin Kollar’s 2026 JAPA article 'Planning Under Preemption' and reporting (Mountain State Spotlight, Aug 3, 2025) document state preemption stripping local authority over data centers, while Monterey Park, CA enacted a data center ban (The Guardian, Jun 3, 2026).
  • Most new data centers are locating in rural areas (Pew Research, Apr 13, 2026); Brookings and other analyses highlight water-use concerns, noting water demand that can be equivalent to the needs of tens of thousands of residents.
Source evidence

Stay on top of host city road conditions with TomTom’s world championship traffic dashboard: tomtom.com/citybeautiful And to get your hands on the data, try TomTom’s Move portal — free for 30 days.

TomTom transportation dashboard: https://www.tomtom.com/traffic-index/world-championship/?utmsource=influencer-citybeautiful&utmmedium=referral&utmcampaign=influencer-citybeautiful-campaign&utmcontent=influencer-citybeautiful-campaign-test1

Tech companies are building hundreds of massive data centers in communities around the US. Planners have to grapple with the impacts (power, water, noise) those data centers cause. How do they do it? And should they stop it?

Resources mentioned in this video

  • This video was inspired by a great article in the Journal of the American Planning Association by Justin Kollar Planning Under Preemption: State Power and Local Authority in the AI Data Center Era: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01944363.2026.2618221

  • Pew Research: Most New Data Centers in the US Are Coming to Rural Areas: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/13/most-new-data-centers-in-the-us-are-coming-to-rural-areas/#

  • Brookings: AI Data Centers and Water: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-data-centers-and-water/#:~:text=A typical data center uses,of up to 50%2C000 residents

  • Lincoln Institute: Water Impacts and Data Centers: https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/land-water-impacts-data-centers/

  • The Guardian: Monterey Park, California Data Center Ban: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/03/california-monterey-park-datacenters-ban

  • Mountain State Spotlight: Lawmakers Strip Local Authorities of Data Centers: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2025/08/03/lawmakers-strip-local-authority-data-centers/

Produced by Dave Amos and the fine folks at Nebula Studios.
Written by Dave Amos.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
Black Lives Matter.
Trans rights.
No AI.

Channel: City Beautiful
Published: 2026-07-29
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdxiyQAcwfM