April 22, 2026
Racks meet clapbacks
How to Stop a Data Center in Your Backyard
Neighbors stop “AI bunker” plan as comment wars explode
TLDR: Residents organized, packed meetings, and used public records to help stop a huge data center near homes; the developer withdrew its application. Comments split between celebrating grassroots power and accusing NIMBYism, with jokes and jabs about “VC boots,” diesel fumes, and whether AI server farms belong next to neighborhoods.
Monterey Park just pulled the plug on a 250,000-square-foot data center slated a few hundred feet from homes — and the internet is eating it up. After residents used California’s sunshine laws to dig up records, uncovered a developer-led environmental assessment, and blasted warnings about 14 diesel generators and twice the city’s power use, hundreds packed meetings. Result: the developer bailed, per L.A. TACO. Cue comment-chaos.
The top fight? Whether this is heroic people power or classic NIMBY (“not in my backyard”). One camp cheers the takedown, saying big AI server barns aren’t the same as solar or housing. As one user shrugs, “Unlike solar and wind power, some people don’t want AI data centers in any neighborhood.” Others insist you can be pro-housing and pro-renewables and still say no to a diesel-belching box next to bedrooms. Things got spicy fast with “bootlicking” accusations and the zinger, “Do VC boots taste better than government boots or something?” Meanwhile, a jokester deadpanned, “Everyone’s just arguing about the seasonings,” roasting both sides for nitpicking while the diesel math looms.
Add in raised eyebrows about a councilmember working for the power company, a neighborhood teach-in, a 3D-printed model, and a catchy domain — No Data Center MPK — and you’ve got a saga where locals won IRL, and the comments turned it into a referendum on tech, power, and who gets to say “not here.”
Key Points
- •A 250,000-square-foot data center in Monterey Park faced community opposition organized by SGV Progressive Action.
- •Public records requests revealed city support was based on the developer’s impact assessment rather than a more comprehensive state environmental review.
- •Community meetings had low, restricted participation (notification within 500 feet), with roughly 20 votes favoring the data center.
- •Organizers cited projected impacts including power usage exceeding the city’s total and diesel use from 14 backup generators (~200,000 gallons annually).
- •Following months of organizing and public turnout, the developer withdrew its application.