People would rather have an Amazon warehouse in their backyard than a data center

In Brief Posted: 12:20 PM PDT · April 3, 2026 Image Credits:Comezora / Getty Images Tim De Chant People would rather have an Amazon warehouse in their backyard than a data center As data centers have grown and proliferated, so too has the backlash. A new Harvard/MIT poll found 40% of people supported the building of a data center in their area, with 32% opposed when asked about the building of different industrial facilities in their neighborhoods. One fun tidbit from the survey, per Axios: More people would rather have an e-commerce warehouse. Two-thirds of respondents in the 1,000-person poll conducted in November were worried that a new data center in their region would nudge electricity prices higher. Interest in jobs and economic growth helped the case for data centers, according to Axios — though that sentiment may fade as most data center projects don’t employ many people once they’re up and running. Another survey, conducted last month and published earlier this week by Quinnipiac University, found much more opposition to data center construction. That poll found 65% of Americans oppose building an AI data center in their community. Only 24% of the 1,397 U.S. adults surveyed supported one being built. The new polls suggest that the debate over data centers is far from settled, and continued discontent from such a large swathe of the electorate is likely to continue spilling over into politics. Data centers once worked quietly in the background, more or less. Not anymore. Topics AI, data centers, Enterprise, In Brief, polling April 30 San Francisco, CA StrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF. Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders, insider VC insights, and high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. REGISTER NOW Newsletters See More Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news TechCrunch Daily News Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage. TechCrunch Mobility TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

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