Loudoun County, Virginia, has become a key data center hub in the United States — The Verge
Loudoun County in Virginia has become a key hub for U.S. data centers and internet infrastructure. It was here that the future associated with large data centers arrived about 20 years ago, while the United States is now expanding infrastructure for artificial intelligence systems, The Verge reports.
Search for new revenue
In 2007, Buddy Rizer, who worked for Loudoun County’s economic development authority, was tasked with finding a new source of revenue for the region. The need arose after the housing bubble burst: more than 80% of the county’s revenue at the time came from residential real estate.
According to Rizer’s recollections, the goal was to increase the share of the commercial tax base from about 19% to 23%. Now, slightly more than half of the county’s tax revenue comes from commercial sources.
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Legacy of the dot-com boom
To develop the commercial sector, Rizer turned his attention to the infrastructure left behind after the collapse of dot-com companies. Loudoun was previously home to AOL’s headquarters, which was the largest internet service provider in the United States by 2000.
Proximity to the U.S. capital, as well as access to water and electricity, contributed to the county’s development as an internet hub. Estimates suggested that up to 70% of global internet traffic could have passed through Loudoun. After dot-com stocks fell in 2000 and AOL’s unsuccessful merger with Time Warner, large empty buildings and laid fiber-optic cables remained in the region.
