r/Suburbanhell • u/Lower-Tone9654 • 1d ago
Showcase of suburban hell Data center next to homes in Loudoun County, Virginia, USA (photo credit: Stephen Voss)
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u/robotali3n 1d ago
Several Costcos in that area. I remember seeing these data centers for the first time in that area 5 years ago and said yup we’re in the apocalypse now
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u/thatmaneeee 1d ago
That is just cruel, someone might have to go work there and they would be exposed that closely to Northern Virginians
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u/TheGruenTransfer 1d ago
This would be a great sequel to The Burbs. The data center moves in and Tom Hanks starts wigging out again.
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u/cretinous-bastard 1d ago
Wow, these suburban culs-de-sac are so hideous. That these are now the default template for what Americans think housing should look like bothers me more than the data center does.
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u/kosmo4679 1d ago
Besides the yards being too small what about them do you not like?
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u/cretinous-bastard 1d ago
I don’t care about the yards. Probably enormously oversized for the number of people living in them and likely entirely car dependent are the main things I object to.
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u/kosmo4679 1d ago
Are you from the US? Just out of curiosity
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u/cretinous-bastard 1d ago
Yes
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u/kosmo4679 1d ago
Thanks for answering. I’ve just come across a lot of Europeans on Reddit who almost get upset with the idea of big houses and yards and having to drive places. I understand that some people want to live in more of an urban environment and have it more walkable and I think it’s great if that’s what they like. The part I don’t get is why it bothers some if there are people who like large houses with fenced in yards on quiet streets or cul de sacs. There is enough variety for everyone to live where they want to.
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u/hibikir_40k 1d ago
If those houses look like that in the last round of suburb, then sure, do what you want! But many American cities now have setups just like that across the street from skyscrapers. And since they still manage to be zoned as R1, the porperty taxes are a joke.
And let's not forget that every low traffic cul-de-sac that isn't through is moving traffic into another street.
Every piece of land between reasonably priced housing and where people want to live is costing infrastructure, it's costing travel time for other people. Just like the highway hitting the middle of downtown, with the extra wide, fast street making sure nobody wants to cross it. Affordances made for the cul-de-sac crowd have costs for everyone else.
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u/kosmo4679 1d ago
You make a lot of good points. It’s probably why I have worked so hard to give myself the option of being capable of living amongst the cul de sac crowd. Unfortunately nobody has come up with a solution to appease everyone.
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u/sHaDowpUpPetxxx 1d ago
Not me. If you live in a walkable area, that means weirdos are going to walking by your house all the time. If you live a 15-20 minute drive from town on a cul-de-sac that means your whole neighborhood is basically your yard. Depending on your neighbors.
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u/kosmo4679 1d ago
Exactly! I think they are great! I used to live on one before I bought my acreage just outside of the city. It was great though with no traffic driving by and the kids could be running around with each other in a safe environment. Not to mention u get to know your neighbors more and can have neighborhood parties in the cul de sac.
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1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Overall-Pay-4769 20h ago
And you probably live in some god awful suburb, hate your wife, have to commute 2 hours a day, wake up early and arrive home miserable.
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u/Designer_Importance4 1d ago
What’s wrong with the houses? They look nice I think.
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u/TRUMPGOTAURA 1h ago
They aren't nice, they are copy and pasted houses with 2 models and 2 colors with the homebuyer adjustments, and they are mcmansions functionality failing at what a house is meant to do, they are on giant oversized lawns with a monoculture that destroyed the local ecosystem, and they are used for nothing, seperate people, and lower the density unnecessarily. And people only thing they want it because of suburban propaganda.
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u/kosmo4679 1d ago
Idk they all look like beautiful houses to me and they are all unique. It’s not like they are all the same just a different color. With the exception of the data center and smaller yards it looks like a great neighborhood.
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u/The_Bard 1d ago
To be fair in Loudon county they probably built the data center first. Thats data center alley and has been for 30 years.
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u/BuildNuyTheUrbanGuy Citizen 1d ago
Used to live there.
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u/ialwaystealpens 1d ago
I live a mile away from here. This picture does NOT do it justice.
The road that those data centers are on leads to the airport and it’s nothing but like 10 miles of fucking data centers. Thankfully my immediate area is safe but I worry about them building on the battlefield. I don’t live in the district that includes the battlefield so I can’t vote against it.
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u/stickyrets 22h ago edited 22h ago
London County is the definition of Suburban Hell. Data centers everywhere. Massive housing developments where all the houses look exactly the same and are extremely expensive. Excellent school districts though. I’m specifically referring to the area around the airport. I’m sure there are nicer parts.
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u/MrTsBlackVan 1d ago
Living there is insane, I assume those homes are worth close to a million? I know it’s easier said than done, but with a net worth of presumably a few mill, why wouldn’t you pack up and move elsewhere?
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u/bryceonthebison 1d ago
The county has dirt cheap personal property tax, an excellent school system, tons of nearby hospitals, a major international airport, and access to public transit. Most of the county doesn’t look like this. The western half is largely rural with no data centers, so you can avoid them entirely.
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u/ialwaystealpens 1d ago
For now. But when this development (Lenah Mill) was built (maybe a decade ago) there was nothing really out there but a few homes. I lived in South Riding at the time (in Aldie now) and when that development went up I remember thinking how desolate it was. So no doubt the western part of the county is at risk.
My car taxes this year were ridiculously cheap for some reason and the only thing I can think of is these damn data centers. My car is only 3 years old so it’s all I can think of. I am almost willing to pay more for my PPT in return.
In fact. The reason I left SR last year is that I was pretty close to 50 and within a 3 mile radius I had 6 data centers. Now if I were still there it would be 8.
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u/JoeAceJR20 1d ago
... car taxes? What are those, aside from registration or gas taxes?
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u/ialwaystealpens 1d ago
We pay a personal property tax on our vehicles (and I think boats too - but I don’t have one so that’s just an assumption). So every May 5th and October 5th I cut Loudoun County a check for the privilege to own and drive a car. I don’t know what all of the things are that go into that amount you pay, but it does decrease as the car gets older. My last car (a Honda civic) I had for close to 14 years so by the end my taxes were like 50$ a year. But when I first bought it they were like 600$ a year. My Jetta was about 600$ but this year it went down to 300$ which makes me think the data centers have something to do with it because it’s a 2023. Typically it takes more than 3 years to decrease by half the original PPT cost.
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u/Ilovemytowm 11h ago
Western half will become exactly like the eastern half.
Dystopian nightmare
Also. The Sale: On February 27, 2026, GWU finalized the sale of the 122-acre Virginia Science and Technology Campus (VSTC) in Ashburn, Loudoun County, to Amazon Data Services (ADS) for $427 million.
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u/Tight_Ninja1915 1d ago
The white one closest to it is $1.4m. These are big houses in an immensely wealthy and expensive area.
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u/RockstarLifestyle2 1d ago
1.4m home doesn’t make the area immensely wealthy
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u/Tight_Ninja1915 1d ago
No, but having the highest median income in the country does...
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u/RockstarLifestyle2 1d ago
The word immensely is throwing me off brotha. My wife and I make 500k collectively and we live in a 1.5. We’re well off but we aren’t wealthy by any means
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u/Tight_Ninja1915 1d ago
I'm not sure how it's throwing you off. I'm not saying the existence of a $1.4m house makes this area immensely wealthy.
Im saying it's immensely wealthy because Loudoun County is literally the wealthiest county in the whole country.
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u/SnooMaps7370 1d ago
>I assume those homes are worth close to a million?
lol, not anymore they aren't.
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u/jabberwonk 1d ago
Curious if anyone knows specifically where this is? I was looking in Google Maps thinking that was a golf course on the left but maybe it's not. Just out of personal curiosity I wanted to do a deep dive into home prices in proximity to this monstrosity. Most of the big data centers seem to be around Loudon County Pkwy and 625 but I can't seem to find this cul de sac.
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u/winkydinks111 1d ago
This has to be Ashburn, and there are countless data centers littered all throughout the area. The area you mention is just particularly dystopian.
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u/Forsaken_Ocelot_4 23h ago
Here's a link on Zillow to one of the houses. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/24193-Statesboro-Pl-Ashburn-VA-20148/121986541_zpid/?utm_campaign=zillowwebmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
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u/jabberwonk 9h ago
Crazy! Northern VA is wild that people are willing to pay $1.4M for a house with that in the backyard.
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u/EternalNewCarSmell 1d ago
I guess the upshot is someone is going to be able to buy a mcmansion for like 40% off whenever one of those people sells.
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u/RandallBoggs_12 22h ago
Nope, this is one of the wealthiest counties in the country. The houses were built around 2016 iirc and sold between 600-800k. That data center was built in 2020 and the latest property sales are upwards of 1 mil.
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u/SlideN2MyBMs 1d ago
Damn I don't think I realized just how big data centers are.