Little Flower Neighbors' Feedback on Data Center Development

Our neighborhood association has received several requests from both residents and other community organizations in Indianapolis to enter the dialogue on the topic of data centers. As you may know, there have been two data center projects on the eastside that have been greenlit despite significant concerns from community members. Our board determined that we wanted to hear from our neighborhood before taking action in this space, as it’s outside the scope of topics that we’ve advocated on in the past. 

We created a survey to gather feedback directly from neighbors. It covered what neighbors would like to see from the neighborhood association in terms of information-sharing and public advocacy. It also allowed for free-text comments at the end for respondents to share open ended feedback with us. We received complete responses from 72 respondents. 

We’ve compiled below a summary of what we heard from neighbors in our survey: 

94% of respondents support the Little Flower Neighborhood Association taking a public stance or actively advocate regarding nearby data centers. This suggests that there is a robust local interest for our neighborhood association to act as a platform to enter the dialogue regarding currently in-progress projects as well as any new nearby projects. 

93% of respondents signaled support for a full moratorium on data centers for the time being. Environmental, utility infrastructure, and quality of life concerns were also common concerns amongst our respondents. We’re understanding this signal to mean that neighbors do not feel that an acceptable case has been made for the benefit of these facilities in our communities at this time, and there is strong support to totally pause these developments, not just negotiate for specific conditions to be met regarding any one of these concerns.

90% of respondents would like the neighborhood association to seek & share information on how neighbors can advocate individually on data centers. This suggests to us that neighbors are interested in our association acting as a connective tissue on how neighbors can engage in this dialogue in our community for themselves, suggesting that there is interest in both collective and individual advocacy on this issue. 

In the free-text comments, we heard qualitative context for what was quantitatively captured in the survey:

• Additional strain on our utility network and rising costs is a core concern. Multiple people cited the nearby Martindale-Brightwood data center and worry that two facilities that close together can't be supported without spiking water and electricity costs/usage for residents. 

• A recurring and notable theme was that these projects have consistently targeted less-affluent, majority-Black neighborhoods like Martindale-Brightwood, and that Little Flower has a responsibility to stand with those communities, not just advocate for our own backyard.

Neighbor response: "What these communities have experienced isn't right. We should express care for their situations and support them however we can. If we're ever in a similar situation, hopefully, they'd support us too."

• Environmental and wellness impacts also came up in these comments frequently, specifically “heat-island effects or temperature increases, noise & infrasound, light pollution, and construction/operational pollution.

• A few respondents asked that the association feature this issue at a neighborhood meeting. 

• Several respondents want LFNA to coordinate with the "No Irvington Data Center" and "Protect Martindale Brightwood" groups, and share info on remonstration hearings.

• A few respondents asked for more data on direct and indirect impacts before forming a firmer opinion. 

The Little Flower Neighborhood Association board has reviewed these responses, and we’ve heard the message loud and clear that many of our neighbors are very concerned about these developments. We read these responses to understand that at this time, neighbors remain unconvinced that these facilities provide value to our community that outweighs the significant risks and concerns. We’re interested in checking in with neighbors in the future about this issue to understand how neighbor feedback evolves on this matter. 

One neighbor expressed that they would not like the neighborhood to weigh in on this topic. They would like more focus from the association on safety issues in the neighborhood. We agree that safety is always a priority, and we’ve heard this feedback asking for more focus on safety initiatives in the coming board term. However, we believe the significant opposition we’ve heard in this survey is cause for prioritization of the data center topic as well. 

We recognize that the case made for these facilities and neighbors’ views on them may evolve over time. But right now, our resident have been clear: they are against these developments, and they want this Association to say so. The City of Indianapolis has since passed a moratorium on new data center projects through the end of 2027. While this pauses any new developments from proceeding, the in-progress data center developments remain unimpeded. In response, the Little Flower Neighborhood Association will draft and publish a letter of opposition to both of these projects, citing the strong opposition of our residents.

We also will share opportunities for individual advocacy as they arise. To start, neighbors can connect with Eastside Community Action Against Data Centers, a “community-oriented organization primarily focused on streamlining information about the current DC Blox/Thunderbird Data Center Project on the East Side of Indianapolis located on the Pennsy Trail (Irvington/Eastgate).” Notably, this organization is involved with raising funds for legal action regarding the in-development data center projects.

If you have additional questions or comments about this topic as it relates to Little Flower, please reach us at littleflowerneighborhood@gmail.com.