Living Near a Data Center in Sterling, VA: What the Home Listing Won't Tell You
Drive north on Route 28 from Dulles Airport and they are hard to miss: long, windowless buildings lined with rooftop equipment, new substations and high-voltage lines running between them. Loudoun County has the world's largest concentration of data centers, with 53.3 million square feet in operation or under development, according to Loudoun Economic Development. Sterling sits in the middle of that growth.
For anyone shopping for a home or apartment here, that raises a fair question: what is it actually like living near a data center? Here is what the research shows, what residents report and how to check a specific address before you sign anything.