ASHBURN, Va. — First came the explosions, the heavy machinery and the red dust that coated the neighborhood. Soon after, towering, windowless buildings emerged just beyond a thin row of trees.
Months after the construction noise faded, the silence gave way to a steady mechanical hum.
For homeowners on the tucked-away cul-de-sac of Statesboro Place in Loudoun County, Virginia, suburban life now shares a fence line with the infrastructure powering America’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
The facilities behind the neighborhood are operated by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, two of the world’s largest cloud computing companies.
“It’s like 150 feet away and just constant noise,” one resident told Fox News Digital while looking out over the backyard on a rainy September afternoon. “So far, they’ve planted some trees, thinking that would solve the issue.”
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A Microsoft spokesperson told Fox News Digital the company is “actively meeting with nearby HOAs to address community priorities, including landscaping, lighting and noise, working to ensure that our development lives up to residents’ expectations.”
An Amazon spokesperson said the company has “been part of Loudoun for 20 years” and that its local team has been working directly with residents and the HOA to address concerns. “We’re committed to building responsibly and being good neighbors,” the spokesperson said.
The residents interviewed for this story requested anonymity as they are engaged in ongoing discussions with the HOA and county officials.
One resident, who bought the home nearly a decade ago, said the hum extends beyond the backyards and can be heard along the community’s walking trails.
“Only two data centers are active right now and two additional ones are planned to be active next spring,” the resident said, adding that neighbors fear the noise will only grow louder.
The neighborhood sits in Loudoun County, home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers and one of the epicenters of the nation’s AI infrastructure buildout. Residents say they were drawn to the spacious lots, unobstructed views and quiet streets, all of which are now overshadowed by featureless buildings.
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As of March 2026, more than 230 data centers had been built or were under construction across the Virginia county, with another 116 projects in the pipeline.
“When I moved in, it was an open field. I had a nice backyard and there was not an ugly building to look at,” another resident told Fox News Digital.
The resident says the question isn’t whether data centers should exist, but whether they belong so close to neighborhoods without a better understanding of how they affect the people living beside them.
“Are we the guinea pigs? It feels that way.”
The data centers that transformed the landscape have also reshaped Loudoun County’s finances.
County officials say data centers generated $1.2 billion in tax revenue in fiscal year 2026 — 39% of the county budget — and project that figure will rise to $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2027. The revenue helps fund county services and keep tax rates lower, but residents say their individual bills have continued to rise.
One Loudoun County homeowner shared six years of property tax records with Fox News Digital showing the annual real estate tax bill rose from $17,391 in 2021 to about $22,250 in 2026, an increase of nearly $5,000.
“In our experience, our taxes have not gone down. We also own multiple properties and vehicles in Loudoun County, and we have not experienced a reduction in our real estate or personal property tax burden,” the homeowner said.
The bill can rise even when tax rates fall if the assessed value increases.
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That disconnect has raised questions about whether the industry’s financial benefits outweigh its impact on nearby communities. Little River District Supervisor Laura TeKrony said Loudoun County should limit data center development to industrial areas.
“I have not voted for one data center application since my term started in 2024,” TeKrony told Fox News Digital. “There are some things that matter more than additional tax revenue: our land, our water, our quality of life and our community character.”
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Residents told Fox News Digital they recognize the data centers are unlikely to go away. Instead, they want county leaders and operators to reduce the impact through sound barriers, ongoing noise monitoring and tax relief for homeowners living closest to the facilities.
“Trees are not a solution,” one resident said, arguing for a sound wall similar to those installed along major highways.
Another homeowner said nearby residents should receive property tax relief if the county continues approving data centers next to neighborhoods.
“If you ask me what the county can help us with, it’s reduce our property tax by at least 50%,” the resident said.
So while Americans are hoping the emerging tech boom will not negatively impact them, the nation’s AI ambitions have become impossible to ignore on Statesboro Place.
