Dear Editor:
In a recent letter to the editor a Parsippany resident gave his view on the so called benefits of placing data centers in Parsippany. Clearly his opinion is in the minority both in Parsippany and on a nationwide basis. Polls have registered a negative view of data centers ranging from minus 63 percent to minus 71 percent, in recently taken polls.
The so called logic behind the resident’s positive view of data centers is based on three locations he has cherry picked from across the country. According to the author of the letter, the locations he mentioned have benefited from property taxes incurred by the data centers. The locations stated in his letter are in states that have one tenth the population density of New Jersey.
Having recently traveled to Michigan, I can tell you first hand the droning sound from a data center that is over one quarter of a mile from my nephew’s home is extremely unpleasant. It is especially noticeable in the evening and night hours. Where there was once the sound of crickets and birds, the background sound is now a constant unnerving humming that simply never ends. I should add the data center near my nephew’s home is not that large of an installation and it is still well beyond annoying.
Beside the issues of providing water and power to data centers in Parsippany, New Jersey and the nation as a whole, the noise and lost property values that come to the surrounding areas simply do not equate to a standard of living the vast majority of people from around the nation are in favor of.
If this opinion from the writer is a sample of the policies he would want to implement should he win a seat on the Parsippany School Board, I will be sure to cast my ballot for someone else. Someone who is more in line with the mainstream of the populace.
Rich Suarez
Parsippany
