I lived for many years in the rust belt -- abandoned industrial properties aren't particularly attractive to have in your community. Nor are they attractive to industry unless they're already outfitted for their particular use.

Many of these projects are making messes to local infrastructure, the construction and municipal costs associated with that, the wear on local roads, etc. And abandoned buildings are a mess because of their lack of maintenance.

Data centers are not industrial. It’s a 6” slab with prefabricated walls, bar joists, and a metal roof. There’s no continuous distillation column, smelter, fly ash pond, tailings pond, or anything remotely industrial.

Data centers are essentially an Amazon distribution center that is filled with servers instead of racking with a shitload of electrical and HVAC equipment.

Both an AI hyperscaler and an Amazon warehouse would be typically classified as "light industrial".

> There’s no continuous distillation column, smelter, fly ash pond, tailings pond, or anything remotely industrial.

This is typically classified as "heavy industrial"

Maybe for real estate brokers or city planners.

I use the definitions that the entire construction industry uses. A data center is commercial. A distribution center is commercial. A plastic injection molding company or machine shop is commercial. An oil refinery, grain mill, or power plant is industrial.

It's the normal zoning terminology which is entirely appropriate for a regulatory discussion.

Stick a feather in your hat and call it macaroni if you want, it doesn't change my prior point.

Or if nobody wants to buy them