Data centers
“Should the city allow data centers?” For means letting them build; against means a ban, a moratorium or tight limits.
Most supportive
Nobody qualifies
No place in any size group drew enough supporters to make the Most supportive list.
The most one-sided list on the board. Texas holds the top spot for opposition in all three size groups: Brownsville among mid-size places, Corpus Christi among large ones and Keller among small ones. Not one speaker in any of the three argued for a data center. The resident in the clip above was one of a long line of neighbors. That same night, the commission directed staff to begin the process for a 90-day moratorium on new data centers.
The other end of this list is empty.
Surveillance cameras and plate readers
“Should the city use surveillance and license plate reader cameras, like Flock?” For means adding or keeping them; against means ending, pausing or limiting them.
Chandler, Arizona, leads large places in pushback against surveillance and plate-reader cameras like Flock: 42 people against, two for. The night the council took up renewing its Flock contract, one of the few supporters at the microphone, below, didn’t live in Chandler at all. He came over from Tempe to explain that Tempe has the cameras, so Chandler should too, which is the comparison instinct in its purest form. The council tabled the Flock renewal, 5–1. It never got its second vote. In August, after an audit turned up what the police chief called a potential misuse of the system inside the department, the city dropped Flock altogether: no renewal, and the vendor is taking its 40 cameras back.
Toledo, Ohio, is the lone large place on the Most supportive list, eight speakers to four. That is the same Toledo whose council keeps buying Flock cameras without bids, as we reported in July.
Short-term rentals
“Should the city allow short-term rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo?” For means allowing them; against means bans or strict limits.
Baytown, Texas, wants little to do with Airbnb: 12 speakers against, one for. Independence, Missouri, ran the other way, 24 to 5, much of it at permit hearings where applicants made their own case. At one of those meetings this spring, an applicant, below, explained that he was racing to open his rental before the World Cup started in June, with no furniture yet.
Homeless encampments
“Should the city clear homeless encampments?” For means clearing them and enforcing camping bans; against means against sweeps; services and housing instead.
Read this one carefully, because “for” here means for clearing camps. Oakland, California, leads large places in opposition to sweeps, on a 7–5 split. Martin County, Florida, drew the most support for them among mid-size ones.
Duplexes and the missing middle
“Should neighborhoods allow duplexes and small apartment buildings?” For means allowing them; against means keeping single-family zoning.
In Asheville, North Carolina, 21 people took a side on duplexes and every one of them wanted more. Midvale, Utah, ran two to one the other way.
Gas stations and travel centers
“Should the city allow new gas stations, including large travel centers?” For means allowing them; against means blocking or limiting them.
Ceres, California, is the rare place where 16 people agreed on anything: no new gas stations. Wilmington, North Carolina, is happy to fill up, 9–2.