Hannah Miet

Brittany Bay Park, along the Indian Creek Waterway, integrates a relocated seawall with restored mangroves and wetlands, creating a living shoreline that protects Miami Beach’s dense waterfront neighborhoods from flooding. (Courtesy of Miami Beach) On a September morning in 2025, hundreds of Miami Beach residents gathered for the grand opening of Bayshore Park. Children scrambled across a playground tucked beneath a native tree canopy. Couples walked trails circling a central lake.

A large-scale data center in Nevada. (Shutterstock) Artificial intelligence is fueling an unprecedented surge in data center development—and a growing backlash over the water and power those facilities consume. According to a 2024 McKinsey analysis, global demand for data center capacity could more than triple by 2030, driving continued investment into the massive server farms that power the digital economy. That backlash is already shaping policy.

A Stuf Storage facility at 47 William Street in New York’s Financial District. (Katharine Lau) On Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, the iconic SAG-AFTRA building hosts an unlikely tenant in its windowless core. Although traditional office suites line the perimeter, the deep interior, which the owner previously struggled to lease, was recently carved into self-storage.