Coachella's data center moratorium: 73% called it the right move

When the Coachella City Council voted unanimously to halt the Stronghold data center project and impose a 45-day ban on new ones, the question split cleanly — but not evenly. Across 847 conversations Valley-wide, nearly three in four residents backed the council. Support was strongest in Coachella itself (81%) and softened moving west up-valley, narrowing to a near-even split in Indian Wells (52%).

Water was the throughline. It surfaced more than any other theme, often paired with a sense that residents had been asked to conserve for years while a server farm was offered a different standard. The minority who called it overreach pointed to forfeited jobs and tax revenue, and a worry about the precedent of halting investment by moratorium.