The Data Center Debate Chicago Needs to Hear
📺 youtu.be/cBt8MpxgARA
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Chicago has 39 data centers. What are they powering and are the public's biggest fears true?
Brad Tietz from the Data Center Coalition (@DCC_org) helped write the 2019 Illinois data center incentive
He joins to talk water, jobs, electricity bills, Chicago's proposed moratorium, and what the next decade of data centers in Chicago should look like
📺 youtu.be/cBt8MpxgARA
0:00 Intro
0:30 What's Changed Since The 2019 Illinois Incentive
2:50 Rewriting the Incentive for the AI Era
4:50 Chicago's 39 Data Centers and Who They Serve
6:53 Why the Non-AI Story Isn't Being Told
8:37 Do Residents Actually Feel Tax Revenue
11:13 Myth #1: Data Centers Drink All Our Water
14:38 Myth #2: Data Centers Don't Create Jobs
16:34 Myth #3: Data Centers Are Raising Electric Bills
20:03 NDAs, Transparency, and Regulation
22:01 Chicago's Next Decade: AI Inference and Smaller Sites
24:16 The Chicago Moratorium and Springfield's Framework
28:18 Is the City Bringing Industry Leaders to the Table?
29:13 Historical Comparisons: Rail, Fracking, and 5G
Landon’s Loop retweeted
🎙️ Next up on @landonsloop
My conversation with Brad Tietz of the Data Center Coalition @DCC_org 🗄️ 🗄️ 🗄️
Brad helped pass the Illinois data center incentive in 2019
We spoke about what's changed since:
- $16B in data center investment in Illinois from 2019 to 2024
- Illinois went from top 3 in the country to outside the top 10 by some rankings
- Only 25% of data center workloads are AI. The rest is cloud, banks, hospitals, trading firms, schools
- Most of Chicago's 39 data centers are small edge sites, not giant AI campuses
- City Colleges and College of DuPage now run 8-week data center certificates that lead to $120k+ jobs
Plus the myths everyone keeps repeating about data centers
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Speakers at Chicago Builds: Third Rail on Nov 12
Lara Dailey, @Waymo
Dave Lundy and Kristi Lafleur, @ohareflyer
Audrey Wennink, @Metroplanners
Kevin Green, OTR Transportation
Michael Fassnacht, @ClaycoInc
Alderman Red Burnett, 27th Ward
Kristi Dula, @IllinoisDCEO
Lou Raizin, Cultural Stadium
Will Jenkins, @journeydelivers
More to be announced!
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Today’s @landonsloop
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
landonsloop.com/p/ohareflyer
Chicago’s $2B Airport Train, Explained
📺 youtu.be/gZvIf-CxBAA
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Downtown to O'Hare in 15 minutes. That's the promise of @ohareflyer
I sat down with CEO Dave Lundy to talk about what it takes to pull off this $2B project in Chicago
We spoke why Boring Company never happened and how this project is funded without taking money from the CTA or Metra
📺 youtu.be/gZvIf-CxBAA
See Dave speak at Chicago Builds: Third Rail on Nov 12: luma.com/78iclzrl
0:00 Intro
0:30 How do you market a 15-minute train to O'Hare
2:39 Why past attempts like the Boring Company failed
3:56 Battery-electric trains every 15 minutes, no freight delays
5:42 Old Post Office to O'Hare Terminal 2
6:48 New European-style track on existing freight routes
8:06 Project labor agreement and 1,500 construction jobs
9:35 More HQs, conventions and easy layovers
11:05 Safety, full-height gates and ticket price
12:40 No CTA or Metra money: private funding and federal loans
15:14 Where the money is coming from
16:50 Why no Midway Flyer
18:46 Working with the mayor, CDA, CDOT and IDOT
19:42 Downtown station reveal and final rail agreements
21:10 The founding team
23:20 How big things get done
26:05 The 2031 headline
🚊🚊🚊🚊🚊🚊
CHICAGO BUILDS: THIRD RAIL 🚊🚊🚊
A summit exploring the future of autonomy, freight, micromobility, and rail in Chicago
In partnership with @waymo
November 12 in Chicago
🔗 luma.com/78iclzrl
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Chicago is the city that moves, about time time get we loud about it.
CHICAGO BUILDS: THIRD RAIL 🚊🚊🚊
A summit exploring the future of autonomy, freight, micromobility, and rail in Chicago
In partnership with @waymo
November 12 in Chicago
🔗 luma.com/78iclzrl
Landon’s Loop retweeted
CHICAGO BUILDS: THIRD RAIL 🚊🚊🚊
A summit exploring the future of autonomy, freight, micromobility, and rail in Chicago
In partnership with @waymo
November 12 in Chicago
🔗 luma.com/78iclzrl
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Chicagooooooooo
We’re getting the world’s biggest supercomputing and HPC conference next month
So we’re running a local AI hackathon right before @Supercomputing
Partnering with @CtrlIQ @nvidia @VAST_Data @moonlite @Lenovo at @drivecapital
Apply: luma.com/local-ai-hack-chica…
🚊🚊🚊
It shouldn’t take an hour to get to O’Hare 🚊
@ohareflyer wants to cut the trip from downtown to 15 minutes with a battery-powered express train, expected to launch in 2031
I sat down with founder & CEO Dave Lundy to break down the plan
Coming soon @landonsloop
Landon’s Loop retweeted
It shouldn’t take an hour to get to O’Hare 🚊
@ohareflyer wants to cut the trip from downtown to 15 minutes with a battery-powered express train, expected to launch in 2031
I sat down with founder & CEO Dave Lundy to break down the plan
Coming soon @landonsloop
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Asked @JBPritzker and @cmitchellforlg about the proposed Digital Asset Tax
It's the question every crypto startup to trading firm wants answered
The tax just got pushed back 6 months
We spoke about how filing comments has the power to change policy
Landon’s Loop retweeted
We can also thank CEJA for that
When Illinois saved its nuclear plants it was characterized as a “bailout”.
Since passage, the “bailout” has returned $2.7 billion to ratepayers.
ipa.illinois.gov/carbon-miti…
Landon’s Loop retweeted
WE'RE LIVE: Illinois Governor @JBPritzker and @cmitchellforlg in a room full of Chicago founders, investors, operators, and creators
The question: What does Chicago need to get right to win the next decade?
Quantum. Nuclear. AI. Data centers. Digital assets. Affordability. Tourism. Creators. Legacy
📺 youtu.be/k-0VRV6MKfo
0:00 Intro
1:02 How the Pritzker-Mitchell Ticket Came Together
2:09 Christian Mitchell’s Journey
3:56 Why Pritzker Chose Christian Mitchell
8:37 What's Unfinished with CEJA
11:45 Nuclear Power, Energy Bills & Rebates
14:30 Making Decisions for the Next 20 Years
19:41 Illinois New AI Cabinet
23:43 What Downstate Illinois Thinks About AI & Data Centers
26:45 Universal Preschool
30:11 Why Does Illinois Approach Quantum and AI So Differently
33:35 Illinois Digital Asset Tax
35:26 Chicago’s Music & Tourism
39:03 Keeping Young Creators in Illinois
40:05 Growing SMB in Illinois
43:52 Christian Mitchell on His Legacy
@landonsloop
Landon’s Loop retweeted
Congrats to my guy @garrycooperjr and his team
LFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 🧫⚗️🧬🧪🥼🚀














