Rage against the machine: a California community rallied against a datacenter – and won

Monterey Park residents gathered at city hall on 21 January to speak out against the construction of a datacenter. Monterey Park residents gathered at city hall on 21 January to speak out against the construction of a datacenter. Sat 7 Feb 2026 11.00 ESTLast modified on Sat 7 Feb 2026 16.55 EST When a southern California city council proposed building a giant datacenter the size of four football fields last December, five residents vowed to stop it. Through a frenetic word-of-mouth campaign, the small group raised awareness about the proposed facility in Monterey Park, a small city east of Los Angeles known affectionately as the country's first suburban Chinatown. No Data Center Monterey Park organizers - working in tandem with the grassroots racial justice group San Gabriel Valley (SGV) Progressive Action - held a teach-in and rally that drew hundreds of participants, knocked on doors, and distributed flyers on busy streets.