Mital Gandhi hears the hum every day. From his front porch in Ashburn, Virginia, four data centers sit less than 2,000 feet away. The constant drone drowns out backyard barbecues. It fills the air during quiet evenings by the pool. Gandhi, 47, once sought suburban calm after years in Washington, D.C. Now his neighborhood stands at the center of a transformation few anticipated. The Regency community, with its 143 homes, sits deep inside Data Center Alley. Loudoun County hosts roughly 200 such facilities. They form the densest cluster on the planet. Powering artificial intelligence demands ever more servers, ever more electricity. Local residents pay the price in noise, lost trees, and strained infrastructure. Yet some see opportunity. Gandhi, a former HOA president and real estate developer, crafted a bold plan. Sell every home and acre to a data center operator. Pocket more than $500 million. Walk away richer. But unanimity proves elusive.…