ST. LOUIS — A city development authority said this week that it would not support a tax abatement for a proposed data center near the Armory in Midtown.

The pledge at a Monday town hall from the St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corp. — a rare, early concession from a city board — did little to quell a groundswell of opposition to the project from residents who worry the high-tech facilities could raise energy costs, worsen pollution and divert tax revenue to wealthy corporations in exchange for few jobs.

Residents' deep distrust of global technology companies also is fueling opposition as the companies engage in a multibillion-dollar race to scale infrastructure as part of a boom in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

“These tech billionaires are using you,” resident Rachel Hurt

See Full Page