> Abandoned pepboys stores don't usually have very good fiber connectivity. Backblaze and similar hosting/storage companies move enough traffic that they need to be topologically close to major IX points.
Not stores. Data centers.
It is typically cheaper to get long distance fiber links than metro fiber and midsize data centers do not consume that much power, power which is plentiful outside the major metros, especially in the old manufacturing areas.
The real reason why companies do not go there is because it is not sexy and non-sexy places do not get "ninja" employees that would be passing brain teasers on a whiteboard.
> Bulldozing empty land in Quincy and putting up a tilt-up concrete on slab dedicated purpose datacenter structure is much less costly than extensively retrofitting abandoned, 30, 40, 50 year old commercial real estate.
If you are doing it in a major metro then unless you get a big fat tax break your real estate taxes are going to kill you.
