Growing up in Gary, Indiana, my family and I have always been deeply connected to this community. It’s a place full of history, resilience, and potential, where people know each other by name and share their hopes for a brighter future. However, recent plans to develop a data center in our city threaten to disrupt the balance of our environment, economy, and overall quality of life.

I’m from Gary, Indiana. I don’t currently live there anymore, but Gary is still my hometown. I have family there, multiple family members who still live there, and a baby cousin who is growing up there. So yes, this affects me.

It affects my family. It affects the people I grew up around. And most importantly, it affects the kids and young people who are going to have to live with the decisions being made about Gary long after we’re gone.

I’m starting this petition because I don’t believe Gary should be treated like a place where companies can come in, use the land, water, electricity and infrastructure, and expect everyone to just accept it because they were promised jobs.

Gary has already dealt with enough pollution and industrial development. We should not be rushing into another major industry without knowing exactly what it could mean for the people who actually live there.

Before any data center is approved, I want the city to be completely transparent about who is behind the project, who is funding it, who owns the land, how much electricity and water it will use, what incentives the company could receive, who will pay for the infrastructure, and what protections will actually be in place for the community.

I also want Gary residents to have a real opportunity to speak before anything is approved.

I may not live in Gary anymore, but I have every reason to care about what happens there. My family is there. My roots are there. Children in my family are growing up there.

I’m asking other people from Gary, people who still live there, people who moved away, and anyone who cares about the future of the city to sign this petition.

We need to pay attention now, before decisions are made that people can’t take back.