MAE-East[1] was there, which means all the networks are there, which means it's a great place to put a datacenter. If you only have one datacenter on the planet, it should probably be in the US; the US has good connectivity to the rest of the world, and local customers with lots of disposable income. If you have one datacenter in the US, DC/Northern VA is a good place, near to the bulk of the population. If you have two datacenters, one on the west coast is a good idea. If you have three, Chicago or Dallas.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAE-East" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAE-East</a>
cheap land (before), cheap and lots of electricity
Property tax/sales tax/use tax incentives
High fiber density/“network” effect (literally haha)<p>Somewhat central to most of U.S population
AOL and the early ISPs set up base there, and the first IX was created there.<p>Now if you want to go back further and ask why ISPs set up shop there, that's likely due to location and nearby population.