Bring Google To Boston – Too Little Too Late?

The City of Boston announced it has submitted a plan to bring Google High Speed Fiber Initiative to Boston.  The application was submitted on Friday the 26th which was the official deadline for receipt by Google.  Boston’s application has many merits but was it too little, too late?  Communities like Worcester and Shrewsbury have been working on gaining visibility and support for weeks.

Using Google Blogs, Youtube and Facebook they have put together various views on why their City or Town makes the best choice for Google.  As of today Boston’s Fan Page, Bring Google to Boston has only 139 fans in comparison to Worcester’s 2,309.  Both cities bring strong applications to the table because of their similar strengths of higher education, healthcare and innovative companies and individuals.

The City of Boston definitely has a need in the under served areas reflected in their proposal.  They are not proposing using all of Boston as Google’s test site.  They have dubbed the area the OpportunityHub which focuses on the Longwood Medical Area and the emerging areas of Roxbury, Mission Hill and what appear to be parts of Dorchester and the South End.

The video is the most comprehensive one that I have seen in terms of demonstrating readiness and need.  It will be interesting to see how Google will weigh readiness, need and the level of community participation in the “application” process.  Worcester is showing that it can get more people to raise their hands and participate in the discussion online.  The population that Boston is targeting may not have the ability to do it because of their lack of access to even basic internet services.

It would be great to get more than one Massachusetts city involved.  Since Google already has offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts may be a good location even from a convenience perspective.

I for one can’t wait to see what Google decides.  Here is the Google for Boston video:

I am sure it isn’t too late to become a Facebook Fan on the Bring Google to Boston fan page.