The City of Minneapolis is going ahead with plans to solicit bids to install and maintain a citywide WiFi network. Not wanting to aggravate its inferiority complex, the City of St. Paul is developing its own plans for a wireless network. The Minneapolis won’t mirror other citywide public networks like the one planned for Philadelphia. This one will be privately owned. Residents will pay about twenty bucks for month for access speeds of 1-3mbps. I’ll probably stick with my faster wired connection, but this will be great for people who don’t want to pay for cable or DSL. I’d like to see the subscription fee closer to ten or fifteen bucks, but this is a good start. This also coincides nicely with a project I’m working on with other Humphrey Fellows on the “Creative Class.” Investments like this attract and retain professionals and entrepreneurs that are vital to a city’s future, or so says Dr. Florida. Despite my misgivings about the hype he imbues in his theory, I think he actually has a point about the payoffs of technology improvements.
Because I just know you’re curious, here are some of the latest additions to my iTunes playlist: “Beating Heart Baby” by Head Automatica; “Galang” by M.I.A.., “Don’t Stop” by Brazilian Girls; and “Anything” by Styrofoam. M.I.A. and the lead singer of Brazilian Girls are competing for the title of Mark’s Next Pop Culture Crush. I’ll let you know who wins.
