Backing Baltimore

The Tales of Two Cities blog argues that the time has come for HoCo to get behind Baltimore's bid for Google's super-fast broadband service.

After all, for all our talk about being technologically hip, we just can't seem to generate much excitement around here. Which seems weird given that we live right next door to an employer (Fort Meade) that already probably knows a thing or two about the benefits of super-fast broadband.

Two Cities writes:

According to this article by Miguel Helft in The New York Times, “that offer has become catnip for city leaders, civic boosters and economic development types across the nation.”

“The mayor of Duluth, Minn., threw himself into the ice-ringed waters of Lake Superior. The mayor of Sarasota, Fla., immersed himself in a tank filled with bonnethead sharks, simply to one-up him. The mayor of Wilmington, N.C., said that he would even jump out of an airplane — with a parachute, of course.”

I have to admit that the Google Howard County effort looks pretty lame in comparison. On the other hand, the city of Baltimore has made a much more compelling argument for why Charm City should be the choice.