If your city is thinking of creating a municipal wireless Internet system, you might encourage officials to answer a question: If they're successful, how will the city be better for it? The most common reason officials give for jumping into broadband is that it's good for their city's image and economic development prospects. For example, the county executive of Oakland County, Michigan, said of his government's decision to build the first countywide system: "When you're the first wireless county, you can parlay that into some economic development." If municipal wireless systems are economic development tools, then it should be easy to set return-on-investment measurements. Show us the number and types of jobs Oakland County would gain if it didn't build the system and those it would pick up if it did. Cities correctly see broadband access as part of the urban infrastructure. But just as you wouldn't build roads or light rail everywhere, why would you build a wireless system for every square inch of a city? It's surprising how few cities are spelling out their expectations and measurements. The reason some give for governments getting into broadband is equity. But there are ways cities can help poor families gain access to the Internet without building their own systems, from helping wire libraries, schools and community centers to subsidizing private efforts.
THE ROADS LESS TRAVELED
In the 1970s and '80s, before most folks considered urban sprawl a bad thing, Atlanta leaders boasted that theirs was a city without limits, with no oceans, mountains or rivers to block its growth. However, Atlanta finally may have reached the limits of its drivers' patience. According to a recent study, Atlantans are driving fewer miles than in the 1990s. From 1998 to 2003, the average distance traveled by residents each day declined from 47.2 miles to 38.3 miles. Interestingly, this doesn't mean Atlantans are spending less time on the road; in recent years, highway speeds have declined as well, from 49.6 miles per hour to 47.3. In fact, planners think the two are related. As congestion has increased, Atlantans are responding by driving less. How they are getting by with less driving is a matter of speculation. Some evidence suggests Atlantans have moved closer to work. The city of Atlanta's share of housing starts is increasing; a regional planner pointed to recent statistics showing that "for the first time in a long time, the city of Atlanta had the most [proposed developments] by far of any jurisdiction in the region." Presumably people move to the city in part to shorten their commutes.
JAMMING WITH THE CITIZENS
There have been two revolutions in city government in the past decade and a half. The first was measuring results through computer-generated statistics. The second was linking these results to citizens' complaints. Now it's time for a third revolution: asking citizens for their ideas. Laudable as they were, the first two revolutions enlisted citizens only as complainers. IBM has come up with a way to utilize citizens as thinkers and suggestion-makers and it's called a "jam." A jam is an Internet discussion, held for several days and focused on a major topic. Anyone can log on and contribute, and the discussions are meant to be freewheeling. In most cases, there are some experts watching over the discussions and, where appropriate, offering facts and context. The jams' limited duration seems to focus the contributions. Afterwards, software sifts through the ideas, suggestions and gripes to arrive at some key themes and ideas. Participants or a smaller group can be invited to rate the suggestions for importance and feasibility. So far, IBM has produced jams mostly for itself, but it's not hard to see how this could be used by cities.
