One KC developer wants to build the tech community through "Homes for Hackers."
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Startups, would you couchsurf Kansas City just to get Google Fiber?
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Check your facts. The home of Google Fiber is Kansas City, KS. Kansas City, MO is 19 miles away, and has nothing to do with Google Fiber, though it is the largest city in that state. Wichita is the largest city in Kansas.
[EDIT]: Whoops. Retracted.
[EDIT]: Whoops. Retracted.
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Hmm, googling this city brings up some nice results that counters Barreth big time. Which should we believe? Real world experience? Or ... Barreth?
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Fblue":1i2cfx58 said:
or some hippie/druggie/stoner/alcoholic clubber. Out of all the things a person trying to get a potentially successful startup going might have to consider as costs, I can't imagine the owner renting a spare bedroom to live in being all that close to the top of that list.
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When Apple took the smart phone to the new level of popularity, it changed how the world uses phones (I'm not saying they were first or best, but they definitely did make it popular)
I would LOVE to have google fiber to my house (but I'm stuck with the local cable monopoly who thinks "innovation" means "changing the color of the corporate logo.) But what I'm REALLY curious to see is if Google can actually inspire some cultural change the same way that the smart phone did. (Once again, they're not the first and they're not the best, but this has the POTENTIAL to be as significant as the smart phone "revolution".)
I think KC is going to be a really cool place to watch over the next few years!
I would LOVE to have google fiber to my house (but I'm stuck with the local cable monopoly who thinks "innovation" means "changing the color of the corporate logo.) But what I'm REALLY curious to see is if Google can actually inspire some cultural change the same way that the smart phone did. (Once again, they're not the first and they're not the best, but this has the POTENTIAL to be as significant as the smart phone "revolution".)
I think KC is going to be a really cool place to watch over the next few years!
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jeamland":17oghnp5 said:
Because faster internet inspires cultural change? Give me some of what you are smoking, please?
Please note that fiber and fiber speeds are already present in quite a few places in the world and no major cultural changes have happened there, this is nothing new or groundbreaking.
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Red states aren't terrible places to live if you're white, Christian, and not a sexual minority.
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Tijger":2107klnn said:
There aren't a lot in the US as I understand it.
I'm not saying this will change the world or anything, or even that it will actually accomplish anything, but I don't see how it could hurt either.
As for Kansas City, it's great. I live here. Well, I live in Olathe, which is a Kansas City suburb. The weather can be an issue, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Yeah it gets hot during the summer. Really hot. It can get really cold during the winter, too. But I don't live or work outside, so I'm not all that concerned. As for tornadoes, ha. If you're a Kansan and you hear a tornado siren, what do you do? You go to the front porch to see if you can see the tornado. Seriously, we do this.
SteveF":2107klnn said:
Seriously dude? While Kansas, as a whole, isn't the most tolerant of states, the more urban areas of the state are quite nice. We've got plenty of minorities, non-Christians, and GLBT people here. For most people who live here, people are just people.
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Regardless of whether KC is a nice place to live, am I the only one who thinks the very idea of a city-wide initiative to invite unemployed techies to live in people's basements is ludicrous?
Couchsurfing only works because it is short-term.
This will never take off.
Couchsurfing only works because it is short-term.
This will never take off.
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With all the political crazy coming out of that area of the country lately, not only no bet hell no!
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SteveF":3ldmpcv7 said:
I hope you're drinking. Please troll elsewhere.
Chattanooga, TN.
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SteveF":fi1rllw5 said:
Thats good that you feel that way, considering you're now a racist, anti-freedom of choice, and you probably beat straight people Nazi now.
Sorry, just mimic'ing the mainstream media's viewpoint.
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cdclndc":3a2v9ygx said:
Haven't been paying attention to the teabillies pitching a huge fit about there being (horrors) a mosque in your city?
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I have gigabit symmetrical fiber here in the South Bay. Before people get all excited about starting businesses to use home fiber, they better check google's TOS.
I'm not allowed to run a business off of my fiber. And there's been people who've considered buying units in this development just to do that... until they read the TOS.
BTW, Paxio rocks!
I'm not allowed to run a business off of my fiber. And there's been people who've considered buying units in this development just to do that... until they read the TOS.
BTW, Paxio rocks!
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Both KS and MO sides of Kansas City are great (KS is a bit more higher cost of living than MO). I have family on the MO side but they've all lived on the KS side. It's a great area and the BBQ is AWESOME!!! If I hadn't moved to Washington state I would have chosen Kansas City.
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Dumb plan. Smart idea.
I don't think the couch surfing idea will work. But I can easily see a plan to attract small startups working. Government funds for an office complex; favorable regulations; university tie-ins; etc.
I don't think the couch surfing idea will work. But I can easily see a plan to attract small startups working. Government funds for an office complex; favorable regulations; university tie-ins; etc.
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bthylafh":39f7rorn said:
I live in a suburb of Kansas City, and I'm somewhat involved in the local government in KCMO. I've worked downtown for almost 10 years and generally speaking, most of what you find are laid back, diverse people.
Further out...like where there are more cows than people...well, who knows what you'd find.
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Umm this article seems a bit miss informed. Oh well can't wait till Google shows up on my doorstep to install Google Fiber! KCK!
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SteveF":29tg03cn said:
Sexual minority? There are more women in most states than men.
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SteveF":21h3xhmo said:
KCMO is significantly more laid back than KCK IMHO. There is a very diverse and active LGBT community here. (I will admit our recent state constitutional amendment was a disgrace. I blame the GOP primary voters for that. Not enough Dem primary races to get voters out.
) I interactive with a variety of folks from many different racial/ethnic/religious/sexual orientation backgrounds every day. KCMO tends to be a "blue" area for those worried about a "red" state. Both my congress critters and governor are Democrats. We've still got our crazies *cough*Aiken*cough* but for the most part we're more tolerant than most people think or the media likes to portray us as.
Besides, aren't really fast fiber, good food, and low cost of living enough incentive to move out here and make our state a little more "purple"?
-Old_Wolf
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TechGeek":1ji37gay said:
Ah that makes sense for some reason that didn't occur to me. Doh.
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bthylafh":2xhaqd1a said:
There are crazies in literally every part of the country. What's your point? Just ignore the crazies there as you would elsewhere, it's really not that hard.
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KC is a great place to live with a lot of people coming in just for tech jobs, there are a ton of tech jobs here in KC if you have ANY technical skills whatsoever ( be in coding, systems, database, networking WHATEVER). A better plan than living on someones couch and likely making them frustrated with you is to get a job (which is easy if you have a technical background..) save your money ( which is easy since rent is cheap, and food is cheap.. midwest = 30% of worlds food) and then get your startup off the ground. I live in KC North ( not the same as North KC, its a weird naming convention) and I love it here, the people are really nice and the highways are rarely ever congested. Overall its a great place to live and I can't wait for fiber! And also nobody liked that Akin guy around here anyway so i wouldn't worry about it.
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Good article, but was it written in a rush? This thing is riddled with errors...
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KC (Both the KS and the MO side) is a really decent place to live. Affordable, lots to do and the people are (for the most part) really nice.
I've lived all over the world, from Hong Kong, to Huntsville, AL and all points in between - and I've been here 10 years and am in no hurry to move.
I've lived all over the world, from Hong Kong, to Huntsville, AL and all points in between - and I've been here 10 years and am in no hurry to move.
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Fiber is nice and all, but I'm not moving anywhere for it. While the quest for ever-faster Internet is alive in my house, what drives my startup is availability of talent. Without a critical mass of skilled software engineers, Kansas City could have God's own broadband connections but we're just not interested. To date, we do this by going where the universities are.
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LOL. I'm a liberal minority (go figure) who moved from Texas to midtown KCMO and thought I was surrounded by hippies. It really is a beautiful, laid back town. Frankly, a bit too laid back for my liking. But having actually been to the town (and having had the fortune of living there), it's extremely clear just why Google chose Kansas City.SteveF":tbh2s2f1 said:
Kansas City has a fantastic art community, great parks, very reasonable housing prices, and a slowly improving education system. Businesses in KCMO are heavily involved in the community, and have contributed heavily to the resurgance of what was once a dying town. Their LGBT community is strong, it's highly accepting of minorities, and its a town with a great history of philanthropy. Both towns (KCK and the much larger KCMO) have invested heavily in arts and education in the past decade, in stark contrast to most cities across the nation in the wake of a stalled economy.
It's a shame that the uninformed and ignorant would rather paint an entire swath of the nation as xenophobic homophobes, than learn about the realities of an area beyond what your favorite cable network blabbers. It's especially unfortunate since mindsets like that from our supposedly progressive "friends" infantilizes gays and minorities who choose to live, love, and continually improve the progressive bastions of those red states.
I'm glad to see i'm not alone in my affection for such a great town.
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bthylafh":1ta8gt0o said:
Kind of like NYC did, right?
Let's be honest: you feel threatened by white people from the heartland.
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I spent most of my adult life in the Kansas City area. It's a great place to live. It's got great music of all kinds–bands on their way to SXSW often stop and gig in KC. The Kansas City Art Institute has a distinguished group of alumni and the Nelson Museum is topnotch. And food–KC barbecue is justifiably world-famous but you will find all kinds of cuisine from all over the world in KC. If the Kabuki restaurant is still in the Crown Centre complex, it serves sushi as fresh as anything you can get on the coast (if you're partial to sushi, try it and see).
Don't judge the people in Kansas City by politicians or by a few tea-partiers. For the most part, Kansas City people are fun, friendly, and accepting. They are a diverse group and there's a large gay population, with many gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses.
What many people outside of KC don't realise is, the state line between Kansas and Missouri runs right through the centre of the metropolitan area. You can leave one state and enter the other by literally–and I do mean literally–crossing a street.
Don't judge the people in Kansas City by politicians or by a few tea-partiers. For the most part, Kansas City people are fun, friendly, and accepting. They are a diverse group and there's a large gay population, with many gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses.
What many people outside of KC don't realise is, the state line between Kansas and Missouri runs right through the centre of the metropolitan area. You can leave one state and enter the other by literally–and I do mean literally–crossing a street.
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Everything's up to date in Kansas City - they've gone about as far as they can go.
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"..exploit Google Fiber". Haven't folks learned the lesson yet, that G00gle will in turn exploit them? Naves.
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Kansas City is a real dump. They couldn't have picked a nicer place for this? Or is this also some kind of social experiment to see if super-fast internet can turn a craphole into a nice place to live?
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paintersforms":ztwiz534 said:
lollers. I've lived about a hundred miles south of KC for my whole life. Try again, sweetums.
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I sadly feel this way although I could be tempted by a non red city.SteveF":rahr2a16 said:
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Miwa":2cvzjdh5 said:I have gigabit symmetrical fiber here in the South Bay. Before people get all excited about starting businesses to use home fiber, they better check google's TOS.
I'm not allowed to run a business off of my fiber. And there's been people who've considered buying units in this development just to do that... until they read the TOS.
BTW, Paxio rocks!
The point isn't to utilize the fiber to run a business from. The point is to use it (plus the three month accommodation) to develop a business that you commit yourself to full-time after that three month period is over.
I don't really see this taking off. If your business is going to *rely* on gigabit backhaul, you're going to have to look elsewhere anyway. If it doesn't/won't, I doubt you'll need a consistent gigabit connection to get started. It seems like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist; and who knows how many problems could arise from this - it sounds like there is almost no vetting done beyond proving they have a semi-viable business idea.
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