Wi-Fi as Urban Renewal

[RommelS]

Wi-Fi as Urban Renewal
Source: 802.11 Planet

From Long Beach to New Orleans, cities and communities across the U.S. are looking to public Wi-Fi hotzones as the latest form of urban renewal. Will 802.11 technology become the new drawing card for reviving sagging downtowns?

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[JTMoney]

Perfect. Get large groups of people carrying lots of expensive tech gear like PDAs, cell phones, and thousand dollar laptops, then have them all congregate in an area with high crime.

This would work great in downtown Detroit...the pawnbrokers would probably make lots of cash.

Urban renewal is about good schools, affordable living, good services, cheap, reliable public transportation, and jobs, not about providing net access to a bunch of business people on their lunch breaks.

JT$

[DarkEmerald]

Hey, JT$, I like the way you think.

I live in one of those cities, both urban and renewed, where Starbucks T-Mobile hotspots abound, and I can say that there may be some connection between such things and a good urban experience.

But what makes my city as great as it is is NOT hotspots. They add a little something, but they'd be nothing without excellent public transit, beautiful mixed-use development on a human scale, trees, benches, art, and architecture. And most important of all, good housing right downtown that meets the needs of people at various economic levels. People live here. They shop, work, dine, and recreate in the heart of the city.

Wireless access is just icing. It's not much good unless you've already baked the cake.