TO THE EDITOR:
Your article didn’t note that the Carrboro hub siting process had no public input, or that Google wouldn’t talk to our neighborhood. Not even Carrboro is a “people over profits” town. Here, enamored officials rushed the siting of the hub through the zoning process — visit savecarrborogreenspaces.org.
The shrewd design of Google’s roll-out can’t be explained briefly, but fast deployment is crucial, so G.F. pressures towns to nominate town lots for hubs.
Given the buzz, governments are pressured to please Google Fiber; two ornery towns were rejected; a hub was put into Raleigh’s North Hills Park; Carrboro’s nominations included Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The Carrboro cemetery tract was an unspoiled greenspace in a dense neighborhood. This hub siting without public discussion of the tract’s future spins all of it toward utilitarian uses. With planning, industrialized private land could have been used.
Since converting parkland to noisy commercial use is indefensible, Google Fiber strives to leave no digital fingerprints. After helping officials plan to counterbalance neighborhood opposition, no one from Google spoke at the June 21 Aldermen meeting on the Carrboro hub. Google Fiber does not communicate via the press.
They may rely upon surrogates to respond to this letter with distractions and obfuscations, as on June 21.
Email press@gmail.com to request a list of parks nominated by North Carolina towns to host hubs.
Your queries could preserve quiet parkland, especially in modest neighborhoods. If you get an answer, let me know!
Prof. Bob Proctor
