Apparently Google’s promise to bring ultra-fast broadband to select communities has small towns in a tizzy.

I was pleasantly surprised to see neighboring Durham, North Carolina step up to the plate:

After Google put out an RFI, or request for information, on the company’s blog on Feb. 10, about 50 people gathered at the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce last week to form groups helping the city of Durham gather information for an application.

The possibility of getting Google Fiber in Durham has also generated much enthusiasm online. A Facebook group has been formed with nearly 700 fans, and a Web site has been created at www.hifiberdurham.com, where people can submit ideas on how they would use the ultra-high speed network.

Oh Durham, you’re going to have to try harder.

Apparently the people of Topeka, Kansas, want Google broadband so bad, they are willing to change the city’s name to Google, Kansa–albeit not officially:

Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten signed a proclamation Monday calling for Topeka to be known for the month of March as “Google, Kansas — the capital city of fiber optics.” Bunten told city council members about the proclamation prior to a special meeting of the council held at noon at City Hall to hear the first reading of a proposal that wasn’t linked to local efforts to convince Google to make Topeka a test site for an ultrafast Internet connection.

That’s going all in!

However, this is not the first time that Topeka has changed its name. Back in 1998 the city changed its name to “ToPikachu” in recognition of the launch of Pokemon/Pikachu franchise.

Rumors are that if the Google thing doesn’t work out for them, residents can look forward to the city being renamed Tapioca Pudding, Kansas. It won’t bring them free broadband, but they’ll have pudding, so won’t care!

(via)