The Disposable City: Preserve LA

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Falling Behind

T-mobile. SBC. The laughingly named FreedomLink. Et cetera.

Downtown Santa Monica is a jumble of paid wi-fi opportunities, most of them requiring expensive daily or monthly fees.

Philadelphia. Minneapolis. Culver City, for pete's sake. Cities all over the country are installing wireless as a matter of equity and to support their business communities.

Even if the political bosses of the Smug Little City by the Sea can't find the coffee money it would take to link up all of the tiny 3-mile x 3-mile expanse, no doubt someone among the army of consultants housed and fed by the town has explained the benefits of installing free universal wireless downtown and in the Main Street and Montana business districts.

It appears that, when it comes to wireless access, Santa Monica is leaving it to others to "Shape the Future."