Gainesville has a couple of unique advantages that would significantly cut down on the time to deploy aspect of such an ambitious project:

Jumpstart Deployment by 6-12 Months

Gainesville's city-owned electric utility company, GRU, has already deployed over 320 miles of "backbone" fiber to all sections of Gainesville and adjacent urban areas. By piggybacking on GRU fiber, Google could cut 6-12 months off deployment, meaning we could get to the showcase phase faster. Of course Google could, at its option, always go back and deploy its own fiber backbone.

Weather for Deploying Year-Round

Being in the south, our weather allows year-round deployment of fiber. And yes, Florida does have hurricanes. But we're far inland, half way between east and west coasts. Hurricanes rarely come inland, and when they do they rapidly lose energy, meaning we just get a day or two of heavy rain.

THE BOTTOM LINE: By selecting Gainesville, Google could enter the showcase phase faster than in any other city.