Why did topeka change to google

Maybe he feels like he'll lose business to Kansas City, which, by , is expected to have Google-installed internet connections that are times faster than the national average. Asked whether he planned to go to Kansas City -- which, by his estimation, is only a minute drive away "if you break a couple of laws" -- to try out the new high-speed internet connection, Bunten said "I doubt it.

Bunten is a self-described technophobe who says he uses the internet to read his e-mail -- and that's about it. He still prefers the telephone. He never assumed Topeka's name-changing stunt would win the project. And plenty of other mayors flailed unsuccessfully for Google's attention , too.

A mayor in Florida swam with sharks. But hey, it's anyone's guess. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. This isn't the first time Topeka has switched its name to mark a cultural trend.

In , former mayor Joan Wagnon temporarily changed the name of the city to "ToPikachu, Kansas," in reference to the Pikachu anime character, from the show and game called "Pokemon," which was popular at the time, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Bunten, the current mayor, was quick to attribute that bizarre "ToPikachu" happening to another local administration. Hold on, maybe I can get this sorted out. Just a minute," he said, turning to an assistant for details. On its face, changing the name of a city to "Google" may seem like a silly publicity stunt, but Bunten says there is a serious side to the idea.

Faster Internet connections might just be Topeka's ticket to a hipper future. He's the first to say outsiders probably view Topeka as "another Midwestern town with not a lot going on," but he's been making efforts to change that. He trying to revitalize downtown with a bar and music scene. He was quick to point out that, while Topeka is in northeastern Kansas and is geographically part of the Great Plains, the city is green and has hills and even lakes.

It's not flat like the Kansas stereotype, he said. Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We've been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. We didn't reach this decision lightly; after all, we had a fair amount of brand equity tied up in our old name. But the more we surfed around the former Topeka's municipal website, the more kinship we felt with this fine city at the edge of the Great Plains.