Why is Google Fiber going to “those” cities and not ours?

Why not New York City, Philly, Boston, Pittsburgh, New Haven, Baltimore, or Hartford?  And, for that matter, why not Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, or Detroit?   In these Northeast and Midwest cities, the populations and population densities are much greater than those chosen to go first by Google.  Add in that, in many of these “mature” cities, the median income and percentage of the population with at least a college degree are also higher, we should see Google Fiber trucks in our neighborhoods soon.    But, let’s not hold our collective breathes.  For Google, as it should be, it comes down to a whole host of supply and demand considerations.  There must be a sufficient number of potential buyers with the willingness and ability to pay the monthly service price, a price that has to exceed the costs to construct and manage the network on an on-going basis.  And, what factors can influence those costs?  In addition to raw materials, labor, capital, there are real and man-made barriers to enter and compete, including many things influenced by the municipality (access to rights-of-way, fees, and how many competitors there are in each market).   I have a feeling it will be a very long time before we see Google Fiber up North.  (Note: In many of these GF cities, the incumbents are Time Warner or Comcast and AT&T.   Verizon is not a competitor in any of the markets.) 

Google Cities (actual and planned)	Pop (2010) 000	B.S. degree +	% Home ownership Rate	Median Income $000	Pop/sq. mile	Land area (sq. miles)
Kansas City	459.8	31.3	56.3	45.3	1,459.9	314.95
Austin	790.4	45.6	45.0	53.9	2,653.2	297.9
Provo	112.5	39.6	42.3	39.7	2,699.3	41.67
Salt Lake City	186.4	41.2	49.5	45.9	1,678.0	111.11
San Jose	945.9	37.4	58.0	81.8	5,358.7	176.53
Portland	583.8	43.8	53.4	52.7	4,375.2	133.43
Phoenix	1445	26.3	55.5	47.1	2,797.8	516.7
Nashville	601.2	35.3	54.2	46.7	1,265.4	475.13
San Antonio	1327	24.6	55.7	45.7	2,879.8	460.9
Raleigh-Durham	403.9	47.5	53.6	54.4	2,826.3	142.9
Charlotte	731.4	39.8	56.3	52.4	2,457.1	297.68
Atlanta	420	46.8	45.4	46.6	3,154.3	133.15
Average	667.3	38.3	52.1	51.0	2,800.4	258.5

Source: census.gov