As you’ve probably heard in the national press, cities across the country are pulling out all the stops to get Google’s attention in the company’s search for communities interested in participating in “Google Fiber“.

Thus far, the most successful way to get noticed has been to temporarily change the name of your city to “Google”.  Topeka, Kansas was the first to roll-out this eye-rolling, but eye-catching idea.  And Sarasota just renamed its “City Island”, “Google Island“.  Here’s a piece of Sarasota’s strategy…

A proclamation creating Google Island may be a little nutty, but the overall attempt to include Sarasota in the network is deadly serious. The Ringling College of Art and Design coupled with Sarasota’s eclectic collection of well-heeled snowbirds are key assets to the proposal, layered on top of a budding Net-oriented entrepreneurial sector that includes Inc. 500 growth leader IntegraClick and other vibrant technology companies.

But while a Google-renaming will get the attention of the press, what will ultimately sway Google?

Decatur has said it is looking into submitting an Request-For-Information form to Google on the project, but we’ve yet to hear the city’s decision.

If it does, the city has some tough competition, as evidenced by this unofficial list compiled on zettaphile.  Additionally, Google’s RFI states they’re looking to “offer the service to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people”.  Will Google entertain a small Georgia city of just 18,000?

And if that wasn’t enough, after the jump, read an excerpt of PC World’s David Coursey’s argument AGAINST jumping on the Fiber bandwagon.

Sure, Topeka may be willing to rename itself Google, Kansas, for a month to get the company’s attention and maybe even the broadband installation. But what happens at the end of what Google describes as an experiment? And for how long is Google willing to promise to operate and invest in the system?

Is Topeka, or any other city that nominates itself and is “lucky” enough to win Google’s approval, ready to operate the network itself–and probably at a big loss–should Google retreat back to the Googleplex?

I would not want to be the mayor or councilman in a town that has grown accustomed to 1Gbps Internet connections when Google’s money truck heads for the highway. How do you gracefully tell people that their new connection speed will suddenly be closer to 5Mbps?