I’m a fan of Aaron Brown on the Iron Range. He’s a guest blogger on Minnesota Public Radio this week. He talks about what it’s like to be a blogger in Hibbing and how close the area is to being a great place for tech types to live.

There are appear to be two problems. First, broadband is not fast, nor ubiquitous, enough to attract big broadband users from other places. So folks who want to live in Hibbing but commute online to another location are not able to count on that happening. Second, the current residents are not big broadband users. Aaron points out that while the elderly users are one thing – he’s also running into resistance from younger potential users…

A more concerning trend, however, isn’t the slow acceptance of online connectedness by the older generation, but the general lack of Internet fluency by the whole population. Even some of my younger students at the community college lack an email account or a strong understanding of how to use search engines. At my relatively Internet-friendly age of 31, my online contact with most of my high school friends takes place through their wives’ Facebook accounts because they don’t want their own.

I think the keyword here is potential. Hibbing has the potential to be a draw – it’s beautiful up there, there is plenty to do, especially if you like the outdoors, housing is more affordable than the Cities, schools are good – but broadband is a core requirement for many, not an elective.