Jamie
Part 3 in the Gigabit Whatcom series.
Theoretical frameworks only matter when they are put into practice on the ground. One of Gigabit Whatcom’s earliest community-led initiatives focused on the McGee Road Local Loop, an unserved rural pocket of Whatcom County.
Residents along the McGee Road corridor faced daily challenges with remote schoolwork, business communications, and telehealth. Their copper and wireless options were inadequate, and fiber was out of the question.
What we accomplished
- Neighborhood organizing: We conducted outreach, surveyed households, and mapped unserved addresses to document local demand. We also collected letters of support for building a local fiber loop.
- Grant proposal collaboration: We partnered with the Port of Bellingham and Whatcom PUD #1 to assemble a grant proposal targeting state and federal broadband funding programs, such as CERB and WSBO.
- Identifying high-need zones: The proposal narrowly missed final approval because state funding pools were tight, but the project did get the McGee Road corridor recognized as a high-need area on regional broadband priority maps.
The groundwork laid during the McGee Road campaign showed the power of community advocacy and paved the way for future public-private partnerships across the county.
Previous in the series: Creating Everyone, Everywhere Affordable Broadband Access: The Core Framework
Next in the series: Mapping the Divide: An Assessment of Broadband Access in Whatcom County
Beyond Fundamentalism