Bogus Gold

I'm on record as a fan of James Lileks' new gig as the Supreme-Poobah / Master of His Domain at Buzz.mn. However, despite my initial enthusiasm, I have discovered a fly - nay - a nasty-looking, angry horsefly in the ointment. Buzz.mn's idea of "community" apparently ends at the city limits of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Check out their "neighborhoods" tab at the top. This feature is apparently intended so you can find out about things right in your own local community. Provided you live in one of the following:

Minneapolis:
- Downtown
- Northside
- Northeast
- Southeast / Prospect Park
- South / Uptown / Southwest

Saint Paul:
- Downtown / Crocus Hill
- East side / West side
- Como / Midway / St. Anthony Park
- Highland / Merriam / Mac-Groveland

Are these really the only communities Buzz.mn was able to locate? After all, according to the Metropolitan Council:

The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is a thriving community of 2.7 million people. A strong, diversified economy and a high quality of life attract people to the region and keep them here.

The metropolitan area is made up of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties and includes all or part of 188 cities and townships.

2.7 million people. 188 cities and townships. And Buzz.mn was able to locate only 2 cities comprising only part of 2 counties with a combined population of only 669,769 (Minneapolis - pop. 382,618, Saint Paul - pop. 287,151).

And lest we think this was an accidental slight, let's check out this from the "About Buzz.mn" page:

Soon, buzz.mn will move into a few test suburbs. Burnsville, Lakeville and Shakopee will be the first we'll work with, most likely in February.

This was written in fall of 2006. Still no Burnsville, Lakeville or Shakopee to date. Let alone Friendly Fridley.

No, it can only be assumed that Buzz.mn intends on treating us suburban metro dwellers not unlike the British Parliament treated American Colonists and we know how that turned out. That's right, they eventually teamed up to kick the snot out of the French and Indians. Not sure that lesson will apply here, but it's something to think about.

In the meantime I think suburban dwellers should remain skeptical about this Buzz.mn endeavor until they toss us a frickin' bone. Down to snooty urbanists, their microscopic yards, their convenient mass transportation options, and their exclusionist community web sites!