Amherst, Greenville, McMinnville, Nanaimo (British Columbia), Nashville, Jamestown, and Washington, D.C. should now be available for viewing within Google Earth’s "3D Buildings" layer.  Some of the models seem to have colors and textures; others are full of building-shaped gray blocks.

 Google Shows DC In 3D

Regardless, though, Google’s expecting to see all sorts of good things happen as a result.  "Local governments can now better engage the public with land-use planning and redevelopment while fostering economic development," the company stated.  Also, "Enabling virtual tourism can also boost travel to these areas, as tourists can now appreciate what the cities have to offer and can easily preview their destination."

That may be a little overoptimistic, but so long as we don’t have a complete "Corner Gas" repeat, it’s hard to see the harm.  (Summary/spoiler: Hank, one of the show’s more eccentric characters, attempted to model a town using Lego blocks, and after running out of supplies, burned down a shed to make reality match his replica.)  Google Earth users always enjoy getting new sights to see.

As for the future, odds seem to favor that at least a few of the next cities to be shown in 3D will be located in Europe.

 City In 3D

"The Cities in 3D Program provides local governments, community groups, and educational institutions with tools and information for uploading their data to Google Earth," explained Ed Parsons on the LatLong Blog.

And this results in the models that should be of interest to both area residents and would-be tourists.  Think, if you will, of everyone’s interest in the 3D version of Disney World that was unveiled last week.

Here’s one other thing about Cities in 3D: it sidesteps the privacy issue that seems to be slowing Google Street View in Europe.  Camera cars have been snapping pictures overseas for quite some time, but nothing’s been made available yet; if Google sees releasing real-life images as a problem, this is a next-best solution.

Anyway, there’s no further word regarding specific participants or when we can expect to see more European models arrive.

 Google Cities 3D Page

On the Google LatLong Blog, Bruce Polderman announced the launch of the Google Cities in 3D Program.  "Prior to today, local governments could publish 3D building models to Google Earth via the Google 3D Warehouse," he noted.  "This new program expands on that approach and provides a more direct and efficient means of publishing larger datasets to Google Earth."

All right, then.  On to why officials should spend time doing so.  "A 3D model of a city is extremely useful to potential visitors, developers, investors, preservationists, property owners, businesses, public officials, and many other groups," according to Polderman.  "By establishing a 3D representation of a city on Google Earth, local governments can more effectively engage the public and boost tourism by enabling prospective visitors to plan their visit in advance."

Or not.  In regards to that last reason: if our history books (and family photo albums) are correct, people occasionally visited other places before Google Earth ever came into existence.  And even in the modern world, lots of things get accomplished without it.

We’ll forgive Google this appeal to the ultra-practical, though.  With any luck, the company’s goals will get accomplished, and we’ll gain realistic models of various cities.