Google Fiber lures startups to Kansas City Suffice it to say Demarais is convinced his little Web-based startup could revolutionize manufacturing, customize products such as clothing to each consumer's likes and make assembly lines as we know them obsolete. Across this region, civic and government leaders, development groups, colleges, foundations and task forces are rolling out grand plans to capitalize on the first-in-the-nation Google Fiber hype. Online startups with names that pop - FormZapper, EyeVerify, SquareOffs, Leap2 and LocalRuckus - are clustering in the Hanover Heights area, creating what's called the KC Startup Village. Wiring aging districtAs white Google Fiber vans crawl down residential roads to hook up houses, an aging district once dominated by antique shops, salons, bars and boutiques is becoming a humble nativity for Kansas City's fledgling entrepreneurial class. "The challenge is in tying all of these possibilities into a coherent story line - one that says Kansas City is serious about next-generation technology," said Aaron Deacon, selected by the Mid-America Regional Council to direct a push called KC Digital Drive. The fiberhoodIn the fiberhood, a Google-defined district of potential customers for the search giant's Internet connections, Ben Barreth is trying his best to make it happen. Barreth, a local Web developer, drew cash from his IRA and took out a mortgage on a $48,000 house for budding entrepreneurs, including Demarais, to live in rent-free for three months.