(Portland, OR)  --  Officials at Google say Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Tigard, and Hillsboro are among 34 U.S. cities being considered for initial access to the ultra-high-speed Google Fiber broadband network.  Mayor Charlie Hales says Portland's "culture of creativity and coalition-building" makes the city the ideal candidate for Google Fiber.  Google Fiber general manager Kevin Lo says the company will work closely with mayors to determine what's needed to build a brand new fiber-optic network capable of ultra-high-speed delivery.  Lo says Google will provide a progress report by the end of the year.