SeeClickFix for iPhone helps communities help themselves
One of the oft-unsung but quite awesome things about living in New York City is our urban help line, NYC 311. Whether it's a leaky hydrant or a burnt-out streetlamp, a missing manhole cover or a mixed-up parking sign: there's only one number to call for any non-emergency question, and they will track down the information you need. I'm pretty sure that the only time I've stumped the 311 team was when I called to ask who could help evict the family of stray cats that had set up housekeeping in our backyard-the verdict was that I had to trap the whole colony before they could come and collect the furry trespassers.A centralized helpline and problem reporting infrastructure is great for megaburgs like New York, but what kind of resources are smaller communities turning to when they need to know what's broken? One website is trying to leverage the power of citizen self-organization to help cities keep things working: SeeClickFix. Founded in New Haven and inspired by fixmystreet.com, the site allows participants to report issues and concerns, define 'watch areas' where they can be notified of problems, and generally help their towns help themselves.
The SCF team has just released version 1.0 of the site's iPhone app [iTunes link], which allows participants to report issues right from their phones, complete with geotag to provide the map location of the problem. Version 1.2, in the works, will let iPhone users vote on problems and close them out without going to the website.
How have you used your iPhone or your Mac to do something positive for your community today?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tuscanidream said 2:24PM on 8-14-2009
This would be worthless in Rhode Island. There are way too many pot holes. About one every ten feet on some roads. It's rediculous over here.
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Jason said 2:36PM on 8-14-2009
Leave the cats alone, dude. That's messed up.
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vinz said 2:54PM on 8-14-2009
Fck ur dumb anti-graf app...
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eli said 3:26PM on 8-14-2009
Even better is the fact that they misspelled Graffiti.
Not to mention the fact that it looks like it was designed by a 2nd grader.
fatback said 5:19PM on 8-14-2009
why are you so upset? vandalism is your only contribution to society?
you didn't do enough writing on walls as a baby?
Patrick said 2:55PM on 8-14-2009
You can provide info on problems all day long where I live, but it won't make any difference in getting them fixed. It takes 7 - 10 days before they will repair a gushing, broken water main.
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PSM said 3:37PM on 8-14-2009
I'm too lazy to call 311, but if I had an app for that, I would use it. See a broken streetlight on my street, take out iPhone, open 311 app. Tap "current location", enter description "broken streetlight." Send. That would be cool.
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Liberty For ALL! said 3:48PM on 8-14-2009
Rock on! Awesome app idea! Now, question is, do the submissions get routed to the correct public agency/department, and is there a formal ticket tracking system with the government?! I doubt it... Still, this should help, but there needs to be a direct government link-up to be effective...
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SteveMinne said 5:16PM on 8-14-2009
Minneapolis 311 monitors SeeClickFix. So instead of phone calls, we prefer SEEING who else is reporting issues on SeeClickFix. Plus, the visual nature of the tool may motivate officials to take action more quickly than seeing a phone call log from 311.
Cedar Ave United (http://www.cedaraveunited.org) is REALLY amped about SeeClickFix.
SteveMinne said 4:44PM on 8-14-2009
I'm the webmaster for Cedar Ave United in Minneapolis. Read about our safety issues and see our SeeClickFix implementation @ http://www.cedaraveunited.org
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