The "Best of" roll continues with Emily Badger's list of the most useful tools, maps and data visualizations to make use of municipal open data over the past year.
As recent writings on Planetizen have noted, the emerging methods of urban governance, planning, design, and management made possible by technological advances in data collection, analysis, and communication promise to make our cities better, and more efficient, places to live. As more cities take advantage of the opportunities made possible by Big Data, a wider range of possibilities for the instrumentalization of such data become evident. Over the past year, for instance, a group of Code for America fellows unveiled a new web application to help identify and clean up New Orleans's blighted properties, and San Francisco’s Department of Public Health published a High-Injury Corridors map, an indispensable tool in identifying the city's most dangerous streets for pedestrians.
From green roofs in Chicago to dangerous dogs in Austin, Badger examines eight other significant open data releases from 2012.
FULL STORY: The Best Open Data Releases of 2012
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
Podcast: Addressing the Root Causes of Transit Violence
Deploying transit police is a short-term fix. How can transit agencies build sustainable safety efforts?
Minneapolis as a Model for Housing Affordability
Through a combination of policies, the city has managed to limit the severity of the nationwide housing crisis.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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