Why build your own? There are several free web applications out there that help cities interface with their citizens. Christian Madera picks the best.
Madera talks about well-known tools like Google Maps and Twitter, but also many lesser-known ones like WuFoo and BatchGeo.
He writes, "Tools like Todaysmeet make it easy to set up a feed that can be displayed on a projector, and offer the ability to save a transcript of all tweets over a period of time with a specific hashtag included. This transcript could then be analyzed for key ideas that came out of the meeting. (This could be as easy as running it through a word cloud tool such Wordle). Also during a meeting, web tools like PollEverywhere and TextTheMob let audience members respond to poll questions by simply sending a SMS message or Tweet from their cellphone, and provide instant results."
FULL STORY: Free Web 2.0 Apps For Cities
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Opinion: Transit Agencies Must View Service Cuts as Last Resort
Reducing service could cripple transit systems by pushing more riders to consider car ownership, making future recovery even less certain.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service