Melissa Lafsky asks if citizen initiative facilities like '311' and 'fixmystreet' should be expanded into an "operating system" for cities.
In order to reduce the distance between citizen and bureaucracy, Lafsky proposes a web friendly system "that closes the loop between the "eyes on the street," the problems they spot, and the authorities charged with responding to them."
The program would likely take the form of an "issue-tracking board [that] would provide citizens with a variety of congenial ways to initiate trouble tickets, whether they're most comfortable using the phone, a mobile application or website, or a text message. It would display currently open cases, and gather resolved tickets in a permanent archive or resource," explains Adam Greenfield.
FULL STORY: Should Cities be Run Like Software?
Is 'Hacking' a Planning Commission a Good Idea?
Does giving short shrift to grassroots tradition cut against the dynamics of community-based decision-making?
More Passenger Rail Coming to Montana
Planning is underway to restore a 45-year-defunct regional passenger rail line connecting southern Montana to Billings and Amtrak’s east-west Empire Builder line from Seattle to Chicago.
Elevating the ‘Small Stuff’ in Urban Design
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2024: The Year in Zoning
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NACTO Releases Updated Urban Bikeway Guide
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Research Affirms Safety of ‘Idaho Stop’
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Altadena’s Resilience: Restoring a Fire-Ravaged Community
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Chicago Transit Leaders Call for $1.5B Funding Package
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After the Fires: Challenges and Efforts to Heal LA’s Parks and Trails
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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.
Placer County
Skagit Transit
Berkeley County
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland