Content about Texas

In the last year, three very different cities – Philadelphia; El Paso, Texas; and Norfolk, Virginia – launched significant efforts to “reform and reframe the built environment.”  According to the National League of Cities, the unifying factor connecting the three cities’ efforts is their aggressive drive to include residents as citizen planners.

Recently, I posted an article on the Living Labs Global blog, Report on Mobility, which prompted someone to comment on the distinction between open data and actual information.  Raw data are valuable, but the information synthesized from the data is golden.  My experiences this summer continue to highlight the need not only for better data, but also for better information.

Many municipalities across the country have been exploring recent Gov2.0 tools, including “ideation” platforms, in hopes of finding ways to help combat common issues of towns losing money, property revenues declining and jobs going away.  Such ideation platforms like Ideascale  and Spigit, create a place for citizens or employees to submit, rank, and follow up on ideas that can save money and improve services.

SNAPPatx is an exciting pilot project of the Texas Citizen Fund: Social Networking and Planning Project (SNAPP) is the heart of the organization; atx, also known as Austin, Texas is the focus of their work. As their name would imply, SNAPPatx relies heavily on social media and networking.