Plano, Texas Uses Mobile Tools to Manage Water Restrictions

Mobile technology is changing the way people communicate and engage with their community.  As a result, cities, one by one, are starting to capitalize on this new trend by developing mobile apps and tools to meet the demands and interests of their savvy constituents.  One city in-particular is experiencing this transformation first hand.

The City of Plano, Texas has been revolutionizing the way its community works together to resolve city-related concerns via it's Fix It Plano app. The city enlisted the help of PublicStuff to develop a mobile app and service request system in July, 2011 and branded the system Fix It Plano. The app allows residents to report and submit city-related requests in real time from anywhere. Requests, normally centered on maintenance issues, are sent directly to the correct city department to be resolved. Since launching Fix It Plano in July 2011, the city has closed out more than 1,489 service requests. But what's truly fascinating is that half of those requests focused on water-related issues.

Why? Well when Fix It Plano was first introduced, like many other North Texas cities, Plano was under outdoor watering restrictions. A water supply issue related to an invasive species of Zebra Mussels in the cities main water supply, was compounding its drought issues after a dry, hot summer, that extended into the fall. In October, water concerns heightened as the city prepared to move into enhanced Stage 3 Water Restrictions on Nov. 1, taking residents from once- a-week watering to once-every-other-week watering. From the beginning of these heightened restrictions, residents were eager to continue their participation in water conservation efforts. City phones were buzzing with reports of wasteful watering practices and unscheduled watering. It became obvious as restrictions tightened; Fix It Plano could divert this barrage of additional calls into a more unified system. On Oct. 12, a City press release announced watering violations could now be reported via Fix It Plano. In the 19 days that followed 71 water violations were reported.

Nancy Nevil, Plano’s director of sustainability and environmental services said, “Our residents are very technologically savvy and Fix It Plano was a tool that empowered them to be involved in the solution of saving as much water as possible. More important than violations, they reported water leaks, broken sprinklers and other water-related issues that required repair.”

As weather forecasters predict another grueling Texas summer, Fix It Plano will continue to support water conservation efforts in Plano. The Fix It Plano app is free to download and accessible via the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Blackberry and Android applications. Citizens may also submit services via telephone, through SMS text, and directly through the City’s website. To access any of the Fix It portals, please click on the links below.

Online Portal

iPhone App

Android App

Blackberry App

Open Data Is On The Rise

With the influx of technology and subsequent data, more and more cities are leaning towards opening all that data to the public. The City of Chicago opened its data in 2011 to further engage with citizens on a more even level. As a result, the outcome for Chicago has been extremely positive. Chicago Mayor Emmanuel even stated that the open data policy has added a new sense of passion and enthusiasm among city staff and the community. 

On the heels of cities like Chicago, New York City has now decided to join the ranks of the open data movement.  On February 29th, 2012 the City Council approved legislation that effectively mandates their departments to publicly publish their data online. Over the next 6 years, the city will be phasing all of their agencies to add information to the city's OpenData site. The site is meant to be easily accessible by the public with the ability to download the information. The goal is to increase transparency, knowledge and community engagement between the city and its residents.
The open data movement shows no signs of slowing down and here at PublicStuff, we're here to help! Our system helps to store and organize massive amounts of data into a streamlined, organized suite. The addition of our recent ESRI integration, helps to further enhance the amount of data your city has access to. If you want to hear more about how you can access even more data with ESRI, or if you have questions regarding the data we're able to collect and how it can best work for your needs, feel free to contact us at team@publicstuff.com.   

New York City's OpenData Site

Our Future Prosperity Hinges On The Health Of Our Cities

By: Morena Vattuone

As just another regular person trying to find a way to make ends meet, I’m often disillusioned by what seems like diluted policy “solutions” that really won’t be effective in solving any of our problems. More and more, I’m starting to realize that to wait for government to solve 100% of our problems, is to agree to wait, well, forever. And perhaps the whole notion of government solving everything on its own, is, well, a bit unfair.

The bottom-line is that we have to get involved. It’s not a matter of pulling ourselves up by our proverbial bootstraps, it’s more a matter of coordinating with our neighbors, schools, friends, and family to create a network of people that are looking out for the personal and collective interest—hmmmmm, some may actually call it, the community interest.

Last year the President said to the nation’s mayors at their annual conference, “We need to promote strong cities as the backbone of regional growth….we also need to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution…strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America…”

And on February 19, 2009, Obama signed an executive order establishing the Office of Urban Affairs. This demonstrated that the current administration recognizes cities and metropolitan areas as dynamic engines for our economy.

For the first time in history, the majority of the world’s population lives in cities. By the middle of this century, this figure will likely grow by 37 percent. In the United States, 83 percent of people and 85 percent of jobs are located in the nation’s 363 metro areas. Beyond the numbers, the overwhelming majority of the nation’s assets — airports, hospitals, universities, financial institutions, infrastructure, manufacturing plants — are concentrated in metropolitan regions and generate almost 90 percent of the nation’s economic production.

The President recognizes that the true experts of how to plan for the future prosperity of our cities and metro areas are the people in communities who have figured out how to rebuild neighborhoods, build businesses, educate their kids, make their communities safe, clean up the environment, or come up with the latest technological or scientific innovation, in spite of government.

The President says that “Washington can’t solve all our problems…change in this country comes not from the top-down, but from the bottom up.” President Obama believes that government should serve to support American ingenuity and creativity.

I don’t want this to be a list of Obama quotes. What I do want is for us to acknowledge that although government plays a crucial role in the health of our cities, the onus equally falls on us to do some of the heavy-lifting as well, to help us move past the current economic and social hardships.

Washington certainly can be a partner and catalyst for community-based solutions, instead of a bureaucratic obstacle. Our cities and neighborhoods are places of opportunity, we just need to partner with our local leaders, and one another, to make the changes we want to see.