Portland's iPhone application
- Robby Russell says... Check out this link
- 6 Feb 2010
2 comments Last comment by Jude
City of Portland Citizen Reports
The City of Portland has released a free iPhone application that allows people to report problems with any of the city infrastructures. This means that if you’re walking down the street and notice a pot hole, graffiti, knocked over trees, street signs, etc… you can stop, take a photo, and report it right there.
Look forward to hearing how well this works out for the city. Would be interested in knowing if they’ll be opening up the data collected as well.
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Jude said on Sunday, February 07 at 05:11 AM
Will this app really improve city services in Portland? Probably not.
City budget cuts that have protected public safety at the expense of other services have left most city bureaus struggling to keep up with public expectations. At the same time, distracted leadership from Mayor Sam Adams has failed to come up with the cash needed to renew the city’s aging infrastructure even as pols pursue new projects that serve as monuments to their egos.
The Bicycle Master Plan under consideration at the moment could become yet another case in point. We need a vision and a plan, but how likely is it that we’ll come up with the money to make it happen on our own? If the Obama Administration gets its way, discretionary, non-defense spending, including transportation, will be frozen for at least the next three years leaving us little alternative unless we put other priorities aside.
What do we do in the meantime? Building Columbia River Crossing seems like a far higher priority than getting more people on bikes, at least from the perspective of growing our economy and putting people back to work. But the mayor has become so involved in the details that that project now appears hopelessly mired in disputes that revolve around items that amount to little more than window dressing.
Even the city’s trademark effort to extend the streetcar system to the eastside of the Willamette River owes more to the efforts of our Congressional delegation, especially Rep. Peter DeFazio who chairs the House surface transportation subcommittee, than the efforts of our esteemed mayor.
An iPhone application that makes it easier to bring issues to the mayor’s or others’ attention at City Hall will not do Portland much good unless we improve the capacity of city government to deliver these services. With all the iPhones walking around Portland, maybe it would be a better idea to charge for this app so we can offset at least some of the costs it will impose on our already over-extended City services?
Jude said on Sunday, February 07 at 05:12 AM
Will this app really improve city services in Portland? Probably not.
City budget cuts that have protected public safety at the expense of other services have left most city bureaus struggling to keep up with public expectations. At the same time, distracted leadership from Mayor Sam Adams has failed to come up with the cash needed to renew the city’s aging infrastructure even as pols pursue new projects that serve as monuments to their egos.
The Bicycle Master Plan under consideration at the moment could become yet another case in point. We need a vision and a plan, but how likely is it that we’ll come up with the money to make it happen on our own? If the Obama Administration gets its way, discretionary, non-defense spending, including transportation, will be frozen for at least the next three years leaving us little alternative unless we put other priorities aside.
What do we do in the meantime? Building Columbia River Crossing seems like a far higher priority than getting more people on bikes, at least from the perspective of growing our economy and putting people back to work. But the mayor has become so involved in the details that that project now appears hopelessly mired in disputes that revolve around items that amount to little more than window dressing.
Even the city’s trademark effort to extend the streetcar system to the eastside of the Willamette River owes more to the efforts of our Congressional delegation, especially Rep. Peter DeFazio who chairs the House surface transportation subcommittee, than the efforts of our esteemed mayor.
An iPhone application that makes it easier to bring issues to the mayor’s or others’ attention at City Hall will not do Portland much good unless we improve the capacity of city government to deliver these services. With all the iPhones walking around Portland, maybe it would be a better idea to charge for this app so we can offset at least some of the costs it will impose on our already over-extended City services?
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