Unleash Your Inner Geek: Getting a handle on tech for planning Chris Dominguez George Osner, AICP Twitter: @gosner Jennifer Lilley, AICP Omar Masry, AICP [email protected]Planning Aide Principal Founder/CEO Associate Planner City of Laguna Hills George Osner Urban Planning Lilley Planning Group lilleyplanning.com City of Irvine
Technology Tools for City Planners ( Urban Planning )
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Unleash Your Inner Geek: Getting a handle on tech for planning
If your agency has a page on sustainability tout that instead....
Code For America
Code For America
Textizen
Allows for public feedback via text at public forums and over a time period as part of a
outreach effort
Currently free for cities to use
Textizen
Come up with your survey question(s)
Textizen
Advertise your question on City website, utility bills, posters at bus stops, laundromats, senior
centers, gathering spots, etc...
Textizen
Allows for public feedback via text at public forums and over a time period as part of an outreach effort
Currently free for cities to use (Monrovia has used it)
Local Data (Code For America)
A smarter way to create tools to gather and organize data
Local Data (Code For America)
Create a custom
template to gather data
Data can be entered online; using smartphone or printed forms
Local Data (Code For America)
Project Founders are Eager to help cities
Can be well suited for surveys that are social or physical survey based (e.g. historic resources,
cultural amenities, resident concerns)
Printed Form option well suited for folks such as volunteers who don’t
use tech
Will generally require some IT support
Code For America
Other Notable Apps
A guide created in part with City of Honolulu to guide city staff on social media (Facebook/Twitter, etc.
A fun placemaking tool that uses images from your city (as long as they are featured on Google Street View) to imagine
new amenities
A concept project with the City of Santa Cruz to make it easier for small business to find and apply for permits
A fun placemaking tool that uses images from your city (as long as they are featured on Google Street View) to imagine
new amenities
A tool to solicit citizen feedback by text message
A tool to improve resident disaster preparation. Designed in collaboration with the City of Austin and Texas Forest Service
An app created for the City of Philadelphia to help residents find and appreciate murals
A tool to publicize the various non-profits & other resources in a collaborative public directory
Check out the tools. Contact the project manager to find out about availability, and if any grants or foundations may be
interested in partnering with your city.
Quick BasicsStop Squinting: Hold down “CTRL” and then tap “+” key to increase the size of text & images when using web browser or viewing MS Office Documents/Spreadsheets (use CTRL and “-” to shrink)
Powerpoint Tip
Print out a cheat sheet to have handy when presenting to Planning Commission or similar
Powerpoint Tip
When you need to go back to an earlier slide just look at your sheet for the item number, enter slide number on computer keypad and hit enter
(instead of flipping through pages or screens and distracting audience)
Powerpoint Tip
Go to View > Slide Master > Choose Print Screen key on keyboard > Use Edit and Paste options to place screen image into blank slide and print it as
a handy reference
Create Smarter Documents
Enhance PDFs for manuals and documents by:
Running OCR
“Optical Character Recognition”(makes documents keyword searchable using
CTRL + F key)
Requires Professional Version of Adobe Acrobat or other PDF programs
Create Smarter Documents
Enhance PDFs for manuals and documents by:
Adding bookmarks to
jump to sections in longer documents
Create Smarter Documents
Enhance PDFs for manuals and documents by:
Adding relevant website links
Create Smarter Documents
Enhance PDFs for manuals and documents by:
Adding practice tips and other information
which can be set to show up when PDF is viewed on
screen but not on printed document
QR CodesQR = Quick Response
Enhanced Barcode
Allows smartphone users to point at code and pull up
information by automatically loading website (text or project
maps)
QR Codes
Primarily used for conveying links to websites with information
To get started simply search: “Create QR
Codes,” choose a service, copy in the website link then generate a QR Code you can copy into flyers
Phone will recognize the QR Code then pull up the
website link
QR Codes
Can be added to printed agendas so that
audience in public hearings can easily
retrieve staff reports for specific items on
agenda (le$$ printing)
QR Codes
Can be added to stakes placed at project site or on posted public notices to direct public to project websites with detailed graphics/simulations or used to create a
project tour
Challenge: Requires smartphone
Can’t generally be used from long distance (screen in council chambers or behind a
fence at project site)
MindMixer
Text
Custom Collaboration
Forum
Used by City of Burbank for General Plan
Update
MindMixer
Includes tools to reward interaction
Other cities have used it for participatory budgeting
MindMixerHigh degree of
interaction; breadth of
comments and wider range of participants
Consider Brown Act when staff or electeds/
commissioners comment
Competitors include IdeaScale, Crowdbrite, MetroQuest, Neighborland
Website OrganizationConsider organizing your Community Development website to be user-
based (instead of more like a department organization chart)
Concept
Ask your secretarial staff where on the website that they often find themselves directing residents to by phone. Ensure those pages can be easily found.
More on Social MediaSocial media are a powerful tool to connect with others with related interests. The trick is finding your tribe (folks with similar interests and useful expertise) and having them find you.
These are all related and interact:
• Twitter• LinkedIn• RSS• Blogs• Facebook• Email
A network with breadth and depth is highly advantageous, but balance this by making sure it is high quality. The larger the network, the higher the volume of information, the greater the danger of overload and the more the need for filtering mechanisms.
• Trendwatching• Queries/crowdsourcing• Contacts and the potential for social interaction and work• Opportunities for guest blogging and other exposure
Credit: George Osner, AICP
Easy Census InformationEasier to navigate
Free of charge
Shape Files allow for easier use by GIS
Provides current and historic census information
More on Social MediaThoughts on using Twitter with a professional focus:
• Stay focused. Select a topic or cluster and stick to it• Interject personal interest occasionally/infrequently• Connect and watch for opportunities• Retweet, thank others, use #FF• Give credit/attribution using via, h/t or just including a screenname• Follow semi-promiscuously, screen the trolls—really look at the follow requests. Expand your area of interest—lots of peripherally-
related expertise is useful.• Tweet content. Sources: your twitter feed, RSS/blogs, email lists, LinkedIn groups, forums• I follow the format/principle of link + comment• Use a tweeting tool like Tweetdeck or HootSuite. Among other things, these tools include an automatic url shortener, and will let
you manage posts to multiple social sites including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others
LinkedIn
• Stay professional. Your LinkedIn profile is an online resume which will (hopefully) be seen by colleagues and employers• LinkedIn Groups are a good source of connection and information• Screen requests for links, link with people you know or have a professional connection to, screen trolls/complete
unknowns/”problems”.
Using RSS
• Why: Lots of the best breaking information comes from blogs• The trick is finding the relevant material and not getting buried in the irrelevant• A good RSS reader like Google Reader will let you identify the blogs you want to check and will present a headline and a snippet
for your review. A quick scan of headlines can prune your stream substantially
Other sites
• Facebook (friend lists)• Google+ (circles)• Cyburbia (forums, evolved from the bbs concept)• Posterous—make your own pages, sites, blogs