My Athens

Urban Sketchers

Urban Sketchers is a blog and Flickr file-sharing group devoted to promoting the practice of drawing what you see in cities and then sharing those drawings.

Contributors are asked to follow a few fairly elastic rules including:

• Draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what you see from direct observation
• Be truthful to the scenes you witness
• Share your drawings online

The blog features lots of great sketches, and links to hundreds of urban-related online drawing groups from all over the world. Don't neglect to check out the Urban Sketchers Flickr group. It's a lot of fun to browse through. Doesn't look like Athens has its own group--yet.

Sidewalk Felicities, and a Suggestion for the ABH

Not sure that this blog can take credit, but two instances of what I highlighted as "sidewalk infelicities" have been improved.

The Northwest and Southwest corners at Prince Ave. and Barber St.--a location with lots of foot traffic--are now much more pedestrian friendly.  Take a look at these before and after shots:

Exhibit 1: Northwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Before:

After:

Exhibit 2: Southwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Before:

After:

Nice work. But, as I said, I'm not sure that any spotlighting by this blog did anything to spur the work. Athens-Clarke Co. does have a Sidewalk Improvement Program in place, and these corners may have been slated for work under that program or another one long before I took note of them here.

For citizens like me the before-and-after shots have proven to be a very satisfying way to report a problem and then to see that something actually got done. (In this case, I can at least pretend that I had an impact--even though it might have been a coincidence.) I  imagine that public servants might feel a similar satisfaction in being able to be so visibly responsive and effective.

In an earlier post, I suggested that Athens-Clarke Co. government set up its own version of SeeClickFix to allow citizens to publicly report city infrastructure problems like crumbling sidewalks or uncollected trash and to have the county's response to those reports publicly tracked.

Suggestion for the Athens Banner-Herald

Now, I think it might be a good idea if the Athens Banner-Herald hosted and bird-dogged such a site as part of its on-line package.  According to this New York Times article, there's a local daily in Connecticut that's using SeeClickFix to boost its internet traffic and interactivity with readers. (The article includes a link to the newspaper's online site and the SeeClickFix page it maintains there. And, FYI, there's already a nascent SeeClickFix page for Athens--it  just needs some high-profile care and attention.)

It seems like a similar effort here in Athens could produce lots of benefits: citizens might feel a little more empowered; public servants might feel a little more useful and loved; the Athens Banner-Herald might get a positive jolt from the new social media, and the city's infrastructure might improve.

Noticings

Noticings describes itself as "the game of noticing the world around you."

You play Noticings by uploading to Flickr geo-tagged photos of interesting things (not including people or other very transient things) you've noticed when you're out and about.

You get points for spotting the first instance of something in a neighborhood or by a sustained noticing of some particular spot or thing over time.

You can find rules of the game, how-to instructions and lots of photos of odd things here.

As of this writing, no one in Athens, Georgia was playing Noticings.

Via Digital Urban.

Image credit: Screen shot of Noticings banner.

Apps for Athens Policymakers

“What apps would you find useful as an Athens-Clarke Co. policymaker?”

That’s the question I emailed a couple weeks ago to all county commissioners and a few other county-level policymakers. I let people know that I was welcoming serious as well as fanciful suggestions.

After I emailed the question, I found out—according to one insider’s estimate—just five of the eleven commissioners use iPhones or similar devices.  Still, I  got a couple responses

Here is what I got. The asterisked ones are the ideas of ACC policymakers. The rest are mine. If you’ve got a suggestion for an app that would be useful to local policymakers, email me.

CrystalBall*
How’s this new development going to pan out? Use your iPhone to gauge the true motivations of developers, predict future economic downturns and tell you who will be sitting on the commission ten years hence when the development is actually built.

ThisWorks
Looking for a workable solution fast? Want to look smart? With your iPhone, you can be an innovative policy wonk in any setting. ThisWorks is a portal to a constantly updated database of innovative local programs and policies—all of which have been performance evaluated and have won national policy awards.

TellMeWhy--Again
Tell me once more why I sought public office? Why exactly are you putting up with so much crap from the media, from your constituents, from your fellow elected officials, from your own family? Your iPhone will remind you with a customizable audio pep talk composed of only the most heartfelt and authentic reasons for public service.

Zowner**
Who owns this rat-infested apartment building?  Isn’t this block zoned for single-family homes? Tapping into the Tax Assessor’s database, your iPhone will answer your parcel zoning and ownership questions as they occur to you. (Zone + owner = zowner, get it?)

SeeIt *
Unless you’re an experienced architect, you can’t tell what a building will look like from site plans and elevations. Let your iPhone build a photo-realistic 3-D model so you can actually see it.

NumberCruncher
Imagine having constant access to the budget director. Now, quickly answer your budgetary questions with your iPhone. See revenue estimates, tally expenditures, model tax changes and more.

CodeStat**
Find the full text of every provision in the municipal code and in state statutes even if you’re nowhere near a desktop. This app turns your iPhone into a blazingly fast handheld legislative database.

Carvillizer
Have a tough campaign decision to make? With this app, your iPhone becomes a personal James Carville—a foulmouthed but effective campaign manager. You’ll get battletested advice about campaign tactics packaged in expletive-laced, down-home similes.

WhoDoesWhat**
Handle constituent requests for help on the spot. Use your iPhone to identify the right government employee to contact—and get the process started with an email, phone call or instant message right then and there.

SitRep
You’ll feel like you’re in a command center as you use your iPhone to access geo-tagged realtime information about local traffic and weather conditions and police, fire and other emergency service responses.

FrameIt
Aren’t you supposed to represent me? Why don’t you just cut taxes? How come you can’t snap your fingers and make X, Y or Z happen?  Use your iPhone to refresh your memory about the best ways to respond to questions like these and more. You select ideological framework and set the answer complexity scale.

FlakJacket
When you can’t avoid taking flak, use your iPhone to steel yourself by listening in advance to searing criticism and unfair mockery. Pick from a gallery of critics and set the level of derision you want to get ready for. There’s everything from whining egghead to snarky blogger to barking Bible-thumper.

EgoPuff
Say something stupid to a reporter? Did a constituent yell at you? Use your iPhone to cheer up by watching an easy-to-create inspirational video about you. Include happy things: favorite photos, uplifting quotes, your margin of victory, reminders of famous political comebacks. Choose an upbeat soundtrack.

Programmer
Tell constituents on the spot if they’re likely to qualify for help from a whole range of local, state and federal programs—everything from Earned Income Tax Credits to Unemployment Compensation to Homestead Exemptions. This app turns your iPhone into one-stop eligibility determination bureaucrat.

Speechify
Just add a few details and select from a menu of occasion/audience types, and let your iPhone generate a speech script for you. It’ll be a good speech, too: humorous, sprinkled with current pop-culture references, full of poll-tested sound bites and memorable turns-of-phrase. Adjustable scroll speeds.

WhisperingAide
Never lack something personal and flattering to say to any constituent or potential campaign donor you meet. Pretend you’re just ending a phone call and whisper in a name, and your iPhone will whisper back personal details…husband’s name, names of kids, proximity to birthday, volunteer activities, job, contribution level, etc.

--- --- ---
* Commissioner Alice Kinman suggested these. She played on the more fantastic side of things because—in part—the real-world work of local policymakers is “so complicated that it’s hard to think in terms of the type of information you can get from an iPhone app.”

**Commissioner Kelly Girtz suggested these, but noted: “I think I was the very last of my friends to move up to the cell phone from smoke signals. The iPhone or equivalent is still way over the horizon.”

Robert Goodspeed writes about—in a nonfictional way—the intersection of local government and new social media/technologies. Read this and this.

[Correction: As originally published, this post incorrectly attributed Commissioner Kinman's app suggestions to Commissioner Girtz, and vice versa. Sorry! This has been corrected.]

Image by Dan Lorentz

 

Kickstarting Athens

Could something like Kickstarter work on a local-scale and be expanded to include civic projects?

Kickstarter is a Web site that offers artists, inventors, designers, writers, filmmakers and other creative sorts a platform to pitch a project and attract pledges from anyone in the world who is impressed and wants to help out by contributing money.

This doesn't sound particularly novel until you hear about the catch--a catch that enlivens this online giving model.

The people who use the Kickstarter to seek funding for their project can only collect the money that other people pledge to them if their project reaches or exceeds its funding goal before time expires. (Funding goals and deadlines are set by the project creators themselves.)

The goals and deadlines give focus and lend intensity to the effort--which, in most cases, is good for both creators and givers.  And, for creators, the goals and deadlines also make it possible to test the waters without having to commit to working on an underfunded project or returning money. For givers, they improve odds that contributions won't be wasted.

Anyway, as I said, I wonder if something like Kickstarter could work locally and include civic projects. Projects like creating custom-built benches for a neighborhood pocket park...or writing a guidebook based on local history walking tours...or installing plumbing for a community garden...

Thanks to CEOs For Cities.

Your Idea Won’t Stop the Free Fall of the Press

“The Free Press in Free Fall” is the title of the current exhibition at ATHICA, a contemporary art gallery here in Athens, Ga.

The checklist reprinted below does a nice job of summarizing the myriad difficulties facing any proposal to stop the free fall of journalism.

I’m not really sure of the provenance of this checklist, but I found it here. 

The "Your Idea Won't Work" Checklist

"Your post advocates a

( ) technical ( ) legislative ( ) market-based ( ) crowd-sourced

approach to saving journalism. Your idea will not work. Here is why it won't work. (One or more of the following may apply to your particular idea, and it may have other flaws owing to the avariciousness of modern publishers.)

( ) It does not provide an income stream to the working journalist

( ) Nobody will spend eight hours sitting in a dull council meeting to do it

( ) No one will be able to find the guy

( ) It is defenseless against copy-and-paste

( ) It tries to prop up a fundamentally broken business model

( ) Users of the web will not put up with it

( ) Print readers will not put up with it

( ) Good journalists will not put up with it

( ) Requires too much cooperation from unwilling sources

( ) Requires immediate total cooperation from everybody at once

( ) Many publishers cannot afford to lose what little business they have left

( ) Anyone could anonymously destroy anyone else's career or business

( ) Even papers run by trusts and charities are already going bankrupt

Specifically, your plan fails to account for...

( ) Readers' unwillingness to pay for just news

( ) The existence and popularity of the BBC

( ) Unavoidable availability of free alternatives

( ) Sources' proven unwillingness to "go direct"

( ) The difficulty of investigative journalism

( ) The massive tedium of investigative journalism

( ) The high cost of investigative journalism

( ) Unpopularity of weird new taxes

( ) Editorial departments small enough to be profitable are too small to do real reporting

( ) Legal liability of "citizen journalism"

( ) The training required to be even an rubbish journalist

( ) What readers want, in the main, is celebrity and football

( ) The necessity of the editing process

( ) Americans' huge distrust of professional journalism

( ) Reluctance of governments and corporations to be held to account by two guys with a blog

( ) Inability of two guys with a blog to demand anything

( ) How easy it is for subjects to manipulate two guys with no income

( ) Rupert Murdoch

( ) The inextricably local nature of much newsgathering

( ) The dependence of all other forms of news media on print reporting

( ) The dependence of national press on local press reporting

( ) Technically illiterate politicians

( ) The tragedy of the commons

( ) The classified-driven business model of much print publishing

( ) The tiny amounts of money to be made from online ads for small sites

..and the following philosophical objections may also apply: 

( ) Ideas similar to yours are easy to come up with, yet none have ever been shown practical

( ) That the US press dropped the ball on Iraq is a symptom, not a cause

( ) Print advertising pays so well because advertisers *can't* work out the return they're getting

( ) Information does not want to be free

( ) Society depends on journalists producing news that few readers are actually all that interested in, quite honestly

( ) That your friend was misquoted once in a paper does not mean journalism is bunk

( ) Everybody reading the same story is a feature, not a bug

( ) Having a free online "printing press" doesn't turn you into a journalist any more than your laser printer did

( ) Wall Street won't allow newspaper groups to back off from 20% profit margins

( ) Newspaper executives are second only to record industry executives for short-sighted idiocy

( ) E-paper still doesn't give publishers back their ad monopoly and hence its revenue

( ) You can't charge for online content unless all your competitors do it too, all at once

( ) Ethics are hard to hold up when your bills are due

( ) Citizen journalists are almost as good as citizen dentists

( ) "Gatekeepers" can help keep out undesirable things

( ) Publishing less often makes you even less relevant

( ) Feel-good measures do nothing to solve the problem

( ) Free society depends upon a free press

( ) Democracy is bad enough with the press we've already got

( ) You think print is bad? Imagine Fox News, as a blog. That's what your idea will turn into.

( ) Reader-generated content is to professional news what YouTube is to big-studio movies

( ) Have you read the comments on news websites? They make YouTubers look like geniuses. 

Furthermore, this is what I think about you: 

( ) Sorry dude, but I don't think it would work

( ) This is a stupid idea, and you're a stupid person for suggesting it

( ) Nice try, assh0le! I'm going to find out where you live and burn your house down! "

Image credit: A screenshot from A Graphic History of Newspaper Circulation Over the Last Two Decades, a post published at The AWL.

Update: SeeClickFix for Athens

Locations of SeeClickFix reports for Athens, Ga.

In Tuesday's post I suggested that Athens-Clarke Co. government create a SeeClickFix- or FixMyStreet-style Web site to allow citizens to publicly report city infrastructure problems like crumbling sidewalks or uncollected trash and to have the county's response to those reports publicly tracked.

I still think it's a good idea to have the county government promote and staff such a site because I think such government-side involvement and commitment is crucial to the effectiveness and sustainability of this kind of project.

But as Ben Berkowitz from SeeClickFix has pointed out to me (see comments to Tuesday's post) it's ridiculously easy for anyone to set-up a SeeClickFix site. In fact, Ben's gone ahead and created a page for Athens using two examples from Monday's post about sidewalk infelicities.

The reports on the page are automatically forwarded to Mayor Heidi Davison's official county email account. I'm not sure her account is the best destination for the reports, but that's the way the page is set up right now.

A Local “SeeClickFix” for Athens?

I wonder if a local version of a Web site like SeeClickFix or FixMyStreet would work here in Athens?

Both sites allow citizens to use digital and Web technologies—like uploading digital photos and linking them to maps—to report non-emergency problems like potholes, cracked sidewalks or uncollected trash.

Such sites can be set-up to direct the citizen reports to the appropriate local government department for follow-up, and the follow-up itself can be publicly tracked and updated.

A Web site like this could do two really positive things simultaneously: 1) it would give citizens an easy, public way to report problems or suggest improvements; and 2), it would give local government a visible way to demonstrate both its responsiveness to citizens and its daily efforts to keep local infrastructure in good repair.

Image credit: Sceenshot of SeeClickFix, LLC’s Web site logo.