URBAN PLANNING

Urban Planning

Anytown USA learned from the City of Mesa, Arizona and their use of 3D GIS analysis to route their new light rail through the historic city. City planners in Mesa have used 3D visualization tools to understand the impact this construction will have on the city. With 3D GIS tools, city planners can take a look at what the city will look once a given project is completed. Anytown USA is using 3D planning to assist with the economic redevelopment of their city. Take a look at more examples on GIS and economic development here.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Emergency Response

Anytown USA knows that GIS has the power to transform emergency management. Anytown USA has been working to use GIS to help with identification of shelter locations, core public spaces, schools, libraries, key supplies needed for response in an emergency, and GIS to improve public safety. Take a look at some case studies that Anytown USA officials researched to implement GIS in disaster response and recovery situations. Learn more by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

FARMS

Farms

Outside the city limits, Anytown USA is highly rural. Farmers increasingly play a critical role for the local economy. Six years ago, local farmers worked with Great American's Crop Insurance Division and started to use mapping software to communicate more effectively with its agents, policyholders, and the USDA. Farmers can now use an iPad to access information and look at their policy and understand costs of coverage. Learn more here and by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

PORTS AND SHIPPING

Ports and Shipping

The Anytown USA Port Authority has dramatically improved their daily workflow through GIS adoption. Following the example of the San Diego Port Authority, Anytown centralized the maintenance and access to GIS data and CAD drawings to increase efficiency. Port staff members are able to answer valuable questions about operations, logistics, and workflow, with all the data housed in the same system. Streamlining the management of such valuable assets has significantly increased port functionality.

CAPITOL BUILDING

Capitol Building

Taking lessons learned from the City of Seattle, Anytown USA has set up their own open data venture. Recently, the City of Seattle, Washington, joined the Data.gov venture, cities.data.gov, along with three other cities throughout the United States. Seattle has shown how data can empower citizens to create a more dynamic and engaged citizenry. High value and authoritative data is essential to any GIS initiative; in order to encourage the development of web applications and other innovative online tools, cities need to provide a data platform for developers. Learn more by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship

Anytown USA knows that citizen engagement and input should be considered when making important decisions. They learned from the state of Utah that even complex decisions such as redistricting could be improved through public input. Utah utilized GIS technology to increase transparency and open up the redistricting process. Citizens were eager to contribute to the effort, submitting over 400 different plans for consideration. For meaningful citizen engagement, cities need to allow its residents to participate in substantial decision-making.

EDUCATION

Education

The students of Anytown USA are excited to take their education to the next level by incorporating GIS in their student research. The school district is taking a leaf out of the book of the Lubbock Independent School District in Texas, and adding a GIS/GPS course to their curriculum. Students in the Texas school used GIS technology to map the spread of the H1N1 Flu virus, collecting data, building their basemap, joined the map’s attribute table to their spreadsheet data, and used graduated colors to highlight the most affected areas.

AIRPORTS

Airports

All around the country airports are proactively addressing security concerns and Anytown USA is no exception. Adopting GIS in their airport has allowed Anytown to understand the vulnerabilities in their facilities, as well as pinpoint trends in past security breaches. For more examples of how GIS can benefit air transportation, check out Esri’s GIS Solutions for Airports and Aviation.

NATURAL DISASTERS

Natural Disasters

The recent fires in Colorado shows how GIS helps assist in mitigating affects and damage from wildfires that plagued Colorado during the summer of 2012. The fires in Colorado were some of the worst in the history of Colorado. With the combination of oppressive heat and drought, the risk and intensity of wildfires in the Southwest United States has grown. On June 27th alone, nearly 32,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes. Anytown USA took this natural disaster and used it as a case study to learn how to be ready during a crisis. Learn more by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

EMISSIONS

Emissions

The EPA developed a national emissions inventory, identifying emissions levels for airports such as Anytown USA Airport. Using data from over 600 airports across the country, the EPA disaggregated emissions data to provide an estimation of levels for each facility. The use of GIS data allowed for the spatial allocation of national level emission estimates to individual counties. This information may provide a path forward for effective emissions reduction programs.

SUPERMARKET

Supermarket

As the population has increased, Anytown USA built a great, inexpensive supermarket in an area that was quickly becoming a food desert. The USDA has developed their Food Desert Locator, using GIS technology, to help cities like Anytown track food deserts: areas that lack access to healthy, affordable food. It is an important tool to use in development and city planning to ensure residents have access to nutritious options.

FOOD SYSTEMS

Food Systems

In Anytown USA, citizens are concerned with making their food system – how food is grown, processed, sold and consumed – contribute to greater public health. That is why they looked to the Maryland Food System Map Project for ideas on how to track food supply chains. With Anytown’s easy access to local agriculture, there are great opportunities to improve local diets through more healthy options.

FIRE HYDRANTS

Fire Hydrants

During the winter, Anytown USA firefighters are constantly tasked with removing snow around fire hydrants. It’s no easy task, and drains precious time and resources from the department. To improve efficiency of snow removal and general maintenance, Anytown USA used GIS to develop a fire hydrant maintenance system in their city. This program was based on City of Euless, Texas. Although Texas does not have the snow challenge like Anytown USA, officials learned and modified the program to fit the needs for Anytown USA. Learn more by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

LIVABILITY

Livability

Who wants to drive to work if you can bike? In Anytown USA, it has become increasingly important to residents to know how livable their communities are, and this includes alternative transportation options. Modeled after the City of Boulder’s Go Bike Boulder, Anytown has developed a GIS enabled map for residents who want to find bike routes to get from point A to point B. Their program combines various datasets, allowing residents to see how much money they would save, how many calories they would burn, and how much carbon dioxide they would keep out of the atmosphere.

POTHOLES

Potholes

Any town, including Anytown USA, faces the never-ending nightmare of potholes. Partnering with the tech savvy city of Philadelphia, PA, Anytown will soon be launching its own app to track potholes in the city. Philidephia’s mobile app, Street Bump, collects data about the smoothness of your car ride and registers any “bumps” along the way. They are registered using a cell phone’s accelerometer, located using its GPS, and then mapped using GIS technology. Talk about a hole in one!

HOUSING PRICE INDEX

Housing Price Index

Housing prices have fallen in every major U.S. city, but Anytown USA fared better than most. Anytown has been able to compare itself to other major cities using the Federal Housing Finance Administration’s House Price Index, which compares peak times for housing prices with the period of April-June 2011. The resulting GIS enabled map shows the areas where the housing bubble was largest, based on where prices have dropped the most. For those moving to Anytown USA, they can rest assured knowing that housing prices are remaining nice and stable!

FLOOD PLAINS

Flood Plains

Like other cities with water front property, it is important to Anytown USA to understand flooding trends along the coastline. Annual flooding in Yellowstone National Park has destroyed homes, infrastructure, and other property. Responding proactively to the flooding, they tracked home construction along the river and mapped flood plains using GIS. Proactively tracking growth along the coastline will allow Anytown to limit development in risky areas.

ELECTRIC GRID

Electric Grid

Nowhere in the United States is quite like Texas – including Anytown USA. While they have their own electric grid, the rest of us all depend on the national electric systems that crisscross the country. The U.S. electric grid is a “complex network of independently owned and operated power plants and transmission lines” that can be difficult to visualize. NPR has mapped critical electric information to help planners understand newly proposed electric infrastructure projects.

OCEAN

Ocean

Like the rest of America, Anytown USA was thrilled when NASA landed the rover Curiosity on Mars. With the landing on Mars, there has been a huge boom in not only exploring deep space and the aerospace industry as an economic boom for Anytown USA, but also exploring some of Earth’s mysteries. Local schools and scientist have taken great interest in Esri’s Ocean GIS Initiative. As a community located on the ocean, the community is excited to learn more about its community and unlocking some of the mysteries of the Earth’s oceans.

BUILDING PERMITS

Building Permits

City officials in Anytown USA were challenged to think of a new and innovative way to track building permits and building inspections. Officials reached out to Alachua County, Florida to learn more about their GIS building permit tracker. The Permit Tracker consists of a suite of eight web based geospatial applications, which support the operations of the building permits and the building inspections. In real time, they integrate the field activities of the inspectors, the office activities of staff, and the Automatic Telephone Request system into a single geospatial web framework. Learn more by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS

Traffic Lights

Anytown USA was looking for innovative ways to cut costs for the city. Realizing that the traffic lights were an energy drain, officials decided to implement a LED Traffic Lights Project, based on success from the City of Philadelphia. Anytown USA used GIS technology to track and manage the project and replace incandescent light bulbs with energy saving LED bulbs. Learn more here and by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

BUS BIDDING

Bus Bidding

The New York City Department of Education created a web-based mapping system to better manage their transportation contract bidding process. With the rapid expansion of suburbs in Anytown USA, their Education Department followed their example to better allow potential bidders to see information about the school district, including school locations, service area boundaries, pricing tiers, and historical attendance data. The students of Anytown USA will soon be headed to school in style with their new buses.

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Civic Engagement

With a newly booming City Center, Anytown USA looked toward City Center Philadelphia to better manage their facilities. Philadelphia had realized that to serve the area better with the city’s current GIS, they needed a better view of buildings, railways, and surrounding areas, both on the inside and outside. Learn more about their pioneering approach to city planning here.

HOSPITAL

Hospital

To address the medical needs of all its residents, Anytown USA looked to California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development and their recently developed Healthcare Atlas. Mapping their healthcare information has allowed the state to better understand the California healthcare landscape. Most importantly, they have been able to identify shortage areas, where residents are lacking in medical services, including primary care. Similar to states across the nation, Anytown USA provides care to urban, suburban, and rural populations, necessitating strategic thinking for healthcare delivery.

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Police Department

Knowing that public safety is on of the main concerns of the citizens of Anytown USA, city officials contacted the Arlington Police Department in Texas. In Texas, public safety officials mapped building code violations along with the locations of residential break-ins to better anticipate new burglary hotspots. The resulting maps demonstrated a high correlation between dilapidated structures and break-ins, and buildings are now being designated “fragile- neighborhoods”, working with other government agencies to clean them up. Anytown USA is implementing a similar model in their city. Learn more by viewing the GovLoop Guide: Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government.

CRIME PREVENTION

Crime Prevention

Cities across the country, including Anytown USA, are adopting programs like the Crime Dashboard to help police do their jobs even better. The Crime Dashboard helps police officers better absorb the amounts of data collected by providing a quick snapshot of current activity in the area. The dashboard allows police to quickly make data driven decisions in their day-to-day activity.

ROAD FLOODING

Road Flooding

In Anytown USA, when it rains, it pours! Not knowing where roads have flooded can be dangerous for drivers, emergency responders and anyone else out on the roads. In Austin, TX, Code For America has developed ATXfloods to provide road-flooding information to residents who travel through low water crossings. This mapping tool is one of a number of innovations that local coders have developed to address issues in their communities.

MOBILE

Mobile

Local officials in Anytown USA know that mobile is a game changer for the community. Not only is mobile radically defining how citizens engage with government agencies, it is also changing how government collects data. There are countless examples of “citizen scientist” collecting and sharing data, one that inspired Anytown USA was work done to Kenya to collect data about elephants in remote locations. Sadly, the only elephants in Anytown, USA reside at the zoo, but officials understand that mobile and GIS has potential to transform they way they operate and interact with citizens. Learn more about the case study here.

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