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12 Days of iPhone Apps – Day 8: CitySourced

On the 8th Day of iPhone Apps,
MyTechOpinion blogged to you…
Take civic responsibility….
Use CitySourced to report graffiti!

About CitySourced:

I was talking with Dan Mirsky recently about our favorite and “just plain cool” iPhone apps. He directed my attention to a new local app for the city of San Jose that I immediately thought was pretty handy! It’s called CitySourced and it’s available for free to all San Jose residents. The city paid $4500 for the app’s development. With it, city constituents and residents can report graffiti, abandoned vehicles and other neighborhood blight to the proper city departments.

San Jose City officials hosted a “download day”  to teach constituents how to use the app when patrolling their neighborhoods in search of potholes, broken streetlights, and other city maintenance issues. Anyone in the Bay Area can use the app to report issues which are sent via email. But city workers have a special portal which routes complaints to the specific city department.

This type of app is the first of its kind in the Bay Area. Any interested city looking to do the same can visit CitySourced online to learn more and inquire about the development process.

Why we like CitySourced:

With so many foreclosures and vacancies popping up in neighborhoods across the country, crime and suspicious acts like squatting have also risen. Additionally, most of us care a great deal about the our neighborhood’s appeal, and would like to help improve or at least maintain our market value. And as a real estate agent, you also have vested interest in the local markets you work in. This type of app gives power to the people “in your neighborhood”!

I know that when I go to the park with my kids and find gum in the drinking fountains or a broken sprinkler wasting water…I would like to do something about it! And now I can, by taking a picture and reporting the issue directly via the CitySourced iPhone app!

Cost: FREE

A quick video intro about CitySourced:

About NikNik

Nicole Nicolay "@nik_nik" is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Agent Evolution, and author of "WordPress for Real Estate: From Static to Standout". Her passion is educating real estate professionals on how to generate business by integrating both new and traditional channels of marketing. She is also co-founder and editor of MyTechOpinion.com, where she's been blogging about real estate technology since 2005. Nicole was named one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate for 2010, Top 10 Most Fearless Women Online & in Social Media for 2011, and 2012's Top 30 Women in Social Media in the world.