The Map My Neighborhood embedded map helps us go out to neighborhoods with something that they can immediately use. We always do a lot of preparation work for public meetings; PolicyMap narrows the time frame, allows us to share information easily, and encourages people to engage with it on their own terms after our meetings for practical needs like better grant applications. PolicyMap has empowered us to be more proactive to find out what people actually want instead of being reactive by simply fulfilling what they say they want. Peer Chacko, Chief Planning Officer and Director, City of Dallas
See how PolicyMap can help your organization.

Challenge

The City of Dallas’s Department of Planning and Urban Design found they were frequently reacting to repetitive requests for data and maps, and they needed a proactive solution, both across city government departments and to better serve public requests for information.

Solution

Working with PolicyMap, the City of Dallas developed an internal, cross-departmental mapping resource as well as their own Map My Neighborhood tool on their website, where they collected PolicyMap and city datasets into one public-facing resource. City departments that previously didn’t have mapping capability could now kickstart projects requiring substantial data in a short timeframe using PolicyMap, particularly in meetings with public participation. And community members could have instant access to important data about their neighborhoods including the city’s real estate Market Value Analysis (MVA) conducted by Reinvestment Fund. This empowers them to be more self-sufficient and informed. Using the big datasets of PolicyMap with the previously locked-away local City of Dallas data like building permits, the City strengthens the capacity of community groups, and it builds trust.