Pittsburgh Opens Up More With Neighborhood Data Tool

The city launches transparency-minded app. 

City facilities mapped using Burgh's Eye view (Credit: Burgh's Eye View)

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Pittsburgh residents will now have greater insight into public records around crime, code violations, noise complaints and more, thanks to new open data portal Burgh’s Eye View, Trib Live reports. The app allows viewers to see arrests, police blotter entries, city facilities and other factors, including the gamut of 311 requests, mapped onto where they occurred in the city.

“Burgh’s Eye View brings that transparency directly to the citizens of Pittsburgh, and more importantly transforms the experience of open government — by making it truly accessible to everyone,” Mayor Bill Peduto said.

The app and website were built by the city’s Department of Innovation and Performance’s Analytics and Strategy team, and fed by information shared each night with the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center. Much of the public information was previously accessibly only through filing a right-to-know request.

Laura Meixell, the city’s analytics and strategy manager, said the city will increase the amount and variety of data fed into the map over time. “Burgh’s Eye View is built on the city’s solid open data foundation,” she said. “I’m proud of our team’s ongoing work with residents and community groups to gauge how publicly available information can be of best use, and respond to neighborhood needs.”

Users can filter by neighborhood, council district and other geographic measures, as well as by time frame.

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Jen Kinney is a freelance writer and documentary photographer. Her work has also appeared in Philadelphia Magazine, High Country News online, and the Anchorage Press. She is currently a student of radio production at the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies. See her work at jakinney.com.

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Tags: big dataappsopen govpittsburgh

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