Civic apps built with open data
Open City is a group of volunteers that create web apps with open data to improve transparency, efficiency, and decision-making for governments and our democracy.
Projects
All of our projects are open source and free to use under the MIT license. Want to bring one of these apps to your city, municipality or organization? Get in touch at info@opencityapps.org.
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Chicago Public School Tiers
- GitHub repository
- In Chicago, a student's chance of getting into the city's top, selective schools depends on where he or she lives. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) places every part of the city into one of four socio-economic "tiers" and requires selective schools to reserve the same number of spots for the students from each tier. This tool helps you find what CPS tier your are in.
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Clear Streets
- GitHub repository
- On January 3rd 2012, the City of Chicago launched Plow Tracker , an app that tracks the city's snow plows in real time. This app uses the same data. By knowing where the plows are, we've figured out which streets have been plowed. Featured in Google's Fusion Tables Example Gallery.
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Chicago Lobbyists
- GitHub repository | Chicago Lobbyists blog
- ChicagoLobbyists.org is an open data, open government, and open source project intended to improve the transparency of interactions between the City of Chicago and lobbyists and their clients.
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Vacant and Abandoned Building Finder
- GitHub repository
- ChicagoBuildings.org is a tool for finding vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago. The data comes from reports made to the City of Chicago's 311 reporting service and is updated regularly.
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Look at Cook
- GitHub repository
- Look at Cook is an easy-to-understand budget visualization for Cook County IL, which tracks government budgets and expenditures from 1993-2011 broken down by year and department. Developed in collaboration with Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey. Featured in Google's Fusion Tables Example Gallery.
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Metra Schedules
- GitHub repository
- Created to visualize Metra's proposed 2012 service cuts due to high operating costs and shows how much of an impact the changes would have on riders' schedules. How the final result came about was a mixture of curiosity and fun with a pinch of obsession.
Events
Open Government Hack Night
Every Thursday from 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Open City hosts a weekly opengov hack night every week. The goal is to have a recurring time and place to work, collaborate and learn with others on projects using open data. Come join a the group of passionate open government members!
1871
222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 12th Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
RSVP and details
Press
- Changing The Code: Government Data And Digital Entrepreneurship (video)
- Cook County | April 25, 2012
- App Helps Figure Odds for Chicago's Elite High School Seats
- Education Week | March 23, 2012
- Educating Chicago
- By Ben Sheldon on Code for America Blog | March 15, 2012
- Chicago Public School Tiers: New app to help CPS applicants
- Chicago Tonight (WTTW) | March 9, 2012
- New Web App Makes It Easier For CPS Students To Get Into The Schools They Want
- Chicagoist | March 8, 2012
- Shovel Ready
- By John Tolva on Ascent Stage | February 21, 2012
- Chicago Data Apps Panel Discussion (video)
- Chicago Tonight (WTTW) | January 31, 2012
- Civic startup Open City makes Chicago more transparent
- By Marisa Paulson on Medill Reports | January 26, 2012
- San Francisco's Plan: Open Government, Open Data, Open Doors to New Business and Better Services
- By Sarah Lai Stirland on Tech President | January 24 2012
- What streets have been plowed, and when? Check the Web
- By Naomi Nix on The Chicago Tribune | January 21, 2012
- New plow tracker-style website hits the web in time for today’s snow storm
- By Steven Vance on Grid Chicago | January 20, 2012
- Open data in Chicago: progress and direction
- By John Tolva on Ascent Stage | January 1, 2012
- New Web Project Simplifies City's Open Lobbying Data
- By Chuck Sudo on Chicagost | December 7, 2011
- Can the Internet help disrupt the power of Chicago Lobbyists through transparency?
- By Alex Howard on govfresh | December 7, 2011
- Chicagobuildings.org maps vacant and abandoned buildings using open government data
- By Alex Howard on govfresh | October 12 2011
- Beautiful budgets? Look at Cook
- By Luke Fretwell on govfresh | September 12 2011
- Look at Cook sets a high bar for open government data visualizations
- By Alex Howard on O'Reilly Radar | September 7 2011
- Mayor Emanuel Announces New Lobbyist Data that Provides Clear Connection From Employers to Lobbyists to City Hall
- By Mayor's Press office, City of Chicago | August 30th 2011
People
Founders
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Paul BakerPaul, a former typographer, has been designing websites since 1995. He has presented extensively on topics such as design research, usability, and social networking. He is a jazz musician and gigs frequently around Chicago.
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Derek EderDerek is a Chicago web developer interested in open government, transit, maps, web design, and usability. He is an event organizer for the OpenGov Chicago Meetup group.
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Chad PryChad is experienced in mentoring, conversation, programming, open data, and the love of food.
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Nick RougeuxNick's a designer who's passionate about finding new ways to explore data but knows just enough from his programming days to still be dangerous.
