You may have noticed the new tab at the top of Streetsblog and StreetFilms with a link to NYCstreets. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's worth a look. NYCstreets is a place where people interested in improving New York City's streets and public spaces can find online tools, resources and, most importantly -- other people -- to help get organized and make change happen.
NYCstreets is part social network, part directory of local Livable Streets initiatives and part project management tool box for civic groups. It is the latest example of the open source community-building tools being developed by Streetsblog's non-profit, parent organization, The Open Planning Project.
Here is what you can do on NYCstreets:
- Join an existing Livable Streets project: There are already a bunch of Livable Streets initiatives up and running. Find one in your neighborhood or area of interest, join up and get involved.
- Create a new project: Write up a description of a project that you would like to get done in your own neighborhood and use NYCstreets tools -- wiki pages, blogs, mailing lists, and a collaborative to-do list -- to organize your campaign.
- Sign up and create a profile: Simply join New York City's growing community of LivableStreets advocates by creating an a profile on NYCstreets. In 2008 we'll be launching a redesign of Streetsblog and StreetFilms that will integrate NYCstreets member profiles. When you leave a comment on Streetsblog, for example, it will link back to your NYCstreets profile and the various projects you're involved in.
More on the way: We're busy adding new features to NYCstreets, and will be rolling them out steadily over the coming months. One feature to look out for is our forthcoming NYCstreets Map. Do you need a wider sidewalk, traffic-calming device, improved bike lane or have an idea for how Brooklyn's entire bus network should be re-routed? You'll be able to pin your concept to the NYCstreets Map and get the conversation started.
We need your help: NYCstreets is still in development. To make these tools as useful and powerful as possible, we need intrepid Livable Streets advocates to jump in and begin using them. Your help and your feedback is absolutely essential. We look forward to seeing you on NYCstreets and hope to hear from you.
