Since it launched in New Haven one year ago, SeeClickFix has taken the nation by storm: It has spread to high-profile news sites in major cities and recently earned a $25,000 award for social media inventions and a perch at The New York Times.
SeeClickFix is a free web tool that lets people report non-emergency problems to those responsible for fixing them, all through a public, interactive map.
The service was created in March 2008 by New Haven’s Ben Berkowitz (pictured), Jeff Blasius, and Kam and Miles Lasater as a way to create accountability for neighborhood issues like potholes and drug-dealing.
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After initial success in New Haven, the idea has been catching on like wildfire. Last week, SeeClickFix launched as a permanent feature on the Philly.com web site. In February, it debuted on a new hyperlocal news site created by the New York Times. The tool also landed a spot on Boston.com and WPXI.com in Pittsburgh earlier this year.
Berkowitz came up with the idea while sitting at one of New Haven’s downtown coffee shops, where he can often be spotted working on projects for his web design business. In a recent conversation at Br≈´, he reflected on the SeeClickFix’s rise to fame.
At the time of the interview, Berkowitz had just returned from a trip to Miami, Florida, where the SeeClickFix founders faced off against 300 competitors from over 40 countries for the We Media Pitch It Awards. We Media gives out two awards, one non-profit and one for-profit, for the best model for innovation in media and journalism.
SeeClickFix earned the top prize in the for-profit category, scoring a $25,000 grant. Berkowitz said the money will allow him to devote more of his time to running and developing the site.
Based on a GoogleMaps platform, SeeClickFix is available for free to communities across the world, wherever English is spoken. Users open a “ticket” to file a complaint then visit the site to check back to track their and others’ reports.
On top of the free mapping tool, SeeClickFix sells professional services. City governments can pay to have the tool integrated with their 311 systems; other groups, such as the Town Green Special Services District, pay for a “dashboard” that lets them see a systemic overview of a watch area.
New Haven: “A Shining Star”
SeeClickFix.com now has over 2,000 users nationwide, said Berkowitz. The project’s success comes thanks to the way it was embraced by the New Haven community, he said.
To be effective, the tool relies on commitment from a community of “watchers,” public officials, activists and institutions who take responsibility for maintaining the public space. When someone opens a ticket to document a problem, a report is sent out to relevant watchers based on location and keywords. There are now 454 watchers in New Haven, according to Berkowitz.
“The community has built this system of people who click and people who fix,” he said.
New Haven’s watchers include city officials who routinely use the site to clean up graffiti and fix potholes.
During a recent school recess, the city’s police department used the site to carry out “Operation ClickFix.” From Feb. 16 to 20, school resource officers were reassigned to the city’s traffic unit to target motor-vehicle violations reported through SeeClickFix.
Operation ClickFix resulted in 38 spotted infractions, 15 written warnings, nine parking violations, and two vehicles towed, according to a city statement posted on Berkowitz’s blog.
After complaints about its shuttles speeding down residential streets, Yale University recently set up a watch area to track those complaints. Given the precise time and location of a speeding shuttle, the university can identify the driver and address the problem, Berkowitz said.
The Regional Water Authority has used the site to address leaking or tipped-over fire hydrants. After this Independent story about graffiti on its V-rad boxes, AT&T started using SeeClickFix to clean up the tags.
A single report may be tackled by several watchers. For example, when someone reported a broken bench in East Rock Park, staff from the city parks department and the Friends of East Rock Park came together to fix the problem, Berkowitz said.
The site “is creating tremendous accountability, transparency and civic participation,” Berkowitz argued. “It’s opening people’s eyes to taking responsibility for the public space.”
“New Haven is the shining star example of where it all started,” he added. “We know that this can work in every town and city.”