It’s time to say thanks to the dedicated public servants that helped our Fellows navigate City Hall and champion our mission. And to the Cities that opened their doors, their minds, and their databases to the 2012 Fellows.
What do you say to a city that opens its doors to you and takes you in as their own? Whose residents ask you every time you’re in town, “when are you moving here?”
We say, thank you!
Philadelphia is a city of contradictions. A sleeping giant still sloughing off rust-belt reputations; its vibrant arts and culture, friendly people, and cutting-edge government make it a tempting place to live, even for San Franciscans.
From our first day on Team Philadelphia, we had it a bit easier than the rest of the fellows. As the only city to participate in the fellowship for two years in a row, our Philadelphia city contacts Jeff Friedman and Desiree Peterkin-Bell were already Code for America veterans, legendary for their warmth, humor, and uncanny ability to connect innovators across the city. Partway through the year, Story Bellows joined as Jeff’s partner in crime in the newly formed Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics.
The openness and enthusiasm we found in City Hall continued across the city: we spoke, hacked, or collaborated with individuals from SEPTA to the Water Department, the City Planning Commission to the Police Department, P’unk Ave to Comcast Interactive Media. New friends at Seed Philly, Indy Hall, AppRennaissance, and the Storefront for Urban Innovation offered us space to host events that connected Philadelphians to each other.
We spent the year doing our best to transform the needs we heard into tools to make the city more open, connected, and participatory. Our work ranged from larger projects like Neighborhow and Textizen to smaller, targeted ones like Apps for SEPTA. We held a record-breaking civic hackathon complete with a surprise visit from Mayor Michael Nutter, and helped encourage the April adoption of an open data policy for the city. We wish we’d had time for even more, but this year is just one piece of a larger movement with Philadelphia leading the way.
And the fun isn’t quite over for us yet.
- Textizen, as a newly-formed civic startup, will continue to bring citizen feedback into the digital age via SMS. Know someone, in Philly or beyond, who might find it empowering or useful? Drop us a line.
- Neighborhow will continue to provide a collaborative space for Philadelphia residents to exchange their civic know-how. Add your ideas.
- Last and most important, the civic hacking will continue with the Philadelphia Code for America Brigade now up and running under the fearless leadership of Chris Alfano and Lloyd Emmelle. Join up!
Keep in touch!
With love,
Code for America Team Philly 2012:
Alex Yule, Liz Hunt, and Michelle Lee
Questions? Comments? Hit us up @codeforamerica.
