We've been getting great feedback from users which has been great. As you use the site, we appreciate hearing from you on your thoughts. We've gotten suggestions on new features including being able to open issues from your cell phone. Sometimes we also hear about "bugs" or issues with the software not working as expected. Although many of the reported issues have been resolved, there may always be some outstanding. Since SeeClickFix is very much about identifying issues in the physical world, it seems like a good idea to share our list of issues with the website. Is that too meta for you? It's about transparency.

Read the list of issues we're working on. Send us your ideas, please.

If you live in New Haven (like me), you may have seen the local press article on SeeClickFix. It was exciting to see continued recognition of our efforts (thanks for all the help!). It was a positive article and captured a lot of the functionality of the website. I hope it will attract moreSeeClick'ers.

I want to underline a couple of points from the article:

• SeeClickFix is meant to provide everyone with tools to collaborate and improve things together - not to create an adversarial relationship.
• We are piloting in New Haven, CT and Buffalo, NY. We do have users in other towns and will continue to spread the word. Ultimately, our vision is to reach out nationally and beyond.
• In any given town there are so many people responsible for fixing things that it is hard for the average citizen to keep track. Is the city or the state responsible for this street? Does the electric company or the city handle this street light? Who fixes this drain? SeeClickFix helps you sort through this mess by sorting tickets to the right place.
  

And as the Mayor of New Haven says "SeeClickFix is the result of people taking ownership of what goes on around them. That's a good thing...we don't have to own it or to duplicate it, we just need to pay attention to it."

What did you think of the article?

What makes SeeClickFix different than traditional 311 systems?
This is a question that has been asked of us over the past few months and it deserves a response.
1. City 311 systems are just that, a way to communicate with the city. SeeClickFix acts on the assumption that there are others along with city hall responsible for keeping the public space up to snuff and allows anyone to be alerted to issues and close issues.

2. In a traditional 311 system communication on an issue occurs between reporter and the city employee responsible for fixing. In a traditional 311 system a reported issue can not be viewed by the general public. On SeeClickFix communication on an issue occurs between the reporter and the entire community of watchers and visitors to the site who may also include the city employee responsible for fixing. On SeeClickFix everyone can view the reported issue and comment on it as well as select that they want the item fixed also.
SeeClickFix creates accountability and responsiveness through transparency.

3. 311 systems are typically designed for individual municipalities and do not collaborate with their peers. See Click Fix is intended for global use and allows for global collaboration on universal local issues.

4. SeeClickFix has free features for every citizen available now. No need to wait until your town has the money and/or time to spend installing a 311 system. According to our research only ~100 towns in the US have 311 systems.

We have now crossed the digital divide. When some people hear about SeeClickFix they wonder how those without a computer can report issues. Today we introduce a new feature for SeeClickFix. I have jokingly dubbed it "SeeCallIt". You now can call in your issues to 877.853.1552 and we'll enter it on the website.

I'm also excited about the new feature because anyone can use it from their cell phone. So, program it into your phone memory now and the next time you see an issue, you can call it into us. Look forward to hearing from you.

...what is that you say? I had no idea either until this morning when our friend Paul alerted us to this New Haven register article:
After Paul suggested we ask people to map these boxes on seeclickfix I just had to check them out. I found one on a pole around the corner from my home sitting two feet off the ground, partially overlapping the sidewalk and whirring loudly enough that the landlord of the house 10 feet away could not possibly live there.

If you have one of these boxes in your neighborhood and it bothers you, you should mark it on the map. It appears that the Department of Utilities will be requesting that ATT
display where all 2000 of these boxes are in CT. As a citizen you can do the same and let the DPUC know it bothers you.