Bright lights from the KGCW TV towers were causing light pollution throughout rural communities in Northeast Illinois. A SeeClickFix user reported that they "are so bright they can be seen flashing on the inside of our homes." Another user who lived 7 miles away from the towers said that families had to draw their shades at night to sleep.

It seems like SeeClickFix helped provide some quick relief. Users reported that the lights were dimmer just days after the issue was posted. Today, one user wrote in with the following:

"It's amazing! The lights have not been a problem since this issue has been opened!"

SeeClickFix is proud to announce its integration with San Francisco and Washington DC’s 311 systems, after the two cities announced their transition to the Open311 API today. The cities’ use of this open source data platform will enable citizens to communicate service requests directly into their cities’ CRMs by reporting issues through one of SeeClickFix’s three platforms:

* the website, available at www.seeclickfix.com,
* the widgets, embedded on local news sites like SFgate.com,
* or the smart phone app, available for Android, Blackberry, and iPhone.

From now on, the data for any SeeClickFix issue reported in San Francisco will immediately be entered into the city’s CRM. That connection went live on Thursday afternoon, when SeeClickFix co-founder Kam Lasater reported graffiti outside his mother’s house in San Francisco. SeeClickFix will integrate with DC’s Open311 in the coming week.

“This is truly revolutionary,” said SeeClickFix Ben Berkowitz. “We’ve been waiting for this since users in San Francisco started using the tool in early 2008. Hats off to all who made this possible, including the Cities of San Francisco and DC and the Open Planning Project."

San Francisco CIO Chris Vein called SeeClickFix “an important player” in the development of the Open311 standard. "I look forward to SeeClickFix using the Open311 API to give residents new channels of access and help lower costs by routing requests directly to our service workers,” said Vein.

SeeClickFIx’ API supports the core schema of the Open311 standard. Several municipal clients already use SeeClickFix’s Pro as a dashboard to track issues and respond to citizens, including New Haven, CT, Tucson, AZ, and Manor, TX. Because SeeClickFix publishes an API based on the Open311 standard, other software applications that interface with Open311 can automatically report issues to those cities via SeeClickFix.

Lasater demonstrated how SeeClickFix’s connection to San Francisco’s 311 works on Thursday night, at a benefit party hosted by Twilio at San Francisco City Hall.

Watch where you park that 18-wheeler!

Charlotte, NC resident Mrs. Fran Leysath delivered that message loud and clear to the obtrusive trucks blocking in the Rite Aid lot on Harris Boulevard. On a SeeClickFix post in April, Leysath wrote that she was "sick and tired" of the illegally parked vehicles, which were "creating a huge traffic problem," making the neighborhood "look trashy," and "tearing up the parking lot."

Some of the trucks had gotten so comfortable in their spot, it looked as if they were there to stay. Leysath reported that the trucks "have now taken advantage and...now it has become a Long term TRUCK STOP!!"

Luckily for Mrs. Leysath and other neighbors, SeeClickFix brought the problem to the attention of TV news station, and SCF media partner, WBTV as well as the local police.

John Carter from WBTV posted that the station was sending out TV crews to try to catch some trucks in the act. Later that day, a police captain updated the thread to say that 'No Parking' signs had been posted, and vehicles had been towed to send a message.

WBTV ran a quick news spot following up on this issue (see above screen shot). According to a truck driver from a local business, the problem had been fixed.

Mrs. Leysath was astonished: "I cannot believe little me helped to fix this one problem...now I will working again with See, Click Fix in the near future in other areas where I have seen potential problems!!"

Once again, cases like this show the potential that SeeClickFix has to unite different entities–like neighbors, local media, local authorities, and local business–in a productive conversation about everyday issues, terminating in a fix.

The City of Corona went on a fixing spree today, closing several issues posted within the past couple days. Several cases of graffiti, like the one pictured above, were erased, two days after they were posted. And a broken park light, which one neighbor blamed a recent robbery on, was fixed only 19 hours after the issue was opened!

Corona has a SeeClickFix Plus account and is making sure that taxpayers get their money's worth, by offering them the sort of efficient, effective service that SCF Plus encourages.

way to go.

SeeClickFix joined the Prague-based Future Cities
Forum yesterday. It's a site where experts from academia and the public and private sectors can come together to share information about urban regeneration projects. Our first post is an overview of what we do at SeeClickFix.

Ben posted that 58th Street's road plates were making a racket when visiting Manhattan on Saturday. Three days later, a user named Steve reported that the issue was already fixed:

Steve (85 civic points) wrote 30 minutes ago

I'd like to think SeeClickFix.com is magic!

So, a team just arrived on E. 58th St and welded together the road plates. I've never seen this happen before.

Go SeeClickFix!

Newest map widget is up on the website of the Kingston Professional Firefighters Association.