98 Using an interactive map of Arlington, a person can pinpoint information about all commercial permits, residential permits, certificates of occupancy, permit applications, land-use information, and zoning based on the location of the project. The program coincides with the city’s latest priority to clean up neighborhoods, graffiti, and illegal dumping sites more proactively. Now, a dashboard shows how much litter has been cleaned up in neighborhoods (125 tons as of early April 2024) and how many cubic yards from illegal dumping sites were removed (176). It will eventually show how much freeway litter was cleaned up, too. The KPIs have been curated by Warren’s team and city departments to highlight issues of most concern to the public, such as the number of potholes filled. “That is something we know our residents care about,” Warren said. “It’s nice to be able to add that measure so they can see their tax dollars at work.” Making Open Data Make Sense Much like a voluminous city budget document, a municipality’s open data portal can be overwhelming. It’s like trying to make sense of an entire database. The City of Arlington used the information in its open data portal to feed additional, easily understood dashboards. Dashboards that use open data to tell a more visual story include: Socioeconomic Dashboard—The view allows anyone to learn more about the people living in individual census tracts based on the most recent census data. Development Dashboard—Using an interactive map of Arlington, a person can pinpoint information about all commercial permits, residential permits, certificates of occupancy, permit applications, land-use information, and zoning based on the location of the project. Park Finder—Looking for pickleball? A splash pad? Dog park? The city’s Park Finder includes a way for residents and visitors to look up Arlington’s parks by location on a map (including proximity to the person doing the searching). Results show up as an alphabetical list or can be listed by park amenities, including the features as well as boat ramps, hiking trails, sports fields, ponds, playgrounds, and more. Public Art—Driving around a city can lead to moments of serendipity in noticing a work of public art. In Arlington, a resident or visitor can search an interactive map for all the city’s public art, finding a picture of the piece, the address, artist, and a description. People can also submit information about a piece of public art through an online GIS survey.
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