MoveSmart.org will foster racial and economic residential integration by providing housing seekers with on-demand mobility counseling. Our Chicagoland mash-up of single point amenities (banks, schools, libraries, public trans, etc), affordable housing opportunities, and "neighborhood opportunities" - the programs and activities of community-based organizations, will encourage housing seekers to take full advantage of the opportunities neighborhoods offer and put them on a path to true integration.
Previous integration initiatives have proven costly and focused on families receiving public aid. Housing seekers with unlimited funds have always had the luxury of living where they choose. But for millions of families who have limited resources, finding the right neighborhood is difficult. MoveSmart.org will educate housing seekers about the benefits of integrative moves while at the same time providing suggestions on where to move, guides on how to move, and information on how to get involved in their new neighborhoods, inspiring pride in a new community and putting them on a path to true integration.
Housing seekers increasingly must go online to find a home to purchase or rent, but the available tools focus on the dollar value of a home, not the opportunities neighborhoods offer. Those opportunities, however, are not evenly distributed across neighborhoods. On MoveSmart.org, the very real benefits of racially and economically integrative moves are laid bare.
Housing seekers, and the professionals that support them, will interact with three distinct data sets (and eventually four in later iterations of the site). Single point amenities will expose the convenience a neighborhood offers - financial institutions, schools, libraries, public transportation options, healthcare, government services, etc. Affordable housing opportunities, culled from the government agencies that fund them, will offer opportunities for housing seekers of limited means to take advantage of neighborhoods previously closed to them. Finally, a database of "neighborhood opportunities" - the programs and activities of community based organizations uploaded by said organizations, will connect new residents with new communities and put them on a path to true integration. Mapping faetures will be complemented by guides, worksheets, calendars and calculators.
Justin Massa is currently the Fair Housing Testing and Outreach Coordinator for the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he has supervised the testing program, handled intake and investigation, and conducted fair housing trainings for the past 2.5 years. He is also serving his second term as Vice President of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance. Prior to working in fair housing, Justin was a Chicago Public School teacher and research analyst for the Center for New Community, where he monitored white nationalist activity and trained more than 5,000 young people on how to spot and respond to hate. He holds a BA in Political Science from Loyola University of Chicago and a MA in Teaching from National Louis University.
MoveSmart.org needs assistance layering single-point amenities, "neighborhood opportunities", and affordable housing opportunities over a map (using the Pushpin API - http://www.pushpin.com/api/1.3/docs/); designing icons for the maps; building a website to feature said maps and supplemental material (preferably in Drupal or other open-source CMS); and creating both a database structure and web-based submission form (and back-end management system) to populate the "neighborhood opportunities" layer. See comments for additional areas of help.
-IHARP Database from UIC/Voorhees Center -or- DePaul Real Estate Center database of affordable housing
-financial institutions from FDIC
-schools & libraries from NCES
-campaigns from Social Actions
-iGo cars from Center for Neighborhood Technology
-community technology centers from ConnectChicago.com
-rental rates from Rentometer
-community health centers from HRSA
| Project Designer | Michael Maranda | MichaelMaranda |
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Comments
building the team
Michael Maranda, who I met through NetTuesdays here in Chicago, has generously agreed to help us spec out the project, but we are still looking for a designer and a (or a few) developer(s). Michael has limited time over the next two months, so he's agreed to help with the process but needs a second designer to help out.
If you're interested in teaming with MoveSmart.org to help us design and develop the site, please let us know!
-Justin
MoveSmart.org
YoChicago.com interviews MoveSmart.org
Chicago real estate blog YoChicago.com interviewed MoveSmart.org earlier this week. Follow the link below to watch the interview.
http://yochicago.com/today/video/6781_6781/
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hENDozeKTNc
Update 2/27/08
Update 2/27/08: If time allows, we would like to create an additional map layer where users can answer the question "How did you MoveSmart?" with multimedia stories of their own integrative moves.
If at all possible, we would like to make the prototype site accessible to adaptive programs for individuals with disabilities.
Placebase, the provider of the Pushpin maps upon which the data will be layered, have agreed to discount the first 200,000 map transactions by 1/3rd for this competition, and MoveSmart.org currently has funds available to cover the remaining cost. Finally, (pending a conflicts check) a reputable Bay Area law firm will be drafting the site's privacy policy and terms of service if we are selected for development.
-justin
MoveSmart.org
MoveSmart!
We're very exited for MoveSmart to start. We believe that it will expand housing choices and enhance integration effrots in the region.
Justin, I think this is a
Justin,
I think this is a really great project and I am excited by its potential. It might also be very interesting to see success stories highlighted as well. This could something as simple as a map where you can click on a location and see a video that shares the story of the person/family that was impacted or informed by movesmart.org.
Jennie
future plans
Hi Jennie-
Thanks for the comment. We have a long wish-list of features for MoveSmart.org, and pretty high on that list is a "How Did You MoveSmart?" map layer that would allow users to create rich posts about how they used the site or made an integrative move. I left it off of this post because I figured it would be too much work for the time allotted - can any developers offer advice on the scale of such a project? If it works, we'd love to add it sooner rather than later.
Thanks,
-Justin