Kansas City, Kansas Partners with mySidewalk in 2017 for Blight Reduction & Economic Development Projects
Kansas City, Mo (PRWEB) January 25, 2017 -- Today mySidewalk announced its partnership with the Unified Government (UG) of Wyandotte County, KS. In 2017, the UG will be making an active push across a range of areas to address the challenges of blighted properties—and they’re using mySidewalk to find locations in the county affected or at risk, discover factors that could be contributing to blight, and then visualize those results via shareable charts and interactive maps.
“We see mySidewalk as an important tool to help us identify and create effective strategies for reducing blighted properties and preventing them from occurring in the first place,” said Chief Knowledge Officer Alan Howze.
Reducing blight is a priority for the UG. In 2016, Howze’s team launched a new open data portal, which makes county property and code enforcement data publicly available and easy to understand.
Now the UG and Wyandotte Economic Development Council (WYEDC) are partnering with mySidewalk to bring enhanced analytical capabilities to economic development and blight prevention efforts.
“mySidewalk is nationally recognized for their work with communities on economic development and neighborhood improvement. Working with mySidewalk will provide important insights into enhancing economic development and supporting neighborhood revitalization,” said Howze.
The work the UG is doing with mySidewalk is similar to the work mySidewalk has done with the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, a partnership that has focused on reducing and rectifying potentially dangerous buildings throughout the region.
In addition to blight reduction, the UG and WYEDC will be able to provide data more quickly to potential business clients to spur economic development in the community. Sharing data about Wyandotte County and telling the story of why it’s such a great place to live and work has significant potential to attract and retain more families and businesses.
“We value the opportunity to partner with mySidewalk and to benefit from all the work they’ve done with communities across the country,” said Howze. “It’s great to see a Kansas City-based company thrive and do good for hundreds of communities across the nation. We are happy to join with them.”
About mySidewalk
Based in Kansas City and partnered with 180 organizations across the country, mySidewalk is a data tool for people who want to understand places. With mySidewalk, it’s easy for anyone to use data to make better, more confident decisions. In 2016, mySidewalk participated in The Opportunity Project, a White House initiative designed to put data and digital tools into the hands of families, communities and local leaders. mySidewalk also recently partnered with the EPA to produce a webinar on how communities can use data to become more sustainable. To learn more, visit mySidewalk.com.
Press Contact
Lauren French
lfrench(at)mysidewalk(dot)com
Lauren French, mySidewalk, http://app.mysidewalk.com, +1 816-256-2002, [email protected]
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