By: Victoria Holliday

NYC Crowdsource_0It seems like lately Reset SF has got a serious case of New York
envy. That’s because the City keeps creating forward-thinking ways to advance and promote Government 2.0, like having a Social Media Day and appointing a Chief Digital Officer for the city.

New York Crowdsources Ideas to Make City Better

New York’s latest Gov 2.0 project is a website called Change by Us NYC. The site is created by Local Projects (responsible for the 9/11 Memorial Museum and urban think tank, CEOs for Cities) and is run by the City of New York. The website aims to crowdsource ways to make NYC better by allowing members to post their ideas for the City. Members can then search for ideas in their neighborhood or area of interest and build teams to turn the ideas into projects. Change by Us NYC hopes users will utilize the site to discover resources available from city agencies and community organizations. The site also allows members to connect with other members and non-profits that can pool the expertise and resources necessary to make the projects a reality.

The first group of projects is focused around how to make NYC greener. Ideas so far range from cleaning up the Bronx River to planting local organic veggie gardens.

New York Leaders are Listening

Gov 2.0 only works when government is engaged in the conversation. Change by Us NYC assembled a network of leaders and government officers to follow the ideas and track the success of projects. NYC’s leaders have made a clear commitment to embrace online tools to empower residents to engage and participate in government.

If San Francisco’s government utilized social media and web 2.0 tools more effectively, like New York, citizens would be more likely to engage in local government. Stay tuned as we follow this story.