Community Remarks™ is an app PlaceVision developed to facilitate place-based communication online. It has been successfully utilized in the City of Buffalo, NY and Northbrook, Illinois to get citizens talking about what’s great and not-so-great about their community. We are currently in the process of deploying customized Community Remarks™ solutions for a variety of communities across the nation which got us thinking of several ways folks could utilize this tool.

Here is how it works (in a nutshell):

1. Drop a place marker on the map
2. Make a comment
3. Vote comments up or down

Features such as voting, the comment form, and place marker images can be customized. This is because the Community Remarks app was built with core features and functionality that can easily be “skinned” to change its appearance. This opens up opportunities for the application to be utilized in a variety of ways such as:

1. To solicit feedback from citizens during the creation of an urban plan

If you are creating a downtown area plan, regional transportation plan, or zoning ordinance this tool is proven to increase public participation and provide a platform during community meetings.

2. To document/survey properties in the field and create a live report on an iPad

If you are conducting multiple field surveys and site visits to document existing conditions, this tool can provide a secure easy to use web-based GIS formatted for an iPad.

3. As photo contest to get place-specific photos and vote on them

Thinking about gathering photos from the community? Do more than just post an entry form on your site, enable people to tell you where the photo was taken, then let the community vote on the winner.

4. To report non-emergency issues or place-specific concerns to your government

Are there issues in your neighborhood that are easier to express on a map? Place-based commenting is the best way to answer what and where at once.

5. Make your own “personalized” maps of your favorite restaurants, hot spots, and share with friends

Want to express yourself? Been there, done that? This tool provides you with a personal database of place specific comments. Use it to create a map of your favorite restaurants, shops, hot spots. Invite your friends to collaborate and share their favorites into a private, personal map.

If you’d like to know more, check it out at the Community Remarks™ web site.