Best cities on the interwebs

April 10, 2009 1:44 PM

What are some great examples of cities using new media to connect citizens? to promote a project? to do something awesome?

I'm looking, very specifically, for city-wide initiatives and projects that use new media, websites, etc. to make citizens aware, help interact, get input, provide really exceptional service/info etc.

Something beyond just local news/ads would be great.

posted by icarus to Technology (11 answers total)

The city-run Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston has a twitter feed and a facebook page to promote upcoming shows.

Is this the sort of thing you're looking for?
posted by chrisamiller at 1:52 PM on April 10, 2009

Yes, thank you!
posted by ttyn at 1:57 PM on April 10, 2009

The Mayor of Toronto has a twitter feed. They have one for the TTC as well with service advisories, etc. Toronto also ran a Web 2.0 City summit last year.
posted by GuyZero at 2:18 PM on April 10, 2009

I am "friends" on facebook with my Mayor in Minneapolis. he (or rather his staff) post what they are up to to help the city (or get re-elected).
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 2:21 PM on April 10, 2009

The Washington State DOT uses various things on the internet to inform citizens:
Twitter
Flickr
Blogs for Specific Projects

The Seattle DOT uses twitter to give information on snow removal
posted by bajema at 2:42 PM on April 10, 2009

Also, a large number of transit agencies that are run by municipal governments participate in Google Transit. Including the Ferry Service run by the Washington State DOT for those who need to escape the mainland. Of course, many agencies run their own trip planners as well, but typically not the small ones.
posted by GuyZero at 2:52 PM on April 10, 2009

Also in Houston, the fabulous downtown Discovery Green park opened last year uses Facebook Twitter, and Flickr. It came up the other day on my Facebook list to "Discover People You May Know". Now I'm "friends" with a park. :-)
posted by Robert Angelo at 2:55 PM on April 10, 2009

Toronto's Queens Quay blogs and twitters, although I don't think it's actually government.

I found this out because I made a Elmer Fudd joke about the name "queens quay", and then it started following me.
posted by Lemurrhea at 4:15 PM on April 10, 2009

My mom is the mayor of a quiet little town called Branson, Missouri, and she uses her Twitter account to send out updates about meetings, town activities, and such.
posted by shinynewnick at 7:18 PM on April 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also, when she was first elected mayor two years ago, she worked on getting all city council meeting minutes and audio files of the meetings posted to the city website.
posted by shinynewnick at 7:23 PM on April 10, 2009

The Los Angeles fire department has a Twitter feed for alerts on current situations.
posted by cadge at 11:12 PM on April 10, 2009