Why Big City #OpenGov Solutions Don’t Always Work For Small Towns

Caitria O’Neill | PBS | May 8, 2013

I work for a civic technology startup in San Francisco, but I’m a small-town native who works daily with small to midsized communities. As such, when I read or hear about the latest “answer” to civic problems, created by a team of geniuses and piloted in one of the largest cities in the country, I’m a little wary.

While shining examples of city use of technology like San Francisco and New York City are well worth profiling and learning from, if their solutions don’t fit a town of 9,000, the problem has not yet been truly solved. Small communities need solutions too.

Presenting: Things I have overheard in Big Cities

“We are going to have a hackathon to solve the problem.”