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Philadelphians Have A Lot Of Grievances, And Everyone Is Going To Hear About Them

At last: your complaints are invited. As part of its partnership with Code for America, The City of Philadelphia is launching Textizen, which we invite you to say five times fast. Despite its near-unpronounceability, Textizen is actually a pretty sweet outreach program; it’s designed to invite user feedback from residents and commuters in Center City and the Lower Northeast (wherever that is) via text. Brace yourselves, because posters asking questions about transportation, recreation and general quality of life (you know, the basics) will be plastered in every high-volume area in the city.

The nice thing about Textizen is that it enables a large portion of Philadelphians, otherwise too busy or lazy to attend a public forum, to contribute. If the pilot goes well–as it should, because who wouldn’t love the opportunity to gripe about Septa in a non-confrontational manner–it will become a permanent outreach tool to help with Philadelphia2035.

You can download the (free!) code for Textizen here, and if you see any exquisitely defaced posters (not that we encourage such activity), send them to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 at 2:46 pm.

  • http://twitter.com/AfroMacnerd Gary Reed

    I love the idea but there is need to also reach out to areas west of Broad and North of Temple. This area is quickly becoming technology donut hole.  A larger portion of the population do use or have any type broadband  let along technology skills. In order to truly fill the digital divide we must fill hole not just edges.

  • Guest

    The Lower Northeast is not the Greater Northeast. 

  • Textizen

    Thanks for the post, check out all the posters at the Phila2035 facebook page: http://facebook.com/phila2035

  • Textizen

    Thanks for the delightfully snarky yet informative writeup, Philebrity. For readers interested in contributing feedback, take our your phone and try it out!

    1. Hey Families – What would make Center City more kid-friendly?
    Text your answers and ideas to:  215-987-5455

    2. Hey Center City – How do you mainly use city recreation sites?
    Pick one and text the letter of your answer to:  215-987-5441

    3. (If you live or travel in the Northeast) Hey commuters -
    Would you use a rapid transit line along the Boulevard to get to Center City?
    Text YES or NO to:  215-987-5444

  • Textizen

    Corrected #2. Hey Center City – How do you mainly use city recreation sites?A. Playgrounds     B. Classes/Meetings    C. Dog walking
    D. Sports               E. Other                         F. Don’t use them
    Pick one and text the letter of your answer to:  215-987-5441