Tuesday, February 2, 2010

When Good Apps Do Right (and nothing at all)

I love my iPhone. I like that I can check orders, find the answer to the elusive question that are posed to me, play a game to pass the time, and now I get to tell the City of Boston issues within my neighborhood.

I downloaded this app with the idea that it could get what I hoped were local safety issues into the right hands. So, with app in hand I walked my dogs down their normal route which happens to go down a few sets of stairs off of Ruth Street in Eastie and behind the Samuel Adams Elementary School. These two stretches of our walk had become a hazard since the steps and the sidewalk were covered with 8 inches of snow and had, in turn, melted to a nice icy glaze.

Taking a picture I sent it. Nothing. Almost seemed like they are waiting for the sun to just melt it. Which is maybe the way to go. I will now have to wait for our next snow (hopefully before our move occurs) to see if these areas are taken care of by our fair city employees.

Of course there are people who have great success with the service. And I'm glad that it is working for them. I want to be able to send video as well though. This way they can see that the ramp from Logan towards the Sumner Tunnel tolls is like off road driving and this is, for some people, the first thing they will notice about our city. Potholes and poorly maintained roads. The app is great, only if the problems that we are reporting are actually taken care of versus being "patched".

I'm sure they can blame Massport..

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