Shameless plug: nextportland.com

[maccoinnich]

Inspired by a conversation in this thread, I decided to put together a website that would track development in a more user-friendly way than portlandmaps/efiles/metro reports do. So here it is: Next Portland.

Let me know you think.

[ablerock]

Dude, fantastic start! Looks like you're starting to plug in images on a few projects? That's great. A link to SSP or another quick blurb about projects would be awesome as well. Oh, and you could actually color code the color legend at bottom as well. That's an easy adjustment that would help.

I just moved here a few months ago and am still wrapping my head around 'hoods and projects and this is very helpful. Thanks for the work!

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Inspired by a conversation in this thread, I decided to put together a website that would track development in a more user-friendly way than portlandmaps/efiles/metro reports do. So here it is: Next Portland.

Let me know you think.

This is amazing. How is it updated? I'm happy I can see projects on a map now!

[MarkDaMan]

Wow, terrific collection of projects. Thanks!

[redbeard]

Wow. This is amazing! Thanks!

[bvpcvm]

Hey, this is awesome. My only question is, where do you get all the free time??

[2oh1]

FANTASTIC work!

[urbanlife]

Fantastic work, any chance if projects can have links to them? Obviously a lot of extra work for something that is free, but I was just curious.

[philopdx]

Great job!

[maccoinnich]

Thanks for all your positive comments. Looking at analytics, I see a lot of people have visited from SSP, including one person from Canada (hello!). Some specific answers to questions:

Originally Posted by ablerock

A link to SSP or another quick blurb about projects would be awesome as well.

Yes, I think I'll a) add a link to SSP on the blog sidebar, and b) add links to individual discussion threads on each project, where applicable.

Originally Posted by ablerock

Oh, and you could actually color code the color legend at bottom as well. That's an easy adjustment that would help.

Good idea.

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

This is amazing. How is it updated? I'm happy I can see projects on a map now!

Manually. It's not automatically getting the data from anywhere. The plugin that powers the map does have an option for user submitted pins. I've turned that off for now, but maybe I will change it in the future.

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

Hey, this is awesome. My only question is, where do you get all the free time??

I've been studying hard for exams, and just took the last one I'm planning on taking this year this past Saturday. So until I start studying for the next round, I have some free time.

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Fantastic work, any chance if projects can have links to them? Obviously a lot of extra work for something that is free, but I was just curious.

So the map is just in the early stages at the moment. I was trying to get as many projects on there as possible. The general idea will be to add a one or two sentence description for each project, along with a link to the project website if it exists. The more details link will take the user to a category on the news page, with all the updates on the project. I haven't got very far with this yet, but you can click on the 4th & Harrison pin as an example of what I eventually want all the pins to look like.

[PDXDENSITY]

I think it would be awesome if you could find a way to automate the site with a program that scans the updates from the gov sites.

[maccoinnich]

I thought about it, but there a few issues:

• I don't know how to do that.
• The City of Portland issues a vast number of permits. Most of them aren't of any interest to anyone. It would be hard to come up with an automated algorithm that included everything I wanted it to, but didn't miss anything either.
• Most projects have a lot of different permit numbers. An early assistance application, a Design Review, and a building permit will all be in the system under different numbers. In the case of projects located on more than one tax lot, they may even be in the system under different addresses.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I thought about it, but there a few issues:

• I don't know how to do that.
• The City of Portland issues a vast number of permits. Most of them aren't of any interest to anyone. It would be hard to come up with an automated algorithm that included everything I wanted it to, but didn't miss anything either.
• Most projects have a lot of different permit numbers. An early assistance application, a Design Review, and a building permit will all be in the system under different numbers. In the case of projects located on more than one tax lot, they may even be in the system under different addresses.

Some of that could be done with crowd sourced editing, especially the multiple number/lot issue. As for algorithms and coding, Im terrible. Wish we could get some enthusiastic volunteers to team up with you about this- it is an amazing resource with room to evolve. You could probably make a killing on ad space- i wouldnt be mad.

[stan]

Wow. Very well done. Nice to have it all in one place.

[PDXDENSITY]

Just wanted to bump this because the blog has some great commentary on new developments with design renderings and such. I'm glad someone is taking this torch because it's a niche that isn't covered well by journalists in Portland. This is a good improvement; I'd love to see this evolve into a nexus for information/community involvement. I think the neighborhood association method is too restrictive; commenting online and having a debate about new development is far more constructive and allows a wide range of voices to be involved. It also allows for less time to be taken up for a cause someone may feel strongly toward.