Open data's potential & challenges to boost tenants’ rights activism

2015-05-11T17:54:00-04:00

Open data, and the interactive mapping and data visualization that can come of it, has become a de facto engagement and storytelling tool among contemporary journalists, social justice activists, and civic-minded technologists. But despite its allure, open data’s potential for fostering civic engagement and creating transparency and dialogue is plagued by issues of usability, access, and quality control.

I Quant NY: Visualizing NYC's Open Data

2014-07-31T14:54:00-04:00

Quantitative Analysis of NYC Open Data: Every data set that the city releases tells a story. This blog is all about telling those stories, one data set at a time.

Ben Wellington's "I Quant NY" blog is a gem in data-driven journalism's crown. Featuring visualizations of data sets from New York City's remarkable Open Data Portal, the blog covers a wide-variety of civic topics, everything from mapping fire hydrant usage to rate of taxi complaints by borough.

Wellington began using the Open Data Portal as coursework for his statistics class, teaching urban planning students at the Pratt Institute.

h/t to City Lab, who spoke with Wellington about his blog and teaching stats to city planners.

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Open data's potential & challenges to boost tenants’ rights activism

I Quant NY: Visualizing NYC's Open Data