Where can a city find $774 million?
That was essentially the question City Hall put to citizens earlier this summer in its Core Services Review survey. So how did Toronto answer?
That’s where the new site WhatTorontoSaid becomes useful.
It’s “an easy way to browse, and respond to, your fellow citizen’s responses to the Core Service Review survey.” More like a skimmer for all the answers to the core services review. Not to mention the site organizes as much demographic data as could be collected.
Want to know what Rosedalians think is the most important issue facing the city in 2011? It’s here.
Want to know how many Torontonians who identify as transgendered filled out a survey? It’s here. (Answer is 63.)
Want to leave an angry comment on this guy’s suggestion that an Toronto NFL team is a waste of paper? Do it here.
How many people in neighbourhoods around King West bothered to fill out the survey? Only 17.
See what the very first person to fill out the survey said, and then check what the very last person to fill it out said.
Beyond stats like that, WhatTorontoSaid is a speedy way to guage public sentiment, or frustration at what is being passed off as public sentiment.
The project is thanks to Toronto open data program and a civic-minded developer named Brian Gilham. He created the site as a “convenient way for the citizens of Toronto to reflect on themselves a bit.”
He also wants the site to be a shining example of how opening up data – freeing city information in ways so developers like him can build web tools around it – can help the city.
“I hope WhatTorontoSaid serves as an effective tool, not just for everyday citizens, but also the politicians who govern them. This tool allows them to quickly and easily see what their constituents think.”
