EveryBlock Essays
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“What Is True Near Me”: The Unkept Promise of EveryBlock and Next Door
Next Door acquired EveryBlock. I helped start EveryBlock. When making a product, there are lots of competing product directions. The direction I most wanted for EveryBlock was what we call in database work as a “single source of truth”. A decade later, there is still no one delivering on that promise, and the idea of…
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Toward a Fact-Based EveryBlock In Real Life
It’s been a while since EveryBlock was removed from the Internet. Shortly after its removal, I put together a Github repository on what it would take to take the open source code and get it to the shape it was on that crisp February day. Now here’s some thoughts on what the product ended up…
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On EveryBlock and the Open Data Movement
Today marks the end of a website called EveryBlock. I was lucky enough to be a part of the team that first made that site. Here’s a post I wrote on our launch day explaining what it meant to be a meaningful contributor to the project. I had been obsessed with municipal data for years,…
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The Making of a Police Station: Contracts, Architecture, and the Public Building Commission
There is a new police station to be opened at 850 West Addison. The Public Building Commission— a large and powerful force in the creation of libraries, schools, police stations, and the like– actually has an amazing page of info on the building of the 23rd District police station. This includes great detail like every…
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SCREENCAST: Stop Work Order at The Wrigleyville Hotel, 3469 North Clark St., Chicago
Here's a screencast with some info on a Stop Work Order issued for The Wrigleyville Hotel, 3469 North Clark St., Chicago. According to Chicagoist, this place is going to be 5 stories when it's finished. The issue is that it is currently three stories, but they apparently did not have the exterior demolition permit necessary…