Blight is more than an eyesore; it affects the health, safety, and economy of our communities. Neighborhood cleanliness and fighting blight are ongoing responsibilities for the City of Memphis – particularly for divisions such as Solid Waste and Public Works, which includes functions like Code Enforcement, Neighborhood Improvement, and 311. 

Eliminating blight requires action on multiple fronts, such as addressing code violations like overgrown grass, illegal dumping, taking legal action on blighted and abandoned properties, and delivering essential government services like the maintenance and operations of residential curbside trash, recycling, and litter and mowing. Moreover, residents don’t always know how to access resources and information to properly dispose of non-traditional types of waste outside of the cart like tires, furniture, hazardous materials, or construction supplies.

Call to Action:
With a large geographic service area and finite resources, the City is seeking new ideas on how to respond efficiently and effectively to issues such as vacant and overgrown lots and illegal dumping/waste piles. The goal is to deploy cleanup and maintenance resources where they are needed most and also to make it easier for residents to access these services and stay informed about how to dispose of waste properly.

Potential Hackathon Topics
Potential Hackathon subtopics to pursue include (but aren’t limited to) the following:
*Identifying geographic areas that would benefit from more frequent City service based on data and mapping
*Making recommendations on how to rethink City service frequency and coverage based on data and mapping
*Determining predictive indicators for where properties/parcels may be susceptible to blight-related issues
*Identifying potential 311 data quality issues and making recommendations on how to streamline ticket triage and escalation
*Designing tailored, evidence-based resident education and outreach strategies to change behavior and increase awareness of related City services & ordinances
*Designing ways to gather recurring resident feedback about services and neighborhood condition

Hacker Skill Sets Needed
*Data analysis/data science
*GIS and mapping
*App and web tool development
*Project management
*Behavior/social science research & best practices
*Communications, marketing and design