UBalt Researcher Amanda Phillips de Lucas: City's 311 System is a 'Joy' That 'Encourages Participation' by Residents
February 10, 2025
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An analysis by The Baltimore Sun of citizen reports to the city's 311 system shows widespread usage of the system by city residents—a public-service success that Amanda Phillips de Lucas, director of the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) in The University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute, says is worth noting. BNIA incorporates 311 call data into its meta analysis of city life, called Vital Signs.
According to the newspaper, Baltimore's 311 system for reporting non-emergency issues was the first of its kind in the country. The information it captures—data on common problems ranging from potholes to broken streetlights—is compiled by BNIA to show trends in both these problems and their solutions.
Gathering 311 and 911 data, Dr. Phillips de Lucas says, are "really good ways to sort of understand how people who live in Baltimore communities are engaging with the city."
While analyzing 311 calls on its own "doesn't mean we get a fantastic meaning out of it," she says, contextualizing that information with other data points, like home ownership rates, can indicate lasting trends in city neighborhoods.
"That's kind of the joy of the 311 system," she says. It's "a way that people can participate" in an engaged, active Baltimore.
Read the article in The Baltimore Sun.
Learn more about the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance.