Fixing what’s broken about community engagement

Fix Community Engagement

Traditional community engagement revolves around public meetings. But what was designed to be a democratic process is anything but. Data from Boston University shows that 95% of public meeting participants are whiter, richer, and older than their fellow neighbors. Think about the people who don’t show up at these meetings.

The single mom who doesn’t have childcare during the meeting time. Neighbors who may not speak English as their preferred language. Renters who have been told they don’t have a say because they aren’t property owners. Or people who can’t or just don’t want to sit through a three-hour meeting. These community members outweigh the NIMBYs but are overlooked and unheard.

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coUrbanize empowers more people to share their feedback – online, by text or voicemail, in any language.

BRINGING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ONLINE

Community Engagement

Think of coUrbanize as your project’s home base – the best place for community members to get project updates and participate in the process. People get accurate project information straight from the source instead of relying on information from their neighborhood Facebook group or NextDoor page.

And coUrbanize offers more than just a standard website. Our platform is designed to connect project teams with those who live, work and play near the project – to gather their feedback and capture their support. Our team will help you design poll questions and project updates that keep the conversation productive (and usually positive).

How coUrbanize Compares with Traditional Engagement Methods

Comparison

coUrbanize has supported more than 500 project teams with authentic community engagement resulting in on-time approvals and lower costs. With technology purpose-built for equitable engagement, teams benefit from best-practice technology and moderation, driving more positive results than traditional methods.

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City of Cambridge

“Residents have expressed that they have been so grateful to have new and accessible tools to communicate their thoughts and participate in this process. Participation has long been a function of privilege, and the way we were doing engagement before doesn’t feel right anymore…This was such a unique opportunity to make the process more honest, open, and transparent.”

Alanna Mallon
Vice Mayor, City of Cambridge

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WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH COURBANIZE

Customizable Platform

Customizable Platform

Customizable Platform

Showcase the latest project information and plans on a flexible platform optimized for development + planning
Comment Moderation

Comment Moderation

Comment Moderation

Keep conversations constructive with real-name requirement, comment review and spam + profanity filters
Email & SMS Updates

Email & SMS Updates

Email & SMS Updates

Scale community outreach with email and text-message (SMS) updates automatically sent to project followers
Project Timeline

Project Timeline

Project Timeline

Track historical milestones and update the community about upcoming meetings, filings and expected key dates
Text and Voicemail Integration

Text & Voicemail Integration

Text & Voicemail Integration

Capture feedback from a broader representation of the community by empowering them to share comments via text and voicemail

Polling

Polling

Survey community members to get to know them better, understand their needs and to get feedback on project details
Curated Comments

Curated Comment Topics

Curated Comment Topics

Gather opened-ended responses with customized comment topics including the ability to comment on image and video prompts
Letters of Support

Letters of Support

Letters of Support

Collect and share electronic letters of support from the community that can be easily added to public record
Private Feedback

Private Feedback

Private Feedback

Give local stakeholders a less intimidating vehicle to share feedback that is contrary to or different from popular opinion
Custom Tables and Forms

Custom Tabs & Forms

Custom Tabs & Forms

Add pages to showcase FAQs or expand on community benefits. Use forms so community members can request a meeting
Interactive Maps

Interactive Maps

Interactive Maps

Enable community members to comment on specific intersections and areas of the community
Analytics and Reports

Analytics & Reports

Analytics & Reports

Get at-a-glance analysis of sentiment trends and outreach reports with project analytics and all comments

Winn Companies

“Once entitlement began, coUrbanize allowed us to move quicker through the process because we were able to demonstrate how informed and engaged the residents are. The documented feedback we received from stakeholders, and subsequent changes to our plans as a result, were provided to agencies. This eliminated extra time and meetings where we would present back-and-forth updates with residents, and justification of changes to the reviewing agencies.”

Andrew Colbert
Vice President of Development, WinnCompanies

Three projects we’re proud of.

InnovationQNS | NYC
Ground-up development

Innovation QNS
Silverstein

Philly Navy Yard | Philadelphia
Community planning

Connected Navy Yard
Navy Yard

Garfield Park | Chicago
Affordable housing

Garfield Park
POAH