Parking Hotspots Revealed By Citizen Journalism Project

The Birmingham Post's recent headline proclaiming that Birmingham's social media reputation continues to grow has been backed up the success of citizen journalism project Help Me Investigate.

The new tool, aimed at helping citizens get answers, was set up by, amongst others, Birmingham social media celebrities (!) Nick Booth and Stef Lewandowski. It's supported by Screen West Midlands and 4iP.

One resident wanted to know where the most ticketed streets were in the city. Using the knowledge pooled on the website, she was able to obtain the figures which were then collated and processed by another user.

The ten most ticketed streets in Birmingham for the year were:
(Ladywood ward highlighted in bold)

• Alum Rock Road, Washwood Heath (3,995)
• Stratford Road, Sparkhill (2,418)
• Corporation Street, city centre (1,748)
• Alcester Road, Moseley (1,545)
• Waterloo Street, city centre (1,455)
• High Street, Harborne (1,391)
• Gas Street, city centre (1,083)
• Whittall Street, city centre (1,022)
• St Paul’s square, Jewellery Quarter (1,008)
• Dean Street, city centre (978)

Last week I had a beer with a city centre resident responsible for collating and processing the data. His passion on the subject shone through, so much so that it gave me the impression there must be someone just like him, passionate about every topic imaginable, no matter how small. Help Me Investigate might just be the tool they need to get their answers.

Good job, everyone!