Cellphone app being used to help fix “blighted homes” in Cam

with cell phones. it’s a data collection effort — with the aim of reducing the number of blighted properties in the area. 47 abc’s michelle mackonochie tells us how this will work. track 1 this app — is now loaded on the cell phones of students from salisbury university’s planning and geography department. beginning saturday – the students will head out to cambridge — and use this application to gather information on houses and businesses. they’re calling it a blight study. the app allows the students to walk around and check off things they see — like broken windows and other deterioration. they’re starting in an area of the city called ward 3. why cambridge? doctor michael scott — of salisbury university — says it started with the city. “they’re the ones that drove the idea.” “we were just able to help them step up particularly to provide the labor for the students to go out.” track 2 salisbury university is working with the city’s planning and zoning department. scott shores — with planning and zoning — created the app. it started out as a request from the city manager – to create a map of cambridge. but it turned into the app the students are now using. “this app really isn’t about locating individual houses that are blighted its about navigating the neighborhood and determine what factors are leading to blight or are already blighted.” track 3 shores tells 47 abc two students were out earlier on thursday collecting data. “it has exactly what we were looking for as far as conditions go from sidewalks and roofs and gutters and driveways and they did the survey very well.” track 4 when asked about people living in the area who may be concerned about privacy. planning assistant lasara kinser tells 47 abc — “were not trying to single anybody out were not intending for example publish you know so and so lives in this house and we consider this blighted we really are just collecting information.” track when asked how he feels about his students participating in this — doctor scott says he’s proud. “they’re very socially minded socially concious folks – the fact that they can blend their education with technology with helping out a local government that’s tremendous.” track michelle mackonochie 47 abc. as far as the next steps for cambridge — lasara kinser tells 47 abc – that’s still up in the air. kinser says they plan to gather all the information saturday — and by the beginning of the year — they hope to have all the data analyzed and a report generated. after that — kinser says they plan to create an interdisciplinary team — of city staff, council people and stakeholders — to figure out what the next step will be. 25-million dollars in grant money will soon be available — through the u-s-d-a. and they’re