Cambridge-based startup wants to inform residents about every single development project
CoUrbanize, which has a Boston site and now a Cambridge one, wants to be the middleman between citizens and public meetings.
If you’ve ever been to a city public meeting (or just seen them on the show Parks and Recreation), you know they aren’t the most pleasant use of time.
CoUrbanize wants to find a better way for citizens to stay informed about the new building projects popping up in their neighborhoods, by collecting detailed information about every new development in one place.
The Cambridge-based startup has had a Boston coUrbanize site running since early this year, but just recently launched a Cambridge version.
“There’s a lot being built in Cambridge,’’ Karin Brandt, cofounder and CEO of coUrbanize, told Boston.com. “There are more than 36 new developments with lots of new apartments and parking spaces.’’
There is 9.6 million square feet of development either under community review, planned, or developing in Cambridge right now.
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Brandt said these new developments often start by seeking community review before they move into the planning phase, but it is often difficult for people, especially those with families, to get to nighttime public meetings.
“We make it a lot easier for developers to reach people,’’ Brandt said.
On the coUrbanize Cambridge site, residents can look at detailed information for every single project in Cambridge at all stages in the process – the projects that are under community review, those that are approved, and those that are under construction.
“We organize all the new information online,’’ Brandt said.
Each of the projects has its own page with renderings, maps, specific details, and forums where people can ask questions through a text or a post, so the developers or the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority can answer.
“It helps communities be in the know from the beginning,’’ she added, and said that a lot of the time residents are surprised by the number of new developments going up in their neighborhood.
Of the current projects in Cambridge in all stages, there is the potential for 2,900 new residential units, along with 500 new parking spaces.
“We focus on being transparent to help people have a public dialogue,’’ Brandt said.
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