Collaborative Redistricting Tool

[Rachel]

Hello,

In preparation for Redistricting 2011, the company I work for,
Avencia, started building a web-based redistricting tool for
collaborative/ community-based redistricting projects:
http://www.redistrictingthenation.com/search.aspx and
http://www.redistrictingthenation.com/draw.aspx

Type your address --> get a shape of your legislative district(s) and
get a compactness score (less compact is **sometimes** a sign of
gerrymandering -- some exceptions apply for geographic irregularities.
For instance:
shoreline, mountain range, rivers, etc.) + (first phase of) draw your
own district.

Our hope is that a tool like this could be developed into a more
complete toolkit used by political advocacy organizations to let
citizens or groups of people fully participate in the redistricting
process by enabling the
sharing, publishing, and voting of sample redistricting plans through
the Internet/ Twitter or other outlets. Ultimately, these plans might
be used to influence final decisions. Screen shots of a full blown
redistricting
toolkit: http://www.redistrictingthenation.com/services.aspx

We know there are some pretty important players in the redistricting
world (especially software wise). There are also some great free
initiatives like Dave's Redistricting App:
http://gardow.com/davebradlee/redistricting/launchapp.html

So I'd love to hear your feedback not only about our idea, but also
about what features an ideal community-based "redistricting tool"
might provide users (i.e., if you had a dream app what would it be?)

Thank you,

Rachel