Smaller Towns Using Economic Development GIS Tools
Noblesville, Indiana (2006 population: 40,115, one of the fastest growing areas in the midwest) is paying San Francisco-based GIS Planning about $60,000 to host an economic development site for the next three years. The 176 properties currently listed prompted 9,600 hits (I’m guessing that’s page views?) since June. There’s no way to track success rates as prospective buyers work directly with sellers. The Economic Development Department staff have to input the properties for sale at noblesvilleprospector.com, but hope in time sellers will input their own data.
Here’s a very similar story for an implementation in the Spokane, Washington area. The 2009 budget: $95,000. It also cites Web stats: “129,000 page views in its first 12 months of operation.”
