Boston’s City Hall On Wheels
Food trucks have become really popular in many cities around the world. Now also other organizations start to see the potential of offering their services in a flexible way. Inspired by the food trucks, Boston launched its City Hall To Go — a truck that travels the city’s neighborhoods to get in touch with local communities. Doing so, the flexible city hall aims to bring civil services to the people. As the Boston area measures almost 50 square miles, traveling all the way downtown to City Hall can be a big hassle for residents. Making the City Hall mobile solves this problem.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino explains to Government Technology that the recent launch of the City Hall To Go truck builds on the city’s mission to shake up the status quo when it comes to municipal services. “We want to make it as easy as possible for residents to get personal, timely service from their city,” he says, “and the truck helps us to do just that for a whole new set of constituents.”
City Hall To Go will visit Boston’s neighborhoods throughout the year and offers a select menu of city services directly to constituents. The truck may also be a feature at special events, block parties and street festivals, and provide seasonal services as resident needs shift throughout the year. Twitter users can get in touch with the mobile city hall through the @cityhalltogo account.
Another example of formal institutions making their service flexible comes from Amsterdam, where housing association Ymere tweaked a truck to connect with tenants in a flexible way. The truck enables Ymere to frequently visit the neighborhoods in which it owns real estate.
