The Next Chapter: Gals' Guide is Back
Some of you may recall a project I've been passionately keeping alive when I could. Whether it was during holiday breaks, late hours on the laptop or in between Lily's naps, I wanted to keep Gals' Guide going.
I also faced a challenge. I was a 35 year old woman who still had a lot of news to share about living in the Big City, but writing new content from scratch wasn't easy. The ladies that initial wrote for Gals' Guide had new projects of their own and the world of 20 something blogs were continuing to surge.
No, I needed to do something different and offer a utility that women fresh out of school could really use.
I can't remember how many discussions and brainstorms I had with fellow civic minded folks, developers and my husband (he was the ultimate trooper). Around this time, I discovered the beauty of new data released by not only Chicago, but the federal government. And that data was dying to be crafted in a way that made sense.
Through relentless asking and luck, I found a fellow civic minded developer, Paul. I combed through data sets and Paul brought the tables to life. Once the first versions came back, I was floored. We only took a few data sets as samples, but I finally saw a map of the type of data I could have used when I moved to Chicago.
We are pleased to announce the 'Gals' Guide Map App' (working title).
The idea is simple, but we still need your feedback. Type in an address in Chicago and select various information sets you'd like to learn about. From there,you can overlay Groupon deals and even see which ward you live in. This is the first time I've seen a map that not only shows the name of a neighborhood, but demonstrates the number people living there by age. Wonder how many people walk to work from your neighborhood? This map will show you.
So go ahead. Play around with the app and let us know your feedback (you can do so by clicking the 'feedback' button on the upper left nag). We have more ideas for what we want to pull in here (think UGC), but it's a solid step to help women move to the city with even more context to their neighborhoods.
