Background

When I began volunteering at Code for KC, I had the fortune of being introduced to Wyandotte County's director of project development. She had recently unveiled a new proposal called the Neighborhood Revitalization Act, which offered tax incentives for investing in underdeveloped properties. Although the project had already been unveiled, her department was having difficulty spreading awareness among the general public. To assist with outreach, she proposed to us an idea for a web application.

Requirements

The application would need...

• To allow users to retrieve data relevant to their zoning area.

• An interactive map using data from the county's ArcGIS database.

• Calculations based on specific property and investment types.

• To return a tax rebate using user submitted data.

Development

Excited to assist, I worked alongside a small group of developers to produce the application using React. My role was to put together the app's form layout, as well as the interactive map and zone selection component. For the form, I utilized Semantic UI, as accessibility was a high priority. Developing the map was a much more involved process. I pulled the zoning data from the county's ArcGIS database via their REST API, and rendered the GeoJSON data as interactive polygons using Leaflet. As development was underway, we utilized GitHub's built-in Kanban board for project management.

Outcome

Upon the project's completion, the calculator was used both by the Wyandotte County government, as well as the county's general population. It was also featured on Code for KC's website as an example for future civic coding projects.