The GIS Starter Series, Part 1: What to Build First (and Who It Helps)

A practical checklist of maps and apps that get real traction in city departments.

When you’re starting a GIS program from scratch — or maybe using GIS in just one department — a big part of the job is convincing others it’s worth investing in.

You can see all the glorious ways GIS could benefit your agency. But how do you get them to buy in?

With every city set up a little differently — different departments, different budgets, different levels of tech-savviness — there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy. But here are some ideas I’ve seen work across multiple local governments.

These are real examples of maps, apps, and data I’ve helped develop that turned skeptics into champions. In future posts, I’ll show you how to build some of these. While Esri provides a ton of templates and solutions, it can get a little overwhelming when you’re just getting started. Think of this as a starter checklist — a jump-off point for what GIS can do across your organization.

I’ve also included a few example apps from other agencies to help illustrate what these ideas look like in the real world. Sometimes, seeing how another city solved a problem is all it takes to spark internal buy-in.

Note: If you can find one champion in your organization — or better yet, in each department — it makes all the difference.

By creating more web-accessible GIS tools, the goal is to:

• Reduce calls and email requests to City staff

• Free up time for deeper work

• Keep both staff and the public better informed

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Agency-wide

• Agency-wide Hub

  Hubs are relatively easy to set up and serve as a one-stop shop for all GIS in your agency.

  

  GIS Hub - City of Alamogordo, NM

• Base Map Viewer
  Parcel lookup, land use, zoning, transportation, city limits — all in one place.
  (Or break it into separate zoning and land use apps.)

  

  Map Spokane (includes hyperlinks in parcel pop-up) - City of Spokane, WA

• Report-a-Problem App
  Let residents report potholes, graffiti, or damaged signs.
  This can be integrated with a Work Order Management System (e.g., Lucity, CityWorks, or Tyler).

Citizen Problem Reporter - City of Woodland, CA

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Public Works

• Street Sweeping Map
  Helps residents understand when to move their cars and reduces complaints.

Street Sweeping - City of Garden Grove, CA

• Utility Viewer
  Internal or public-facing map of stormwater, sewer, and water utilities.

Utility Pipelines - Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, CA

• Utility Outage/Shutoff Dashboard

  Water and Sewage utility outages.

Utility Shutoff Dashboard - City of Alamogordo, NM

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Parks & Recreation

• Trail Maps
  Offer printable PDFs or a mobile-friendly trail web app.

• Park Facility Viewer
  Map of amenities, with pop-ups that link to rental info, hours, or forms.

Irvine City Park Locator - City of Irvine, CA

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Fire

• Fire Service Maps (Digital or Print)
  District maps with addresses, hydrants, access roads, and building footprints.

• Hydrant Inspection App
  For tracking inspections and maintenance, especially in the field.

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Planning

• Zoning Lookup App

  

  eZoning (includes hyperlinks to Zoning ordinance) - City of Encinitas, CA

• Future/Existing Land Use Layers

• Neighborhood and HOA Viewer

• Citizen Notification Tool (to generate mailing labels and buffers)

• Historic Buildings StoryMap

City Planning and Historic Preservation StoryMap - City of Columbus, OH

• Annexation Viewer

• Affordable Housing Inventory Map

Affordable and Senior Rental Units - City of Carlsbad, CA

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Emergency Services

• Large Format Base Maps for EOC Use
  Paper maps are often quickest in emergency operations.

• External GIS Backup
  Offline backup of your full GIS dataset in case of outages.

• Floodplain/FIRM Map App

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Engineering

• Survey Control Viewer
  Includes monument data and documentation.

• Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) App or Dashboard
  Helps staff and citizens see the status of projects across the city.

  

  Buckeye CIP Dashboard - City of Buckeye, AZ

• Bikeway Network Map

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Administrative Services

• Voting District or Council District Map

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Building & Permitting

• Permit Viewer
  Map permits spatially — optionally integrated with your permitting platform.

Permit Activity (hyperlinks tied to Accela) - City of Spokane, WA

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Finance

• Tax District Viewer

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Police

• Crime Mapping Tool
  Can be internal-only or public, depending on the use case.

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What’s Next?

Start with 1–2 departments that regularly receive questions or calls that could be handled with a simple map or dashboard. Build something useful, get feedback, then build on it.

In the next few posts, I’ll show how to:

• Organize your ArcGIS Online content and folders

• Create ArcGIS Pro templates

• Build shareable dashboards and apps from scratch

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