Map Genius

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

The Map Genius is a mobile ready web based mapping application designed to give the residents of Alachua County the ability to quickly and easily answer questions about their property from any browser, smartphone or tablet. Questions like “What is my zoning?”, “Is my property in a flood zone?”, “What school district am I in?” and “Who is my Commissioner?” The application integrates data from many local sources including local Municipalities, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, School Board and all County Departments. For example, zoning and future land use data includes all municipalities, parcel data comes directly from the Property Appraiser and addressing from the E-911 office. Accuracy and Verification are vital to the user, so a large part of the design was to feed data sourced directly from the provider, wherever possible. The Map Genius integrates metadata, resources, references, and other mapping tools that are easily findable by intuitive tools, gestures and tips. For example, quick links are provided for building permits, plats and census information. The interface gives users the ability to quickly search by name, address or parcel number from one search box or by clicking directly on the map to gather information on a parcel. The Map Genius was designed as a community resource with the vision of having one portal where anyone could access all of the information related to their property regardless of what municipality they lived in, alleviating the frustration that residents previously have experienced trying to gather information from a multitude of sources and websites. The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive and we continue to find new users and uses for this product. The Map Genius was created in house by Jimmy Collins and can be found here: http://mapgenius.alachuacounty.us