BALTIMORE, MD—Many cities in the U.S. offer a 311-type service so that residents can report “non-emergency” issues such as trash dumping, graffiti, potholes, street lights, etc. – but some areas use this service far more than others.
MoverDB reports that Baltimore residents complain more about their neighborhood than residents of any other city, calling the 311 service 17,551 times per 10,000 residents per year.
Baltimore City established the first 311 service as a non-emergency alternative to 911 on October 2, 1996, and the idea quickly spread across the U.S. and Canada. New York City alone has received over half a billion 311 reports since launching in 2003, of which 360 million (68.4%) came in as phone calls. MoverDB looked at the number of 311 calls made in each city over the past year before zooming in on the ZIP codes about which these calls were made.
Sacramento, CA came in second place and Albany, NY came in at No. 3 on the list.
Baltimore started the first 311, and it remains the most popular — although that may not be a positive thing. It is one of just three cities (along with Sacramento and Albany) where there is more than one call per resident per year. In Baltimore’s case, the average resident makes 1.76 calls. A 2019 analysis revealed that, while issues raised in the Southeast of the city were almost always resolved within seven working days, calls from the Southwest almost always took longer. Some four out of ten calls were residents following up on previous calls.
The full report is available here at MoverDB and additional details are available in the graphic below.
Photo via Pixabay
