Community Development In The Digital Age [2024 Guide]

In an OpenGov survey of local government community development professionals, 78% put economic development at the top of their priority list. This likely proves a challenge for municipalities across the country: balancing the demands of growth and development with everyday community needs.

Whether a municipality is experiencing rapid growth or striving to attract growth, the need to effectively manage and support community development customers, contractors, developers, and internal staff, is paramount.

To meet these demands and streamline their processes, many municipalities are turning to digital community development tools. Think of these tools as the glue that binds various development efforts together.

By leveraging online platforms, local governments can efficiently manage workflows, ensure compliance without cutting corners, attract a diverse range of developers—from residential and small commercial to large-scale manufacturers—and plan for the future.

Strategic digitization of government services can not only enhance operational efficiency but also position communities to be more responsive to evolving needs.

Work Smarter, not Harder with Digital Community Development Tools and Techniques

What do residents—current and future—expect from their community? They expect a thriving economy, amenities for all ages, and a safe environment. If your community is able to deliver these, more residents and businesses are sure to follow, fueling further growth and prosperity.

But as the need for housing and other community development rises, so too do the challenges of meeting demand. Local governments face budget woes and staffing shortages, which often lead to backlogs in services that support community development, like permitting and licensing, inspections, and public works projects.

Digital community development tools and techniques streamline processes and overall operations. Yes, implementing these tools requires an up-front investment, but one that will save you money in the long run with reduced labor and more effective decision-making and planning.

By investing in a robust digital infrastructure, you’ll be armed with the tools to effectively manage the complex and growing needs of your community.

Let’s look at ways online tools and techniques can enhance your community development efforts.

Permitting: Delivering Best-In-Class Customer Service

If you’ve ever heard a developer or resident describe your permitting processes as “difficult,” then it’s time for a change. Requiring them to jump through hoops to secure licenses and permits not only leaves them disgruntled, it may prompt them to take their project to the next community.

Today, online access is no longer a luxury—it’s an expectation. By improving services with digital tools like permitting and licensing software built specifically for government, your community can significantly improve processes like contractor license registration, residential and commercial building permitting, and much more. By trading manual processes with online applications and payment systems, you’ll deliver smiles all around.

Developers get 24/7 access to your services, while staff members across departments work within a centralized platform to streamline operations and expedite approvals. With the ability to process and approve permits faster and more efficiently, you’ll go from “difficult” to “responsive.” The best part: Applicants and internal stakeholders get complete transparency into the process.

Move Customers Through the Development Phase with Ease

It’s no secret development projects come with risk. Things like inclement weather and supply chain blockages can take a toll on project timelines and budgets. Sometimes for developers, projects cause one headache after another. You don’t want to add to their pain.

From pre-construction to completion, online community development tools like permitting and licensing software can be a lifeline for developers and your staff. Not only does it help you issue building permits faster, the same holds true for zoning applications, conditional use permits, and variance requests.

Once development starts and contractors are ready for an inspection, they can easily schedule one online. Using digital tools, onsite inspectors can take photos to be viewed by contractors and staff, who get real-time feedback.

By leveraging these tools, your staff and customers will enjoy a smoother, more efficient process. And that can mean the difference between a developer choosing your community or going elsewhere.

Strengthen Internal Visibility to Projects

Developers aren’t the only ones working to build up your community. Your own teams play a vital role in maintaining streets, sidewalks, and underground infrastructure and ensuring parks and other public spaces remain attractive to residents and guests.

Many times, however, these projects are done in silos. For example, has this ever happened in your community: Your Public Works department tears up a street to replace underground pipe only to learn that the street was on a list to be widened less than a year later?

As you can see, internal visibility into these projects is crucial to saving time and money. And that’s a job for asset management software. Without it, departments might inadvertently disrupt each other’s work.

Breaking down these silos through cross-department visibility leads to increased collaboration, greater efficiencies, reduced costs, and optimized service to residents and businesses. By knowing what other departments are doing, teams can prevent redundant efforts and ensure a seamless development process that benefits the entire community.

Developing a Roadmap for the Future

Digital community development tools, like software built for government, is a must-have tool when planning for the future. When developers bring their ideas forward, the software will help you match their proposal against your comprehensive plan, keeping your community’s vision intact.

Deepen your insight by integrating the software with GIS tools like Esri ArcGIS. This dynamic duo proves invaluable, helping you manage your spatial data and enabling you to make informed community development decisions.

When urban planning, for example, you can visualize and analyze land use, zoning, and infrastructure. Plus, GIS integration is key to the smart allocation of public resources.

Data: A Community Development Savior

Data’s power cannot be understated. Data extracted from asset management software pulls back the curtain on assets’ maintenance history and remaining life. It can reveal things otherwise unseen, like recurring public works issues that may stifle community development.

Digital community development tools also save time. Inputting and formatting data in Excel spreadsheets is a thing of the past. Software crunches the data for you, giving you more time to analyze it and make sound community development decisions.

An added bonus: scenario building capabilities. With this powerful online tool, you can forecast community development projects over multiple years, feel more confident in budget building, and answer what-if questions.

Scenario building tells a compelling story. It can be the community development tool that tips the scale in your favor when requesting buy-in from stakeholders and funding from leaders and electors. It also can help you influence state-level organizations that may have programs and funding available to help boost your efforts.

As you can see, digital tools are essential to all phases of your community development efforts, from pre-planning to project completion. With the power of online tools, you’ll ultimately create a more supportive environment for those who are key to your community’s growth and prosperity.