On The Porch

View the live project here: On The Porch

This project is a collaboration between RethinkAI and the Community Sentiment and Public Safety initiative within the PIT-NE Impact Fellowship 2025. Our four-person team built this modern, mobile-first web app for exploring public safety data. We achieved this through chat interaction with a large language model (LLM) and a dynamic neighborhood map that displays relevant data about 311 service requests, 911 reports, and select community spaces.

The aim of this project is to help the Talbot-Norfolk Triangle (TNT) community within Dorchester better understand and share their experiences with public safety by combining real community voices with official city data. By putting these sources of information in conversation, we hope to create a centralized hub of community and official knowledge that allows community members and local organizations to understand their neighborhood’s challenges and strengths, ultimately using this information as a jumping-off point for action and advocacy.

Our version of this ongoing project builds on an existing prototype with new data sources, an accessible interface, and features that empower community members to go deeper into the available data.

Work on this project was guided by Talbot Norfolk Triangle Neighbors United, a civic association of residents, local businesses, churches, schools, and non-profit partners working together to create a thriving community that is more eco-friendly, healthier, safer, connected, and economically-empowered. This organization represents 26 blocks in Dorchester and hosts community meetings, which has been an integral part of this project’s data collection and dialogue with community stakeholders.