SafeHOU

SafeHOU: prototype interface and core workflow.
SafeHOU: prototype interface and core workflow.
SafeHOU: product demo cover.

Inspiration

The Houston Streets challenge left room for a practical tool that helps a neighborhood ask better questions about walking, cycling, transit, and street design. SafeHOU starts with signals people can inspect and a brief they can carry into a conversation.

What it does

SafeHOU maps bounded clusters of Houston 311 pothole, lighting, vehicle, and drainage requests. Visitors can inspect a transparent age-weighted input, add a private on-device observation, compare sourced design prompts, build a shortlist, and export a Markdown neighborhood brief.

How I built it

The app uses Vite and vanilla browser modules with Leaflet, an Express and TypeScript backend, PostgreSQL and Drizzle ORM, Google Identity and session foundations, and official links to Houston Complete Streets, 311, and FHWA guidance. Observations remain local until a person chooses to export or copy them.

Challenges

311 is a service-request source, not a crash or route-safety dataset. The formula stays visible, signal volume is not turned into an engineering recommendation, and illustrative package snapshots are separated from current measurements.

Accomplishments

The prototype combines map and list exploration, transparent cluster detail, private observations, a formula-backed shortlist, official design guidance, and an exportable brief. It provides a concrete conversation aid without labeling a corridor safe or unsafe.

What I learned

A transparent method can be more valuable than a confident score when the underlying data is incomplete. The observation layer is useful because it shows what the source does not capture, as long as it stays clearly separated.

What's next

The next step is to choose one real corridor with residents and transportation partners, verify the current signals, and test which additional data or field observations improve the conversation. Any design decision would still belong to the responsible public process.