CityHall App in action | N. Philly contractors flout code | Silverliner V satisfaction | foreclosure auction | Penn and Drexel to share surveillance

Councilman Bobby Henon’s CityHall App is helping to stop bad neighbor behavior through shame. Henon’s CityHall App was released in spring, and now neighborhoods are using it to send eyewitness reports and complaints about nuisance properties. The Daily News reports that “hundreds of Northeast residents download and use it, discovered that when property violations go viral, most offenders cave. If they don’t, [Henon will] summon them to public hearings and alert Licenses & Inspections – which is never good news for a noncomplying city property owner.”

A report issued by City Controller Alan Butkovitz’s office this week details widespread noncompliance with construction/building code and inadequate monitoring of construction activity in the neighborhoods around Temple University, reports PlanPhilly’s Jared Brey. The report confirmed what North Central Philadelphia residents already know: contractors working in their neighborhood aren’t held to the same standards. “When the City doesn’t have a serious view of code enforcement, it incentivizes bad behavior,” Butkovitz said, calling for greater attention and coordination from the L&I, Streets, Water, Health, and Police.

PlanPhilly’s Christine Fisher looked into customer satisfaction with SEPTA’s new Silverliner V railcars – from seats, visibility, and information – and finds a mostly positive response. SEPTA’s biannual customer service survey will launch next month and will solicit more Silverliner V feedback.

Banks are hiring private auction houses to sell off foreclosed properties, so PhillyDeals went to a recent Max Spann-run auction at First District Plaza and found it was a world apart from the old auctions there. This one included soft rocking electric guitarists to set the mood, but the energetic auctioneers only managed to move 21 of 41 mostly-occupied low-rent properties.

Penn and Drexel will begin sharing surveillance cameras in order to fight crime more efficiently across the adjacent campuses, reports the Daily Pennsylvanian. Each school will be able to pull up surveillance footage from five cameras (for starters) on the other’s campus.

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest. Have a tip? Send it along. 

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