Living in Austin is great, but every big city has it’s… issues. You know the type – those villainous minor inconveniences that can cause major headaches like potholes, graffiti, loose dogs, etc…. The kind of issues you wish a hero would swoop in and fix, but aren’t the type of thing the police or fire department need to worry about. I’m here to say that you, good citizen of Austin, can be that hero – by using 311! 311 is the quickest and easiest way to take care of all of those little bugaboos and non-life threatening or legal issues that pop up in our fair city.
Issues like a particularly pernicious pothole near my house. For YEARS I stood idly by as that little devil’s reign of terror afflicted our highly-trafficked residential street. Too many times I said to myself, “Just deal with it, Kathy. There’s nothing YOU can do. Who do you think you are, some kind of municipal services superhero?”
Then, one day I made a discovery. Some might call it my super power origin story. I call it downloading the City of Austin 311 App!
I downloaded the app, and within a minute put in a request to have that wicked pothole fixed. And get this, the city came out and filled it later that day. THAT DAY! After years of suffering, I was able to vanquish my foe in a matter of minutes. I felt like a hero!
In all seriousness, this app is amazing. It brings the power to effect change, via the might of Austin 311, to your fingertips! In addition to being a handy information resource, it makes submitting service requests from the city a breeze. You can even upload a picture of the offending issue so you don’t have to spend hours writing up a detailed report.
Of course, the true heroes of this story were the municipal workers who, you know, actually did the work. But it felt really good – dare I say empowering – to know that I took action that helped make my street a little safer. Or at least a lot less annoying.
You don’t have to use the app to contact 311. You can always dial 3-1-1 (or 512-974-2000 if your phone just won’t dial 3-1-1) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speak with a friendly and knowledgeable City of Austin Ambassador. They’ll even help answer your questions about the city or services that you may have. You can also go to iReportAustin.com, you can email them, or find them on most of the socials.
Download the app by going to Google Play or the App Store and searching Austin 311 and you too can feel like a neighborhood superhero!