GIS Tools for City Staff

What is GIS?

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a technology that helps you visualize, analyze, and understand data based on location. It connects data to places, giving you insights that can help make better decisions and improve services. Whether you’re working on infrastructure, community projects, or city services, GIS offers tools that make data easier to understand and act upon.

How Bellevue is Already Using GIS

GIS is already part of several key initiatives across the City of Bellevue:

Transportation: GIS helps with the Vision Zero Initiative, using crash data to map high-risk areas and support street safety improvements. It also plays a role in optimizing traffic flow and planning new transportation routes.
Parks & Community Services: Our Parks Department uses GIS to map recreation areas, plan new parks, and ensure that facilities are accessible to everyone. GIS also supports conservation efforts by analyzing tree canopy coverage and park usage trends.
Utilities: GIS is used to map water and sewer lines, track infrastructure maintenance, and analyze utility usage. This helps the Utilities Department manage resources more efficiently and respond quickly to service requests.
Finance & Asset Management: By using GIS to map city-owned properties, the Finance & Asset Management Department can keep track of assets and analyze their value over time. This allows for smarter financial planning and decision-making.
Community Development: GIS supports planning and development by mapping zoning data, building permits, and land use. This helps the city manage growth and ensure that new developments align with Bellevue’s vision.
City Manager’s Office: GIS supports decision-making for city-wide initiatives, helping visualize data for everything from economic development to public safety planning.
Bellevue Police: The Bellevue Police Department uses GIS through the Police Transparency Hub, an interactive site powered by dashboards. This allows the public to access up-to-date information on crime statistics, use-of-force incidents, and other key data. These tools help the department maintain transparency and build trust with the community by making important data accessible and easy to understand. Staff can request custom analyses or visualizations to support ongoing transparency initiatives.

How You Can Use GIS in Your Department

Every department in Bellevue can benefit from using GIS. Here are a few ways it can help your work:

Transportation: Request spatial analysis for optimizing traffic routes, planning new infrastructure projects, or mapping public transit routes to improve city mobility.
Utilities: Use GIS to manage water, sewer, and stormwater systems, track maintenance schedules, and respond to infrastructure issues more effectively.
Parks & Community Services: Use GIS to visualize park usage patterns, plan facility improvements, or map out potential areas for new park development.
Finance & Asset Management: GIS can help you manage city-owned properties by mapping asset locations, evaluating their condition, and planning for future investments.
Human Resources: Use GIS to map employee distribution across city facilities or analyze workforce demographics. GIS can help you make data-driven decisions on resource allocation and facility management.
Community Development: Visualize zoning and land use data to guide new developments, ensuring they fit within Bellevue’s long-term plans. GIS can also help analyze the impact of new housing or commercial projects on the surrounding community.
City Manager’s Office: Request custom maps or interactive applications to help communicate city-wide initiatives or visualize key data for decision-making.

Leverage Self-Serve GIS Tools

We’ve recently rolled out ArcGIS Portal in addition to ArcGIS Online to give staff more control over their projects. If you’re ready to take on the challenge of building your own maps or apps, here’s how you can get started:

ArcGIS Online and Portal: These platforms allow you to create interactive maps and applications that can be shared with others. For example, if you’re working on a community project, you can build a map that shows nearby city services, event locations, or construction zones.
Interactive Mapping: You can create maps that are interactive and user-friendly, allowing users to zoom in, filter data, and explore specific areas of interest. This could be useful for public engagement projects or internal planning.
Self-Service Mapping: We provide templates and guidance to help you create your own maps using ArcGIS Pro. Whether it’s mapping resources, running analyses, or building an app for public use, the tools are available for anyone ready to explore GIS.

Requesting GIS Services

If creating your own maps isn’t for you, our team is here to help. You can request a wide range of GIS services, such as:

Custom Mapping: Need a specific map for a project? We can provide anything from static maps to interactive web applications that allow for public or internal use.
Data Analysis: We offer simple or complex spatial analysis services, from finding the nearest facilities to running multi-criteria decision models. Let us know what kind of insights you need, and we’ll help make it happen.
Open Data: For public-facing projects, we provide access to open data, helping support transparency and public engagement. Whether you’re working on a community development project or a new public service, we can help get the data you need out to the public.

Get Involved with GIS

GIS can help every department in Bellevue work smarter and more efficiently. If you think GIS can help with your next project, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Geospatial Technology Services Team. Whether you’re looking to map data, analyze trends, or engage the public, we have the tools and expertise to support your work.