Getting Started

How to use the Montgomery Civic Hub — from choosing your portal to asking your first question.

Step 1: Visit the Civic Hub

Go to the Montgomery Civic Hub at montgomery-civic-hub.vercel.app. You’ll land on the homepage with an overview of all six portals.

No account or login required — the platform is free and open to everyone.

Step 2: Choose Your Portal

Click on the portal that matches your needs:

If you are…	Choose	Route
A Montgomery resident with questions about your neighborhood	Resident Portal	/resident
A business owner or entrepreneur	Business Portal	/business
A city employee or government staff	City Staff Portal	/citystaff
A researcher, journalist, or analyst	Researcher Portal	/researcher
A department head, mayor’s office, or city leadership	Executive Portal	/executive
A data analyst or planner wanting cross-district insights	Insights Portal	/insights

Not sure which portal to use? The Resident Portal is the best starting point for general questions about Montgomery. You can switch portals at any time.

Step 3: Explore the Dashboard

Each portal gives you a two-panel layout:

• Left panel — AI Chat (ask questions in plain English)
• Right panel — Data views (Map, Table, or Chart tabs)

The data panel has three tabs you can switch between:

• Map — Interactive map with color-coded data points
• Table — Sortable, filterable data table
• Chart — Trend visualizations

Many portals also have dedicated sub-pages accessible from the navigation bar. These provide specialized views like live newsfeeds, staffing dashboards, vacant land explorers, civil rights heritage maps, and more.

Step 4: Ask a Question

Type any question into the chat. The AI assistant will:

1. Query Montgomery’s ArcGIS datasets for structured data
2. Search the web for additional context when needed
3. Return a clear, data-backed answer
4. Optionally control the dashboard to show you relevant data visually

Example Questions by Portal

Resident Portal

• “What is the flood zone for 100 Dexter Ave?”
• “When is my garbage pickup?”
• “How many open 311 requests are in District 5?”
• “Where are the community centers near downtown?”
• “Show me the latest news about Montgomery infrastructure”
• “What are the emergency contacts for my district?”

Business Portal

• “What permits are active near downtown Montgomery?”
• “How many new business licenses were issued this year?”
• “What’s the zoning for parcels on Eastern Blvd?”
• “Show me available vacant land in Capitol Heights”
• “What city-owned properties are available for development?”
• “Suggest reuse ideas for vacant parcels near downtown”

City Staff Portal

• “Give me an executive briefing on District 3 paving projects”
• “What’s the 311 request trend this quarter vs last?”
• “How many open code violations are in each district?”
• “Show pavement assessment scores for major corridors”
• “Generate a staffing report for the MPD”
• “What’s the 911 center vacancy rate?”

Researcher Portal

• “What’s the spatial distribution of code violations by census tract?”
• “Show business license activity trends from 2018-2024”
• “Fly to the Rosa Parks Museum on the map”
• “What civil rights landmarks are in Montgomery?”
• “Show me the demographics breakdown by district”
• “Compare pre and post-pandemic permit activity”

Executive Portal

• “Generate a morning briefing”
• “Give me a detailed briefing with all metrics”
• “What alerts need my attention today?”
• “How are districts comparing on service delivery?”
• “Show me the public safety pulse”

Insights Portal

• “Switch to the equity analysis tab”
• “Show me the scorecard for District 4”
• “Generate a data story about service equity”
• “What are the trending metrics this quarter?”
• “Compare 311 response rates across districts”

Step 5: Interact with the Data

The AI can control the dashboard for you. Depending on the portal, it may:

• Switch to the Map, Table, or Chart tab automatically
• Toggle map layers on or off
• Adjust the year filter range
• Show or hide council district boundaries
• Navigate to portal sub-pages
• Generate reports and briefings
• Filter data by neighborhood, status, or category
• Fly to specific landmarks on the map
• Switch between dashboard sections and tabs

You can also control everything manually using the tabs and filters in the data panel.

Take a Tour

Each portal includes a guided onboarding tour. Look for the “Take a Tour” button to get a walkthrough of all features.

Explore Portal Guides

Dive deeper into what each portal offers.