Houston Hackathon 2026 · Challenge 12

A clear route
starts with a clear note.

SnapHOU is a small, honest workspace for making Foster Place sidewalk barriers readable before a neighborhood decides what comes next.

Challenge premiseAging in placePedestrian mobility

Original brief: Improve Houston Sidewalks to Enable Aging in Place

02The problem we were givenSource: original challenge brief

A route problem
is also an access problem.

Challenge 12 asks for a small neighborhood system that can document and quantify conditions keeping residents from sidewalks - and use those findings to support better local routes.

!What we are not claiming: SnapHOU has not measured these conditions, verified the challenge narrative, or reported an outcome.

01

Uneven streets

Residents and students may be pushed off the sidewalk and onto a harder route.

Challenge premise

02

Blocked edges

Overgrown vegetation and obstructions can narrow a clear walking path.

Challenge premise

03

Aging in place

The brief centers residents whose properties need external support.

Challenge premise

04

School access

Foster Elementary and Cullen Middle School appear in the brief's route context.

Challenge premise

03The smallest useful loopShipped product boundary

Make a neighborhood picture
people can read.

The first release turns one broad challenge into a bounded, repeatable field-note flow.

01

See

Open the baseline

Start with a real street basemap and clearly labeled approximate examples.

Shipped

02

Narrow

Filter and inspect

Move from five points to one priority, then read the note, source, and status.

Shipped

03

Record

Save the next note

Keep a local draft, publish only through the identity boundary, and keep official paths nearby.

Shipped

ProgressA usable map + list, with a clear line between an example and a community observation.No 311 write-back

04Product proof · captured in productionSeptember 26, 2026

One screen.
Five honest points.

The board makes the current picture legible without inflating what the prototype knows.

5: public examples
≈: block-level points
0: resident submissions claimed

iDemonstrative example · approximate block point.
Not a field survey or City record.

Open the live board ↗

Production capture of the SnapHOU neighborhood board: five approximate points on an Esri street basemap, filters, a readable observation list, and a visible not-a-field-survey disclosure. — Observed product surface · live production capture · no private data

05The practical handoffShipped flow, illustrative form state

Narrow the view.
Leave a block-level note.

A user can filter to an urgent example, inspect its context, and start a field note without exposing a home number.

01Filtercategory · severity · status

02Inspecttimestamp · source · precision

03Publish carefullylocal draft first · Google-gated share

Local draftGoogle-gated publishNo 311 case

Production capture after filtering SnapHOU to one urgent example: the map pin, selected readable list card, and point detail show source, date, approximate block point, and demonstrative disclaimer. — Observed filter + detail state · the form itself is illustrative in the demo

06What is true now · what could come nextNo impact claim

Three levels of honesty.

A useful prototype earns the right to ask for validation; it does not skip it.

01

Progress

Make the board usable.

Map, list, filters, details, export, official resources, local draft, and a clear demo boundary are shipped.

Verified in product

02

Practical

Repeat the field note.

Use a bounded point and a short note to create a consistent starting record that a neighborhood can review.

Workflow hypothesis

03

Potential

Build a verified route plan.

Residents and local partners could validate conditions, prioritize a route, and coordinate next steps.

Needs people + evidence

Still open from the briefWho assesses conditions, prioritizes locations, and coordinates maintenance or repairs?

The next useful step

Start with one
verified route.

Use the prototype to review one block-level note with the people who know the route. Then decide what should be measured, who should coordinate it, and what the neighborhood wants next.

Open SnapHOU Watch the 60-second demo

SnapHOU is a prototype for Challenge 12. It has no verified impact result, City endorsement, or 311 write-back.

Feedback inviteC-10

What should we validate first?

Is the Foster Place focus boundary right?
Which route condition deserves the first field check?
Who should own the next coordination step?

snaphou.sasid.aiOne clear route · one clear note

A clear routestarts with a clear note.

A route problemis also an access problem.

Uneven streets

Blocked edges

Aging in place

School access

Make a neighborhood picturepeople can read.

Open the baseline

Filter and inspect

Save the next note

One screen.Five honest points.

Narrow the view.Leave a block-level note.

Three levels of honesty.

Make the board usable.

Repeat the field note.

Build a verified route plan.

Start with oneverified route.

What should we validate first?

A clear route
starts with a clear note.

A route problem
is also an access problem.

Make a neighborhood picture
people can read.

One screen.
Five honest points.

Narrow the view.
Leave a block-level note.

Start with one
verified route.