I like taking long walks and often stop at a fenced lot wondering what is being built. Finding an answer can mean jumping from a city map to a meeting agenda to a PDF. I built BayDashboard.com to bring housing and transportation projects, meetings, news, and original records together. I changed parts of the site after speaking with municipal planners, and about 1,500 people have used it. Now I want to see whether those records can help neighbors talk to each other in person.

San Jose Change Bingo would be a free local pilot: three workshops in San Jose in spring 2027, followed by one public game night. I would seek a free, accessible room at a San Jose library or community center. No venue is booked yet. At each workshop, residents could bring a question about a nearby project, a changing VTA stop, or a notice they cannot decipher. We would find the original record together, mark the place on a large map, and make a clue card from what we learn. A broken link can be a clue too.

At the game night, people would use the cards to find the places their neighbors asked about. They could add questions to the map and find out when a project is coming before a board or council. Residents would make the cards, so the game would change with the questions they bring. Someone might leave with a neighbor and a plan to attend a hearing. Someone else might finally learn what the fence on their block is for.

I would spread the word through San Jose library and neighborhood calendars, community groups, and BayDashboard. The map and cards could be used again after these four events. With permission, I would add useful source links and residents’ questions back to the site for people who could not attend. The $1,000 would fund the San Jose event.