In many metropolitan areas, the rate at which rural land is being converted to commercial and residential uses has outpaced rates of population growth.  Meanwhile, inner-city communities in those same cities suffer from neglect and decay.  Nashville, Tennessee has in recent years been recognized as one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., both in terms of sprawl and population increase.  Many inner-city residents have begun to notice the early signs of urban decay and are taking pro-active steps to stem the tide.  This paper chronicles a cooperative effort among the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods, the Neighborhoods Resource Center (NRC), and the Tennessee State University (TSU) Geographic Information Sciences (GISc) Laboratory to assist inner-city community organizations to document and map problem sites.  The primary objective of the project is to streamline the codes enforcement and reporting process to better serve citizens.

"Neighborhood Livability Audits" conducted by inner-city residents under the direction of the NRC produced hardcopy handwritten reports with the street addresses of potential city code violations such as dilapidated buildings, abandoned cars, illegal dumping, etc.  Staff at the GISc converted the audit reporting documents into a digital "data dictionary" which was uploaded onto a hand-held global positioning systems (GPS) unit.  A pilot study was then conducted during an audit in the Salemtown community using GPS to log problem sites. Initial results indicate that GPS is a viable tool for expediting the audit data collection process.  The output was used to produce electronic spreadsheets that were converted into geographic information systems (GIS) maps.  The resulting maps with supporting attribute databases and digital photographs have the potential to allow residents to locate and monitor the status of problem sites, including those without  identifiable street addresses. Informed citizens will be better able to encourage the Metropolitan Health Department and other responsible city agencies to take corrective active action.