The CityHacker Manifesto

Author's note: This post is longer than most on this blog. I consider it an MVP (minimum viable product in startup "speak") at this stage. So, please forgive any poor writing or clarity issues cause it's a 1.0!)

The Problem

If you're not rich, making change for the better in a city is very difficult. Higher literacy rates? Better parks? Thriving performing arts scenes? Good luck.

You can run for office, but that's a grind at best or an exercise in futility at worst. Plus, government isn't a place for action. That's entirely frustrating for people who like to get things done.

You can become an activist in local politics. You lobby local officials, testify at committees and hold public demonstrations. You can stage a protest. When it's over, everyone goes back home to their suburban homes and most times nothing happens. Expecting the government to lead change gets, well, government-level results.

Eventually, you try and burn out. After years of beating one's head against the wall with little success at top-down change, you throw in the towel. The world is full of people who cared and eventually just had enough. Many join the Shouting Class and exercise their frustration by expressing outrage on social media.

Or, you see the situation as impossible and never even try to change things. You stay home and except for sending a few hundred dollars or so a year to your favorite charity, do little to make your community better. Perhaps you vote, but even that feels like a waste of time given overall voter apathy.

Sad, really.

Introducing the CityHacker

I've witnessed a new type of person working on city change. They've given up on activism and conventional philanthropy.

They actually get to make a difference and usually have fun doing it. It doesn't cost much money. These people can't solve every problem but they are making a difference.

It's especially happened here in San Antonio. These people have changed the game regarding city building. I call this person a CityHacker.

CityHackers are people who want to change their city for the better but do it using "Hacker" methods, philosophy and ethos.

Some CityHackers are poor. Some are rich. Some are in the middle of the wealth spectrum. But, all seem to operate under new, different ideas for city building.

What is a Hacker?

Hackers in the technology world are people who short-circuit systems to achieve goals. While the media misuses the work "hacker" to mean someone who is evil, it's actually an older term than that. A hacker gets to know a system so well that they can manipulate it to do what they want.

They also build systems that are clever and elegant in the way they achieve goals. A hacker might combine their home treadmill to recharge their phone, for example.

A hacker is good. They aren't evil. They have good intentions. They just don't like following the path system designers create for them.

Over time, hackers also developed their own core values and perspectives on the world. I won't detail those here but many have found their way into the CityHacker views.

If the world has created a system where an individual citizen can't effect much change, CityHackers hack their city to make it better but they do it outside of the normal paths for change.

What a hacker is to a computer system, a CityHacker is to a city.

CityHacker Core Beliefs

CityHackers look at making change differently. They build systems to make change. They do it with a different set of rules.