Want a forum to exchange recommendations, learn about upcoming events and receive emergency updates -- tailored to the exact streets around where you live?
Last week, the City of Campbell began participating in Nextdoor, a neighbor-to-neighbor social networking site for locals. Topics of discussion on the site include school activities, disaster preparedness, upcoming garage sales and lost pets.
“We wanted to provide another tool for residents to communicate with each other, and for us to communicate with them,” said Al Bito, Assistant to the City Manager.
As of Monday, five Campbell neighborhoods and 200 residents had signed up for the free site, according to Bito.
Instead of checking the City of Campbell website, said Bito, these residents will have updates -- such as emergency and road work alerts -- customized to their neighborhood, and delivered directly to them.
“We can give folks the information that affects their neighborhood only,” he said.
Prospective members of the site must first verify that they live in the neighborhood by having a verification postcard mailed to them, or having another neighbor recommend that they join.
All of the information shared on the website is password protected, and can’t be tapped into by those outside of the neighborhood, or through search engines. Unlike an email listserve, the neighborhood posts are organized and archived for future reference.
Launched in 2010, Nextdoor is a San Francisco startup funded by Benchmark Capital and Shasta Ventures.
