Safety Net You Might Want to Set Up

[Rayzur]

I live in a pretty close-knit neighborhood consisting of  about 4 blocks, isolated from the main part of town, secluded off the beaten path...;. We keep a pretty good eye out for each other, maybe because there is so many military, and  intelligence people who live here..... And while it looks like one, its not technically a closed/gated beach, and anyone can come out here, if they can figure out how to get here... which isn't all that hard.. And as summer approaches so do the number of people who frequent our neighborhood, some of whom are not the best intended......

 

One of things we use very effectively is a website called Nextdoor.com for communication. It's specific to your neighborhood, and only invited neighbors can get onto your neighborhood site. I think when they started our site, one of the people basically got all the addresses and sent out postcards to every house.... Now we just tell new neighbors and remind old ones...and twice a year, one of the members sends out postcards to those not on the the site..

 

What's really great about it, is the amount of information you can send out and get back about what is going on in your block. Tonight, one of the neighbors on our site posted a picture taken by his motion camera  of a suspected thief.... Guess whose face we all now know and are on the look out for

 

This is a brief description of the various headings you can post under, and some ideas as to how we at least use it.I wish I could link you to our site just as an example... but the way its set up.. only those in your specific neighborhood can view it. So I'll try to describe it... ..

There's a section called CLASSIFIED, where the neighbor kids offer to babysit or rake your sand, you can sell your junk to your neighbors, and put up any other kind of service, or need (e.g., one neighbor just put up ad to pay a kid $5.00 a week to take their garbage cans out of street after pickup).....The CRIME and SAFETY section is where I saw the suspected thief photo and found out that there have been several car break-ins in the adjacent neighborhood of recent. You can get the latest Tsunami Alert test info there, the calendar for first responder training, the Personal Preparedness Academy announcements and the police log from neighbor posters... (yeah no worries, there will always be a few neighbors who are really into the 411 and will post this)

DOCUMENTS is where neighbors post about city meetings, council decisions, and any new proposals for area. FREE ITEMS is where you give your neighbors the stuff you couldn't convince them to buy in the classifieds... I always post the tons of packing peanuts I get and they are always gone in a day... GENERAL is where we talk about things like our neighborhood improvement plans.. (yeah there are always those ... ), Christmas tree disposal, water issues, the power outage that happened last night, etc etc.. LOST and FOUND is where our neighbor announces that she once again lost her cat Pearl, and we all go out and look for Pearl and always find her... or finding the wallet that fell off the top of your car.. etc RECOMMENDATIONS  is the place we talk about exceptionally good service somewhere... like I just found this great honest mechanic,  type thing, or a great doctor, or hair person... etc etc kind of like a free Angies list... (only more cool cause you can go smack your neighbor up the head if their advice suked).

 

In any event, just thought I would share what has been for us a very useful way to stay on top of what directly impacts the neighborhood we live it, and how it might effect us.... If you don't have a site for your neighborhood... you can set it up... I've posted the link that explains the site and its mission and I think you can go from there to set it up.... I've yet to find a downside to this, at least in my area... ... then again, beach living is usually mellow people who mind their own business and don't really have the desire to know much about yours...  You can participate as much or little as you want... (and there's usually always some marge in charge who is happy to take the lead on the posting... ). Personally I really appreciate I can get the 411 as to what's going on around here, which is something specific to you that you'll never get in local news or reports...

 

Hope those who try it benefit from it as much as we have here... .

 

https://nextdoor.com/about_us/

Edited April 18, 2014 by Rayzur

[Saint]

Thanks Rayzur, great info for community intelligence and safety. With summer around the corner and lots of young children outside playing this is a great piece of information.

[Whatshername]

Big +1 Thank you Rayzur! What a great idea

[pattyangel]

Doing it here in my neck of the woods.  It's one way of knowing your neighbors and not knowing them. 

 

We had an incident of a huge storage fire, took over 100 responders to fight it. It happen around 2 am and my phone was going off like crazy.  I live just a few blocks away and the neighbors were out and ready to help their neighbors closer to the vicinity of the fire, with their water hoses, in fact they were already spraying the roofs of each others roofs.  It was awesome seeing the surrounding neighborhoods come to the rescue. We had hot spots for days.  Fortunately no homes were involved.  But some of the community did lose a lot of their items.  Talking antique cars, boats, furniture, RV's and so much more. One company stored his musical instruments. 

 

It was a sad day for them and all who lost so much. 

 

The community came together not only for each other, for the first responders, they lost days of sleep fighting flare ups.  We took them meals, snacks and more to show our appreciation.  They were most grateful and touched by our responses. 

 

So I recommend to all neighborhoods, it is a vital line to caring for each other. 

[SnowGlobe7]

This is a great idea!!!

 

Thanks Rayzur girl for sharing! Good to know it is working in other places as well Pattyangel!

 

You gals are awesome!!!

[nannab]

Thanks for the info Rayzur. Great idea!!

[Maggie123]

Thank You Rayzur... Wonderful Idea And Great Post!!!

[boosterbglee]

Good info Rayzur, appreciate the post!    

[LAWRENCEOFDINARIA]

Thank you Rayzur, 

That is great information. We watch out for each other here on the lake, without trying to be nosey at the same time. Communication is always the key it seems 

[Rayzur]

Found this news article after I posted. It came out a few months ago. This is actually a much a better general explanation of its intention and how it works, and it also gives you the general info on how to set it up.... ... And as you can see.... our Marge in Charge is a guy..... I just love me some of them junior officers promoting up into the senior ranks with all that wonderful energy,  to take the lead as a project officer.

And thanks for the additional info PA... so great to hear such good things and fantastic results coming from a great idea and hopefully it will catch on and grow huge... I can't help but think that when we are united, we stand stronger against those who would wish us harm......

 

Sean Brownlee of xxx xxxxx Beach  set up a Nextdoor neighborhood for residents... (DAVID ROYAL/The Herald)

It used to be people could interact with their communities without the need of touch screens. But as more people rely heavily on their smartphones and tablets, some feel online social networks are growing more familiar than their own neighborhoods.

 

"Technology has kind of driven people indoors. Nextdoor wants to reverse that," said Jen Burke, communications manager at Nextdoor, a social network based in San Francisco.

 

Nextdoor is a free online community for real-world neighborhoods, and its popularity is rising. In 2012, 14 neighborhoods in xxxx were registered with Nextdoor. Now, more than 80 are using it.

 

To join, a person, called a lead, sets up a neighborhood on Nextdoor by creating an account and setting his or her neighborhood's boundaries on a map. When new users from within that neighborhood join Nextdoor, the information they share on the website stays within the neighborhood, rather than spreading to a global network as it can on Facebook or Twitter, said Burke.

 

"I think that there's a lot of overlap between social networks, so it's about what value a site brings," said Sean Brownlee, the lead for the xxx xxxxx Beach neighborhood in x0xoxoxx. "The No. 1 thing that they offer is privacy", which is critical to majority of those living in this particular neighborhood. Brownlee said that number of resident government people far exceeds those who are not, and this is a big concern for all of them.

 

People trying to launch a neighborhood or join an existing one on Nextdoor must verify that they live in that neighborhood. They can do this instantly with a credit card — Nextdoor says it doesn't charge the card, but confirms a user's location with the billing address — or request to have Nextdoor mail them a postcard with a unique registration code. Neighborhood leads can also invite new members with emails or postcards.

 

"Privacy is critical. That is one of our priorities," Burke said. "You can be sure you are talking to the people in your neighborhood."

Neighbors use Nextdoor to share recommendations for businesses in the community; report crimes or safety concerns; sell things; and coordinate events, according to information provided by the company.

 

Neighbors on xxx xoxoxo Beach have used the site to ask for help looking for lost dogs, said Brownlee, adding that all the lost dogs have been found. People have also used it to arrange for neighbors to look after their houses while they're away. One Del Monte family needed someone to take their garbage to the curb while they were on vacation, Brownlee said. Because of this, neighbors who lived three doors apart met for the first time.

 

"You can live next door to somebody and not even know their name," he said. About one in four Americans couldn't name any of their neighbors, next door or otherwise, according to a 2010 study performed by the Pew Research Center.

 

Many people feel they don't need another online social network, said deputy Ryan Kennedy of the different area County Sheriff's Office. Kennedy said he felt the same way at first, but Nextdoor has been a valuable addition to his social networking portfolio.

 

"People say I don't need another one, but the others have a focus on you. This one focuses on a community. It's going to help you connect with people you may not now," Kennedy said.

 

Kennedy and the sheriff's office use Nextdoor to share information with neighborhoods in their jurisdiction. When the department sends posts to neighborhoods, it will only see the responses neighbors have to those posts, said Burke. In other words, deputies can't see conversations between neighbors on Nextdoor.

 

"We're getting more information because we're reaching more people in the community," said Kennedy. "It's almost like having another set of eyes on the street."

 

Some xxx xxxxx Beach residents have been reluctant to join Nextdoor, but they are the same people who are not using other social networks, according to Brownlee. We've seen nothing but good things," he said.

 

More than 28,000 neighborhoods across the country have registered with Nextdoor, which launched in October 2011, Burke said. It is available in all 50 states.

 

[chess]

Great idea....passing it on to family!

[mrparrot]

Instead of taking all that time to set

one up for my neighborhood, can I just

buy the house next to Rayzur's...?

[Rayzur]

Hey McGee ole buddy!!! Where ya been.... And you are in LUCK.... honestly, I think the guy down the street on the corner is selling his house. He is selling as a private individual... so he'll probably cut ya a good deal..... How are you at kayaking??? If you're any good you can be on my team... if your not... hey no worries, my neighbor is really nice guy and will love you...   And I'll gladly lend you my dive gear... I won't be using it in the waters at your door... wayyyy toooo cold for this wimp... I am warm water only.... Oh, and could you hurry up and buy it so you can come over and help me with my annual move the sand  in my yard festival? The guy down the street has a bobcat and would lend it to me, but I can't get it into the side yard dern it.... And because its your first year here, I'll go under the house and flush out the new racoons taking up residence if you will herd them into the cages..... See ya soon