Cupofsugar.com? Helpful Neighborhood Websites
A pair of neighborly websites help build community at the micro level.
By Seattle Mag April 3, 2013
This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.
Forget leaning over the hedge, that’s so Home Improvement. Seattleites who want to borrow a rake, report a loose dog or just meet the family next door are turning to the Web as a substitute for—or a spur to—old-fashioned front-stoop chitchat.
San Francisco–based Nextdoor.com, launched in 2011, connects neighbors through a sort of geographically restricted version of Facebook. Not surprisingly, the posts tend to be immediate and utilitarian: nanny recommendations, block-watch updates, lost-and-found reports. According to a company spokesperson, 75 percent of Seattle neighborhoods were on the site as of January 2013.
Launched in the Queen Anne neighborhood in early 2012, Fremont-based Knoq.com harnesses the neighbors-as-resource idea for the practical mission of “making it easier to get things done around the house.” The central philosophy being that a recommendation for a handyman for example, from someone you sort of know is better than the Yelp of a complete stranger. Scheduled to be available to all Seattle neighborhoods this month, Knoq.com also offers deals and discounts on some prescreened local businesses.
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