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Cupofsugar.com? Helpful Neighborhood Websites
A pair of neighborly websites help build community at the micro level.
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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Can Alaska Kelp Help Washington Crops Beat the Heat?
A Ketchikan company is working with WSU researchers to see whether its kelp-based biostimulant can help grapes and berries withstand environmental stress.
From the floatplane, reddish-brown kelp traces the edges of the small islands between Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island like brushstrokes on the surface of the water. Up close, on a rare 70-degree July day in Alaska, the kelp is glossy and beautiful, though the wind coming off the water makes it nearly impossible to…
PlantCon Is Coming for Seattle’s Windowsills
The nation’s largest gathering for houseplant lovers makes its Pacific Northwest debut this August with 200 booths, hands-on workshops, and a DJ.
My house is full of plants, enough that I’ve lost count. Houseplants have the same suspicious math as tattoos: One is rarely the final number. I propagate cuttings in jars of water, regularly rearrange corners of the house in pursuit of better light, and like to imagine the entire collection is improving the air. That…
Noir Lux Lights Up Fourth Avenue
The Seattle candle brand’s new two-level pop-up brings workshops and community gatherings downtown through September.
It’s often said that good things come in threes, and for Colina Bruce, founder of the lifestyle and home fragrance brand Noir Lux, that’s certainly proving true. With a flagship shop in Belltown and an outpost in Ballard, Bruce is rounding out a Noir Lux trio with the opening of the Noir Lux Collective on…
Better Together: This Take on Co-Housing Emphasizes Quality and Community
The Seattle project presents an out-of-the-box model, where investors are also residents, and the design focuses on longevity and tenant retention—not profit.
Growing up in rural Detroit, Chad Dale spent many after-school and weekend hours playing with neighborhood kids in an open lot near his house. It’s an experience he always hoped his children would have someday, but by the time he became a father in Seattle, land was at a premium: either already developed or prohibitively…