Maybe you’ve heard about the new neighborhood website, NextDoor.com. The company is based in San Francisco and invented the website as a way to help neighborhoods become more safe and connected by allowing the people who live in them to communicate more easily. It’s technically a social media site like many others, except that the people on your feed are your actual, physical, neighbors. Thousands of neighborhoods are already using the site to work toward a safer and more informed environment.

Get to Know the App

It’s free to join the website and provides a private community for you and your neighbors to interact on and easily communicate. When you sign up, you need to enter information about your address and who you are. While it might seem a little unsafe to provide your real address for others to view on a social media site, NextDoor uses a detailed verification process that forces people to be honest about living where they say they do. Besides being able to easily communicate with the real people who live around you, the website provides lots of other great features.

Some of the features included on NextDoor are: spreading news about local crime, finding reliable babysitters, home improvement professionals, and other skilled professionals, and keeping others informed about lost pets. It also creates an opportunity for you to get to know your neighbors better, especially the ones you may not have had a chance to interact much with before.

For many, the best part about using NextDoor is that they can keep track of neighborhood events that are occurring, such as garage sales or cookouts. Neighbors can post when they are looking for a certain item, or if they want to sell something they have in their home that they no longer use. NextDoor provides neighbors with a way to help each other out and stay connected. This website continues to create a stronger sense of community and allows people to feel more at ease in their neighborhoods.

Have you used NextDoor? What are the benefits you’ve seen from utilizing a community centered app?


Michael Leafer is a real estate expert based out of Boston, Ma. As the founder and President of Leaf Management, Michael enjoys finding and renovating new properties on the market. Stop by often for Michael’s latest updates and posts related to the world of real estate.