The Town of Wake Forest and the Wake Forest Police Department announced Monday a partnership with Nextdoor (www.nextdoor.com), the free and private social network for neighborhoods.
The integration with Nextdoor will enable the town and the police department to connect directly with residents in Wake Forest neighborhoods in a collaborative attempt to build safer communities, develop stronger relationships and strengthen virtual neighborhood watch efforts.
“We are excited to officially partner with Nextdoor,” said Communications & Public Affairs Director Bill Crabtree. “We believe this initiative will foster two-way communication and offer us another useful way to effectively communicate with our residents about issues that matter most to them.”
Free for both Wake Forest residents and the town, Nextdoor allows neighborhoods to establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor websites. Residents who join their neighborhood websites can share information about neighborhood public safety issues, community events and activities, local services and more. Nextdoor also allows the town and the police department to post news advisories and emergency notifications and announcements about programs, services and special events to Nextdoor websites within Wake Forest.
The town and police department will not be able to access residents’ websites, contact information or content. Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by Google or other search engines.
Nextdoor has already proven to be a well-adopted tool for many Wake Forest residents. To date, 56 Wake Forest neighborhoods have started their own Nextdoor websites which are accessible only to residents who verify that they live in the neighborhood.
Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit www.nextdoor.com and enter their address. If Nextdoor is available in their area, they can immediately sign up. If a Nextdoor website has not yet been established for their area, active and engaged neighbors are invited to apply to bring Nextdoor to their neighborhood.
Citizens who have questions about their Nextdoor website are encouraged to visit help.nextdoor.com.
For more information, contact Communications & Public Affairs Director Bill Crabtree at 919-435-9421 or bcrabtree@wakeforestnc.gov.
Nextdoor is the private social network for the neighborhood. Using Nextdoor’s free platform, available on the Web or on the Nextdoor App for iPhone, neighbors create private neighborhood websites where they get to know one another, ask questions, exchange local advice and recommendations, and organize virtual neighborhood watches to reduce crime.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., Nextdoor is a privately held company with the backing of prominent investors, including Benchmark, Greylock Partners, Shasta Ventures, and Bezos Expeditions. Nextdoor has been named one of Time Magazine’s 50 Best Websites of 2013 and one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Brilliant Companies. The company was recently chosen by the San Francisco Business Times as one of its 2013 Tech & Innovation award winners for Best Startup. More than 17,000 neighborhoods across the country are using Nextdoor to build happier, safer places to call home.
