Neighborhood Groups

July 4, 2024 1:59 PM

Outside of Facebook groups, are there any apps/websites/etc. that let neighbors with similar hobbies find and communicate with each other? I live in a large master planned community. We have Facebook groups but they are a disorganized hodge podge of groups for moms, dads, parents of teens, and some special interest groups. I love to hike. I would love to create a way to let the hikers in my neighborhood find each other, organize hikes or share when they are available to hike. I am sure someone else would love to find people and times to play chess.

Nextdoor is just bad and not what I am looking for. Meetups aren't as hyperlocal as I would like. I could create a Facebook group but it lacks the features I need and general discoverability.

What I really want is a single site for my neighborhood that lets myself and others find and organize with people that share hobbies, e.g. mountain bike, play poker, do yoga, etc.

Any advice on making this a reality is much appreciated!

If this doesn't exist, have you seen a neighborhood better solve this problem with a website or newsletter or other medium that let's people in large neighborhoods find, socialize and organize with their activity tribes?

posted by jasondigitized to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

This is what paper flyers on lightposts are for!
posted by heatherlogan at 3:02 PM on July 4 [4 favorites]

The only really successful versions of this I've seen in the wild are facebook groups or relatively centralized mailing lists. I know you've been dissatisfied with FB groups as a "disorganized hodge podge" but the very nature of those groups also allows anybody to spin them up. I myself know about several "Runners in X neighborhood" type groups that are perfectly successful.

I've also seen versions of this that are more centralized, where an individual or small group regularly puts together events and advertises them via mailing list and/or instagram and/or FB group and/or paper fliers. For example, the phone poles in my area just let me know about a dawn rave event (cool!) and a monthly series of meditative hikes. But those aren't "hikers finding each other" per se, they're organized hikes. If you want a decentralized, peer-to-peer thing you won't have to do all of the organizing on... I hate to say it, but FB groups are among your best choices.
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:05 PM on July 4

I'd start a central FB group for the whole community, with a very clear name and sidebar description, and post about it several times in all the other groups to make sure everyone sees it.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:19 PM on July 4

Closest I’d say is WhatsApp group chats. It’s more word of mouth but you start with the larger neighbors Facebook group
posted by sandmanwv at 3:28 PM on July 4

Since you're in a large master planned community, are there any locations where your neighbors tend to pass by-- a mailbox cluster, the closest coffee shop, a greenbelt trail? You could put flyers up there!
posted by The otter lady at 3:35 PM on July 4

Closest I’d say is WhatsApp group chats.

WhatsApp now has Communities, where you can have sub groups within the larger community, and this seems perfect for your needs. Create a WhatsApp community, make a flyer with a QR code with the link to join, and put it everywhere to see if you can get people to join. You can allow anyone to add groups so people can self-organize. Looks like you can create events too.
posted by misskaz at 4:02 PM on July 4 [1 favorite]

My building does the WhatsApp thing with one main group for announcements and offshoots for other stuff (dog owners, etc). We’re a fairly small community so usually people just get added when they meet a neighbour for the first time. Someone tried to set up a simple web forum, but unfortunately it was unable to gain traction beyond a handful of relatively tech-savvy folks—I think anything that requires people to sign up for something new or learn a new interface is not going to be used.
posted by btfreek at 4:08 PM on July 4 [2 favorites]

Have you considered using Slack? The free version seems to have the functionality you need. You can easily set up channels for each of the hobbies/interests. People can use the web, mobile, or desktop app. People can post photos and create small DM groups to organize activities. I find the emoji reactions a good way to gauge interest in what people are posting.
posted by oxisos at 6:54 PM on July 4