It was no surprise to me that the very first thread on my newly acquired Nextdoor app was a long-winded, 180-response discussion about HALA, the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda, which is thought to be the culprit of the U-District “upzone” legislation that could dramatically shift the landscape of the U-District neighborhood.
The first thing I noticed wading through the responses, organized chronologically and in one thread, was that people here use their first and last names. This actually came as a shock to me, as it added yet another layer of intimacy to the walled-garden platform, and for some reason I had expected anonymity due to it’s Reddit-like structure.
A resident of Northwest Wallingford (you can see discussions from surrounding neighborhoods) had proposed the question, “Should HALA seek to destroy our existing urban villages or should it create new ones?”
Citing that only three to nine percent of the housing will be “affordable,” and also the development in Ballard having soured parts of the iconic neighborhood, the discussion kicked off in a townhall-like fashion.
Over 200 people chimed in since April 19, when the thread was posted, and I discovered a deep anxiety felt by residents that is usually only aired in protest or small community meetings. This app is giving people an artificial meeting place to discuss issues like this.
Interestingly, the conversation had a jovial tone to it –– I think due to the publicity of the profiles. Discussion was reasonable, and several residents began posting long-winded responses backed by reasoned arguments; it was quite eye-opening. Discussion ranged widely from mayoral candidates to the Aurora upzone and developer responsibility.
Littered through the feed of discussions were also classifieds, advertisements for selling mattresses and needing assistance with dog-sitting. Often times I found myself unable to differentiate scrolling between this feed and the marketplace tab on the Facebook app.
The similarity of the app to other advertising sites is a ding against the usefulness of the app in my book. There are already plenty of signposts and bulletin boards strewn across the city, should I want to consider acupuncture to alleviate my stress. There’s no need for that sort of redundancy in my life.
One of the more interesting aspects I started noticing was that local event coverage and suggestions were centralized in one place. Offers for the “African American Community Advisory Council Meeting” were posted by none other than an official account affiliated with the Seattle Police Department. That sort of community outreach is spectacular, especially given how underground this app is thus far.
All in all, I expected something more grand and interesting out of a unique opportunity to talk to your neighbors without having to leave one’s humble abode. I suppose it could just be a natural step in capitalist self-interest that we’d attempt to turn a neighborhood Facebook into a neighborhood firesale, but the potential is still there for improvement.
Reach writer Zackary Bonser at opinion@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @ZackaryBonser
