Best Apps For Neighborhood Watch

When people think of neighborhoods, they often imagine a place where everyone knows everyone else, and everyone can look out for each other. This was an accurate depiction of many neighborhoods back in the day, but as time has gone on, more and more people have become increasingly busy. Nowadays, we’re not just working for ourselves—we’re also working for our families, which means crime prevention is often at the bottom of the priority list.

But that doesn’t mean that you have to abandon your neighborhood forever. There are plenty of apps out there to help you stay on top of what’s going on in your area and keep tabs on your neighbors—and many of them are free! Here are some of our favorites:

Best Apps for Getting to Know a New Neighborhood - @home

Best Apps For Neighborhood Watch

Moving to a new neighborhood can be stressful. Meeting new neighbors, finding new local spots to go to, and keeping up with the latest local events can be somewhat overwhelming. More importantly, you want to make sure that you and your family feel comfortable and safe in your new neighborhood.

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Nowadays, you can rely on smart phones for just about anything, whether it be to take pictures of your family, record videos of your daily activities, as well as to keep up with the latest events around you. Even better is the fact that you can keep tabs on your surroundings through the latest neighborhood watch apps.

What is a Neighborhood Watch?
A neighborhood watch is when a group of civilians, typically living in the same area, devote themselves to working together to stop crime and vandalism within their neighborhood.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has begun to shift everything online, even the way we interact with our neighbors. (Put this)

Optimum offers this helpful guide on some neighborhood apps designed to help neighbors connect, meet, communicate, share events and provide safety for residents.

Best Apps for Neighborhood Watch

Nextdoor
Provides a private social network exclusively for neighborhood members (proof of legal residence must be provided.) Nextdoor neighbors can share neighborhood activities, create events and invitations, and inquire about local service providers. Neighbors can also share safety tips, recommend a babysitter, or even sell unwanted items and more. The Nextdoor app is free on the Apple and Android platforms.

Ring Neighbors
The Ring Neighbors app helps neighbors communicate by allowing users of the Ring video doorbell service to take videos and photos of suspicious activity. Users of the app can share their content anytime there is an attempted robbery, a theft has occurred, or simply if something seems out of the ordinary. Since this doorbell connects to wifi and the app, you can use it collaboratively with Optimum Mobile and Optimum Wifi. With real time alerts from neighbors and local law enforcement, this becomes an important app to help with the neighborhood watch. Check out our review of the Ring video doorbell for more information. The Ring Neighbors app is free and available on both Android and Apple platforms.

Lotsa Helping Hands App
This app is geared towards people with health conditions, as well as towards locals who are able and willing to help neighbors in need. As you can imagine, having local people to depend on is extremely helpful due to geographical proximity, as well as the fact the neighbors are often viewed as friends that can keep an eye on your house, and lend a helping hand, when need be.

Lotsa Helping Hand’s app allows users to create a Care Community by using a computer or mobile device. After creating the Care Community friends, family and neighbors will be able to register and sign up for tasks and access a calendar that tracks when the organizer/caregiver needs assistance. Additionally, communication tools are available to users to send words of love and encouragement to a neighbor in need.

AreaVibes
AreaVibes uses your zip code to provide a “livability score”, this score is calculated using a proprietary algorithm that weighs the cost of living, crime rate, education, housing prices and more. The tool compares neighborhood crime trends and safety issues with national crime rates, as well as incident reports for burglary, vehicle theft, property crime and additional reports and statistics. The tool is free to use.

ioby
This tool allows you to connect with neighbors to help support local causes and foster positive change. This is a crowdfunding platform with the goal being to bring people together to complete neighborhood projects and generate awareness about neighborhood needs. The app allows you to meet your neighbors and give back to the community.

It is our hope that this article gave you some ideas and advice about some neighborhood apps that could help you feel safer, as well as help you gain some insight on what is going on within your community. Be sure to check out our article about video doorbell cameras that can also help you keep your home safe!.

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neighborhood apps like nextdoor

Whether you’re looking to organize a neighborhood softball team, ask for a roofing company recommendation, or volunteer to help at an event, you need a way to effectively communicate with your neighbors. Luckily, we live in an age where it’s never been easier to do so!

Inspired by a lively conversation in our Community in Action Facebook Group, we’ve put together a list of the various platforms you can use to communicate with your neighbors.

Have you joined the Community in Action Facebook Group yet? If not, you should! It’s filled with amazing people doing awesome things in their communities!

Before we dive into our list and get you excited about the various platforms, we want to remind you that the most effective platform is the one that will actually get used! If your neighborhood is already using a platform effectively, it’s probably best to go along with that (even if you really hate Facebook or Nextdoor).

This list is intended for those whose neighborhood currently has no communication platform or are unhappy with the one they’re using and wish to replace or supplement it.

Let’s get to it!

  1. Social Media and Email
    By far, the most popular platform mentioned in our Community in Action group discussion was social media. Private Facebook groups and Facebook pages as well as Twitter seem to be very effective ways to communicate.

Many older neighborhoods seem to have established listservs prior to the advent of social media. If it works, it works!

  1. Nextdoor or Front Porch Forum
    Nextdoor bills itself as the “private social network for your neighborhood.” The app helpfully narrows its scope to a block-by-block radius. Front Porch Forum is another popular community-building platform. While currently only available in Vermont, they are in the process of expanding to other areas.
  2. MyCoop
    This is a neighborhood platform designed specifically for apartment dwellers. MyCoop is dedicated to “improving communication between residents of multi-unit buildings as well as with property owners and business managers.” Users share real-time updates with one another and use the site to share and swap.
  3. Olio
    Olio has a very specific mission: to connect neighbors with each other and with local shops, so that surplus food and other items can be shared, not thrown away. From excess CSA veggies to extra dinner portions, Olio provides a way to bring neighbors together through food.
  4. ioby
    Ioby is a crowdfunding platform that focuses on community-led positive change. This is a great site for uniting neighbors around innovative new projects and initiatives for neighborhood improvements. We have seen New Dreamers use ioby for projects ranging from community gardens to tool libraries.
  5. Neighborland
    Unlike the other platforms, Neighborland focuses on civic engagement by connecting individuals with city agencies as well as with local universities, foundations, and nonprofits. Their mission is to “empower people to shape the development of their neighborhoods.” You can use Neighborland to conduct surveys, create maps, host a project, and report back on impact, among other features. So cool!
  6. Freecycle or Buy Nothing Project
    Just looking to get free stuff? Or get rid of free stuff? Then, Freecycle or the Buy Nothing Project may be the places for you. They are grassroots, volunteer-moderated, nonprofit movements of people who are giving and getting stuff for free in their own towns and neighborhoods.
  7. Patch
    Patch is a network of hundreds of individual news sites targeted to local news. Chances are your town has a Patch. While primarily a news outlet as opposed to a communications platform, it does include listings for local events as well as group discussion boards.
  8. EveryBlock
    Similar to Patch, EveryBlock focuses on “all the news and talk in your neighborhood.” This site compiles messages posted by neighbors, civic information, and even local restaurant reviews. It’s not available in as many areas as Patch, but you can “vote” for your city or town to be included.
  9. IRL (In Real Life) Communication
    While these platforms are fun and sophisticated with all their features and up-to-the-minute communications, nothing beats talking to your neighbors in real life.

As former New Dream staffer Wen Lee discovered when her attempts at starting a neighborhood email list bombed, in-person communication is the best way to get to know your community. (You can read about her communication attempts and eventual success here.)

Conclusion

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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