As social media platforms evolve into specific niches, the Nextdoor platform is quickly expanding its online version of neighborhood-level interaction.

Mike Isaac reports on the expanding reach of Nextdoor—a San Francisco-based social networking start-up aimed at building community.
According to Isaac, "[investors] think Nextdoor is on to something. The company will announce on Wednesday that it has raised $110 million in venture capital from investors like Redpoint Ventures and Insight Venture Partners. The new investment values the three-and-a-half-year-old start-up at about $1.1 billion, putting the company among the sharply rising number of tech start-ups with 10-figure valuations."
Isaac adds that the investments indicate an interest in small (i.e., neighborhood-sized) communities. And neighborhoods are Nextdoor's niche. "Nextdoor has slowly built a network of more than 53,000 microcommunities across the United States, all based on local neighborhood boundaries. Nextdoor restricts communication to only those people who live close to one another; users are required to verify their identity and home address upon signing up," writes Isaac. Planetizen described Nextdoor as the "Facebook for neighborhoods" in April of 2014.
A day after Isaac's article was published, Oklahoma City announced that it had adopted a municipal profile on Nextdoor, to join the 200-plus neighborhoods in the city already using the social media platform. The city intends to use Nextdoor as a community engagement tool for the sharing of information in both directions.
FULL STORY: Nextdoor Social Network Digs Deep Into Neighborhoods

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City of Kissimmee - Development Services
City of Kissimmee - Development Services
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Park City Municipal Corporation
National Capital Planning Commission
City of Santa Fe, New Mexico
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