EveryBlock has come a long way

EveryBlock, a hyperlocal news site (“a news feed for your block”) has come a long way since we first wrote about it in 2008 as a source of blogging inspiration for real estate agents.

Since then, it was acquired by msnbc.com in August of 2009 and this week unveiled their next generation product wherein they are not just a one way communication device, it is now open to two way conversation and encourages collaboration between neighbors.

EveryBlock now goes both ways

EveryBlock founder Adrian Holovaty said, “EveryBlock historically has been a “news feed for your block,” basically a one-way funnel of information: you give us your address, we give you a daily email with what’s happened near you recently. There’s a solid and growing audience for this, but we’ve realized there’s a much bigger potential here. Simply put, there’s no great way to communicate with your neighbors online.”

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Holovaty points to the thousands of connections we all have on social networks but the few we have with the people physically living around us on our block. The site “encourages positive community behaviors” with their Neighborhood Honors points system manually overseen by staff.

EveryBlock already offered public records and news information ranging from crime reports to homes for sales to business reviews, and now users can share and discuss local news and socially meet other neighbors via profiles. The theory is that if Janet in my neighborhood comments on the same restaurant that I do that maybe we should meet in person.

EveryBlock has already partnered with Groupon to show nearby deals and plans for the future include location based application integration.

Available in select cities, why you should take note

EveryBlock is currently available in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Although they’ve almost doubled the number of cities they feature since founded, we enthusiastically hope that now that they are funded and have revenue streams that they will expand to more cities than nearly the same ones they launched with nearly three years ago.

EveryBlock is not only a great blogging inspiration source, it is a good resource for building community which is the cornerstone of most strong real estate careers.

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