Exchanging Local News: from Colonial Taverns to Email Networks

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

Neighborhoods have long been a cornerstone to community life in America. But there have been some striking changes in how we keep abreast of local news and participate in neighborhood life.

Historians have documented the central role that taverns and coffee houses have long played as places for people to exchange news and information.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg has also highlighted the valuable service that these and other "third places," as he calls them, have performed in knitting together communities and integrating newcomers and immigrants into their new place of residence. Here's some of what Oldenburg had to say in an article we published in 1997:

"Americans long enjoyed third places in the form of the inns and ordinaries of colonial society, then as the saloons and general stores springing up with westward expansion. Later came the candy stores, soda fountains, coffee shops, diners, etc. which, along with the local post office, were conveniently located and provided the social anchors of community life.

... Third places also serve as "ports of entry" for visitors and newcomers to the neighborhood where directions and other information can easily be obtained. For new residents, they provide a means of getting acquainted quickly and learning where things are and how the neighborhood works."

In many neighborhoods, you'll still find these kind of gathering stops, sometimes taverns, sometimes grocery or convenience stores, sometimes a donut shop, and sometimes even the laundromat.

The Willard St. Market in Burlington, Vermont.

For years, a common sight outside many of these places was the message board, where neighbors left word about a missing dog, a yard sale, an apartment to rent, a community meeting ... and where candidates for city council, alderman, school board, or mayor placed their campaign posters.

But fast forward to 2008. Email is how we often "talk." Many bemoan this, feeling it has weakened civic life and resulted in a loss of connection within our neighborhoods. And, yes, count me among those who've made such claims.

Yet something quite remarkable has emerged over the past two years here in Burlington and Chittenden County, Vermont. A locally-developed email-based message service, called Front Porch Forum, has established itself as

a key way for residents to keep in touch with neighborhood concerns, and to post  announcements, notices, offers of help, requests for help ... and also debate local political issues.

Valerie and Michael Wood-Lewis started up the precursor to today's Front Porch Forum (FPF) in their own small "Five Sisters" neighborhood six years ago. Their mission was and remains: "to help neighbors connect and foster community within the neighborhood."

Launched citywide just two years ago, FPF has exploded in popularity. Remarkably, more than 30 percent of Burlington (pop. 39,000) households subscribe to FPF. This means that there's a critical mass of users. Front Porch has become the "place" people think of first when looking to find out what's happening in their neighborhood, or post an announcement.

Front Porch Forum is successful in part because it's so simple to use. Just type your message and email it to FPF. They reformat and distribute it as part of a grouping of messages (one or more times each week, depending on the level of activity in the particular neighborhood).

It's important to realize that there are many Front Porch Forums, since each neighborhood has its own FPF email list. However, city departments and local officials can post messages in multiple neighborhoods when an issue is of citywide (or ward-wide) interest.

Here's a screen shot of the message summary portion of a Front Porch Forum email for my "ONE East" neighborhood to give you a flavor for how it works. As you can see we're sometimes dealing with student noise and behavior issues! After the summaries, you'll get the full message/posting (not visible in the screen shot). I usually receive two or three Front Porch emails each week. They're easy to quickly scan and read.

While you can learn more by visiting the Front Porch Forum web site, I did ask Michael Wood-Lewis a couple of questions:

Wayne: What sort of questions get asked on the Front Porch forums? Has the networking that Front Porch Forum enables led to any local actions that might be of particular interest to planners or planning commissioners?

Michael: Front Porch Forum is used frequently by residents to announce, discuss and organize for or against development projects ... Williston landfill, Southern Connector, Circ highway, Moran plant, Appletree Point senior housing, on and on.  FPF gets dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people tuned into planning-related issues. It should be noted, that after Town Meeting, the postings reverted back toward FPF's bread and butter ... lost cat, seeking apartment, car break-in report, etc.

FPF members talk about feeling an increased sense of community ownership. A recent survey found that 45% of respondents reported "speaking up or getting involved on any public or policy issue as a result of subscribing to Front Porch Forum."

Wayne:  How much of a financial commitment does it take to make Front Porch Forum work? Are there any other factors important to its success?

Michael: Front Porch Forum's success to date is due to many factors, including its inclusion of a moderator. Doing this kind of thing well requires resources. FPF operates as a small business covering all of Chittenden County. It generates revenue from advertising, municipal subscriptions, and other sources to cover its costs. This business model is promising at this early stage, but has not yet fully developed.

Another ingredient to Front Porch Forum's early success is that it is not beholden to any single interest.  All FPF's decisions are made in an effort to fulfill its mission of helping neighbors connect and foster community at the neighborhood level.

[Note from Wayne: for a closer look at some of the financial considerations facing Front Porch Forum, see an interesting post by journalist and media expert Mark Glaser, "Front Porch Forum Makes Friends & Neighbors, But Can It Make Money?"]

One of the most interesting observations Michael made is that Front Porch Forum can actually increase citizen interest in local government meetings and public involvement. For example, he received this comment from a steering committee member on one of Burlington's neighborhood organizations: "We had a great turn out at the Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting this past week -- 80 plus people and almost all of them are on the Front Porch Forum. We have had 3 great meetings with numbers above 50 this fall thanks to the free advertising on Front Porch Forum."

Burlington resident Dan York also recently posted some observations about FPF worth looking at. He noted that: "Having been active in our local neighborhood (and on the community association board for a year), I've certainly seen the value. People will say 'Oh, yeah, I saw that on the forum.' I've had neighbors, some of whom I didn't know, contact me specifically because of notes I've posted. Sometimes by email, sometimes by phone and also in person. It has connected our local community together more - and it's been an interesting experiment to watch."

Front Porch Forum is one of ten finalists in a fascinating competition being sponsored by The Case Foundation.

Take a look at all ten candidates -- representing some exciting local projects from across America. And consider casting a vote for Front Porch Forum -- voting deadline is next week, on April 22nd!

Finding new ways to communicate is also important for planners and planning commissioners seeking to involve Generation Xers and other younger residents in local planning. We're running an article on this, The Next Generation of Your Planning Commission, in the Spring issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal. You can read excerpts & order/download the article.

Comments

[Michael Wood-Lewis]

Thanks for the coverage of Front Porch Forum, Wayne, and for the great context. I agree with many folks who think that civic engagement and the sense of community locally has declined across America in the past few decades.

However, I always surmise that the DESIRE for connectedness and community is as strong as ever... we just need to create new ways to foster what we want.

Front Porch Forum is designed to capture people where we know they already are -- online -- and to provide neighborhood-level news and conversation. We know we're succeeding in a neighborhood when we hear that conversation is spilling over from the virtual to the actual front porches.

Cheers! -Michael

P.S. And to your many and brilliant readers, please VOTE today for Front Porch Forum... polls close April 22, 2008. Thank you.
http://miyo.casefoundation.org/vote/?event_id=076e502a27402985daa7313c3ca80f