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Friday, February 22, 2008
Who are the (rotten) people in your neighborhood?
And you thought the iBrattleboro lawsuit was juicy... Some enterprising team of people has created www.rottenneighbor.com, a site where you can tell the world about your rotten neighbors. There are actually a few local entries. I'm putting the comments here, but removing actual addresses.
Winooski:
Old guy that lives in this apt is a pain in the ass. 40-ish guy that complains about noise too much and looks anorexic, get a life ****-head!
Burlington:
The kids have no respect they won't listen and they have had the cops called on them many many times.
Williston:
dog bits [sic],kids very loud, smoke smells from there, they leave there butts out side for me to pick up, kids have sex out side and smoke, father never home, lots of kids coming and going, land loard don't care, nasty condo to live next to.
East Fletcher:
Guy's a loser and a drunk.Burlington:
These neighbors are also very nice they are polite and considerate and also has helped me jump my car many times Kudos to them.
Why build a site like this? Here's what the founders say:
What We Believe
- Real estate agents are not obligated to disclose problem neighbors, leaving clients in the dark
- Information on bad neighbors should be made freely and easily available to everyone
- The internet can offer unique, valuable guidance to home buyers and sellers
- The more rotten neighbors you contribute, the better the service for everyone.
You can comment on these opinions and report them abusive, but this site still seems risky. Can you really trust these anonymous tipsters to give good info? I like the Front Porch Forum model of neighborhood knowledge better, though, alas, you have to live in a neighborhood to see comments from neighborhood residents.
I must admit, I am tempted to log on and tell people about the drug dealing that goes on in my neighborhood.
I just told my co-workers about this site, and read the comments above out loud. They wondered how it will play in Vermont. Says Paula: "It's a good way to get your head blown off by your neighbor." Yup.
Thanks, Boing Boing.
February 22, 2008 at 03:04 PM in Media/Keeping an eye on the competition | Permalink
Comments
Hi Cathy... RottenNeighbor.com is a good fit for much of Web 2.0, that is, anonymous and snarky. Good to check out once, maybe twice, but that's about it.
As you mention, Front Porch Forum is a different creature... all about getting to know the neighbors and building community within the neighborhood.
Keep on postin' -Michael
Posted by: Michael Wood-Lewis | Feb 22, 2008 5:39:54 PM
Why would you want to report drug dealers? That's a perfectly legitimate puzzle piece of the Great American Economy.
Posted by: Justin Boland | Feb 25, 2008 11:42:22 AM
"Old guy that lives in this apt is a pain in the ass. 40-ish guy"
Old guy? 40-ish? Ouch!
Posted by: Robert C. | Feb 25, 2008 2:04:55 PM
Cathy,
I agree with Justin and I used to live right around the corner from you so I totally understand your frustration.
Try leaving an anonymous note on the door telling them that they are doing things much too blatantly and visitors should stay for at least 30 minutes if they don't want their tags reported to the authorities or whatever (the constant traffic is what pissed me off).
This should scare them into changing up their business. There are known procedures they can follow to make themselves invisible to you.
But for each drug-dealer that is busted, 3 more will pop up to take their business... we don't need more drug dealers and we certainly don't need the black-market competition/violence created by a temporary void in the market.
We need to deal with the drug problem not the drug-dealer problem. Eliminate the demand and you eliminate the supply/suppliers.
Check out this YouTube:
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Posted by: FormerCannabisConnoisseur | Feb 26, 2008 7:18:32 PM
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