Social Networking and Your Neighborhood

By: Raevyn Jones, Marketing Coordinator, NHS of Baltimore

It’s no secret that neighborhoods flourish due to the efforts of their residents. In today’s world with people who are very selective about which neighborhoods they will reside in, a simple community clean-up or festival every now and then may not be enough to make people want to live in your community.

When you think of Baltimore city’s ‘eclectic’ neighborhoods, areas like Mt. Vernon, Fells Point, Federal Hill or Canton may come to mind. However, these are not the only places in Baltimore where the good times roll. This is where neighborhoods need to find a medium to share the excitement of their neighborhood with others. ENTER: social networking.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare are changing how we operate these days. These sites are great methods to give your neighborhood a way to interact with prospective residents in addition to your current residents.

When considering a neighborhood to live in, people want to know what that neighborhood has to offer. For example, are there certain necessary stores nearby, hangout spots in the area, and people with children want to know if there are things for kids to do.

One of the best ways to let people know about the cool spots in your area is through Foursquare. Foursquare is a location-based social networking site that can be used on smartphones to “check in” at different venues. Foursquare is a great way to make people aware of the attractions in your neighborhood and how popular they are with the residents.

Before moving to a neighborhood, people also want to know a bit of information about the type of residents that already live there. This is an excellent way to make Facebook work for your community. By creating a business page, potential residents can get an insight to what type of people already live in the community and what is going on in the area. How many friends your neighborhood page has on Facebook and Twitter can also give prospective residents an idea of how involved people in the community are.

Hopefully community organizers will realize that people are no longer moving into neighborhoods based on word-of- mouth marketing and befriend the social networking epidemic. With a housing market that is still in an unsure state, when people buy in certain neighborhoods they may not able to sell and move out as quickly as they want to if things get to that point.