Saratoga Launches Nextdoor.com

The City of Saratoga has officially began using Nextdoor.com, a private social networking website designed for neighbor-to-neighbor and citywide communication.

Nextdoor.com is free for users and there is no cost to the city for making the service available in Saratoga. Visit www.nextdoor.com to register.

Saratoga follows Los Gatos and other West Valley communities in using the service, which is intended to help local residents get to know their neighbors, ask questions and exchange advice and recommendations.

“I wholeheartedly believe that our Saratoga community will benefit if neighbors take the time to interact with each other,” said Saratoga Mayor Jill Hunter. “I am excited at the prospect that Nextdoor.com will help facilitate interaction and community engagement.”

Already individual Nextdoor neighborhood sites throughout the city have been created, the city said in a press release. Access to each site is limited to verified residents of the specific neighborhood. Nextdoor does not turn over any personal identifiable information to third-party advertisers and communications are securely encrypted, according to the service.

To ensure privacy of its members, Nextdoor requires that residents register using their real names and addresses so that neighbors can confirm their identity.

Existing members may also invite neighbors to join the group. The city also has the ability to share information with Nextdoor users. However, the city does not have access to the information or messages shared among neighbors through Nextdoor.com, according to the release.

Nextdoor is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2010. The site was tested citywide in Redwood City for one year before it was released and has since expanded to more than 3,000 neighborhoods in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.