A person in your neighborhood

Speaking of neighborhood boundaries, last month I had a spirited discussion on Facebook regarding the neighborhood email list and who should be allowed to subscribe. I’m one of two moderators of the list, where basically I help people subscribe and unsubscribe. Generally I sign up anyone who politely asks, though I do try to weed out spammers and the like.

Unlike other nearby neighborhood lists, I don’t try to enforce a residency requirement. This was put to the test when I got a friendly request to subscribe from one of the postal carriers who works our neighborhood. He doesn’t really live here, so do I sign him up?
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Nextdoor and neighbors

My friend Reid Serozi wrote a blog post in support of Nextdoor.

Almost one year ago, I started questioning the value of using Google Groups and started to wonder if there was a better way to communicate with my neighbors. I discovered Nextdoor in early 2012 and immediately recognized the value and how it could address the pains I found with using Google Group for a neighborhood/community communication tool.

He makes some good points, but doesn’t address the issue of how poorly Nextdoor deals with neighborhood boundaries. Reid ran into this issue himself this week, as this post to the Oakwood mailing list shows:

I am trying to reach the Historic Oakwood Nextdoor lead.

It appears we have a boundary issue, since the Mordecai CAC overlaps your neighborhood boundary near East Franklin.

Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. All these boundaries. Virtual gated communities is what it is. Even with Nextdoor’s announcement that they’re reenabling their Nearby Neighborhoods feature doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Maybe I’m a geezer (okay, maybe the question should be how much of a geezer I am), but I’m all about open, open, open. Let everyone participate, don’t put up barriers (i.e., membership). Let people own their own data.

Then again, I didn’t see the value of Facebook but now I visit it constantly. You kids get off my lawn!

via Nextdoor Explosion | Reid Serozi – Civic Geek.

Are You Smart Enough to Be a Citizen? Take Our Quiz – Eric Liu – The Atlantic

The Atlantic’s Eric Liu totally stole my idea.

By the way, I scored a 73. Those dadgum Supreme Court justices need to get out more.

To become a citizen of the United States, naturalizing immigrants must take a test. Many native-born Americans would fail this test. Indeed, most of us have never really thought about what it means to be a citizen. One radical idea from the immigration debate is the repeal of birthright citizenship—guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment—to prevent so-called anchor babies. Odious and constitutionally dubious as this proposal may be, it does prompt a thought experiment: What if citizenship were not, in fact, guaranteed by birth? What if everyone had to earn it upon turning 18, and renew it every 10 years, by taking an exam? What might that exam look like?

via Are You Smart Enough to Be a Citizen? Take Our Quiz – Eric Liu – The Atlantic.