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Comment by cccc4all | Hacker News Reader

This sounds very judgmental about NextDoor users. They are voicing their concerns about their neighborhood and community. Why do you have to say anything about their community, especially if you don't live there?

You also have the right to voice concerns about your neighborhood and community. I would assume you want others to respect your right to voice your concerns, just as they would expect you to respect their right to voice their concerns.

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I live in a suburban area where you cannot get a house under $2 million. It is extraordinarily safe. Yet if you read the NextDoor it seems like 1970s New York, with crime and danger around every corner.

Eyeball-oriented media always algorithmically boosts sensational news, which simply doesn’t reflect reality.

Traditional print media, which would be owned by an independently wealthy elitist family, didn’t need those AdSense revenues and would instead lead with articles about the local school play and flower festival, and keep the crime in a police blotter, which does reflect the experience of living here.

We had a post with short video of a 'suspicious white car, casing the neighborhood' several days in a row at 4am. A dozen posts about how things are going to hell, etc, followed by a post:

Hi mark, it's my car. I've delivered your newspaper every morning for 5 years now.

Haha, this was me a couple of weeks ago. You see my car had been broken into right outside my home around three in the morning and someone had trashed my motorcycle (this whole thing was going to cost me $5000). I sort of don't pick fights with people so this was unusual. So when someone was walking around slowly outside my home at three, I assumed he was the criminal. By the time I was outside, all I saw was him in his sedan racing down the street.

So I went inside and texted my neighbour and asked him for his video. At first he thought it was the perp but then on looking closely he said "Oh he's delivering newspapers".

I was absolutely mortified but he understood, having had his car broken into as well. Being a victim of crime really twists you. I was very angry for a while. But I'm through it now. When I was rushing out to confront the poor newspaper guy, I fantasized about blocking him in to the cul de sac and calling the police. Can you imagine if I'd done that? Ugh. The real complaint, I think I have about the whole incident is the damage it did to my psyche.

What happened after that? That sounds like the beginnings of a really great movie about an unexpected duo becoming friends.

Or a BBC news at 10 segment "American postman found dead in driveway" (Guns and paranoia don't mix)

But small-town police blotters were (are?) hilarious. https://www.npr.org/2012/04/07/150148340/small-towns-police-...

NextDoor is Gladis Kravitz meets Archie Bunker, minus the humorous aspects.

The police blotter for the richest towns in the Bay Area are pretty funny too. It's amazing that the police get called when someone's walking their dog without a leash.

who else would be called? That's why the justice system exists - to solve matters without resorting to feudalistic violence.

i dont live in US and it's only ignorant people who walk their dog off leash in residential neighbourhoods.

You call nobody. Or maybe your gossip buddy.

Then what enforces the rules? Someone has to enforce the rules. What is the purpose of a dog leash ordinance if there is no enforcement mechanism?

Damn right I call the police on quality of life infractions, the difference is I don’t try to settle it amicably first, since that’s a one-way ticket to becoming an infamous viral sensation like “Dog Leash Dan” or “Leashy Larry.”

Have you wondered how and why the area is so safe? Have you wondered why houses are so expensive in your neighborhood?

It’s safer because of the vigilant neighbors reporting crime and keeping community engaged. The increased safety increase house values, because people want to live in safe neighborhoods.

Ask yourself or your parents why they chose to move to the neighborhood and still live there? The safe neighborhood is likely the top reason.

It’s safe because everyone who can afford to be anywhere near here has too much to lose to bother getting involved in crime. It’s why this community fought tooth and nail to prevent public transit from reaching here.

It’s also safe because the police know everyone who lives here and keep close tabs on anyone who doesn’t.

> especially if you don't live there

I do live in the neighborhood NextDoor area where I speak of, and my experience is not uncommon. I have seen the online NextDoor and have in-person physically walked the lived reality as well.

"In Other News", where I live has an outdated reputation. That outdated reputation lives on despite reality and my personal efforts to tell and demonstrate otherwise. Folks on NextDoor tend to be those of long life and//or long memory. Psychohistorical math [albeit perhaps Asimov-in-Reverse a bit here] comes in to play.

Over the long run, the folks who really want to be listened to -- and have a legit and right to that -- have clocks in their perspectives to adjust. Their voice needs similar.

The neighbors sounds like vigilant people that are very engaged in safer neighborhood and keep the community engaged. Most likely, these neighbors are the reason for increase in safer neighborhood.

Why do you choose to live in this neighborhood? People can choose to live in less engaged neighborhood.

Because idle gossip is toxic?

If the concern is something criminal, by all means voice it to the police. If the concern is with the maintenance of your building voice it to your landlord.

If your concern is you dont like the style of clothes your neighbour wears, please go back to high school.

I have universally heard the same from anyone I know who uses nextdoor. Similar types of posts gain traction in my neighborhood, too. Flamebait topics tend to get a lot of engagement. Regardless of their right to do so, some people tend to feel empowered to say some nasty things from behind the comfort of their keyboard... and nextdoor is giving those people a soap box they might not deserve.

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