Everyblock re-launches in Chicago | Hacker News Reader

Everyblock re-launches in Chicago

everyblock.com

19 pointsalwaysunday15 comments

The hard part about a site like this is getting me to keep logging in.

Turns out my block club in Chicago has a very active Facebook group, so very local news gets integrated into my feed already.

My other source of "extremely local news" is a blog called Uptown Update [1]. If these sites had a way to attract and fund local bloggers, they would have more staying power.

[1] http://www.uptownupdate.com/

Some of the people at Comcast involved with relaunching Everyblock are speaking at the OpenGovChicago meetup tonight. I think there will be a live stream for anyone who is interested but can't go to the meetup.

http://www.meetup.com/OpenGovChicago/events/160401092/

Anyone know the background story on how they came back after being shut down by their parent company?

Comcast acquired NBC recently, and with that came NBC's assets, one of which was EveryBlock (which NBC had only recently acquired and then shuttered).

Comcast brought it back -- not under NBC anymore, but under Comcast proper. The big question is why? What is their monetization strategy? As a Chicago resident and past EveryBlock user, I'm very curious about this. My first guess is that Comcast appreciates being able to correlate an email address with a neighborhood, for marketing opportunities.

Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune that gives a little more backstory on its resurrection: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-everyblo...

During the previous incarnation of EveryBlock, there were persistent rumors that posts embarrassing to the City of Chicago government (like about crime in high tourist areas) would mysteriously disappear. I'm curious how transparent the new incarnation will be.

Pet peeve: Intro videos with cutesy music, animations, and screenshots on a macbook.

It matters that it's a macbook? Really?

Every cheezy startup website uses the same photo of a screenshot on a macbook nowadays. It's just cliche.

Typing this from a mac right now.

That intro video was pretty good although seemed a bit long. Cool idea but I'd imagine these type of sites have a big chicken and egg problem.

Yes, but EveryBlock was up to speed and pretty widely used (as far as I can tell) before it was shut down. Whether the people that were on there return remains to be seen.

If you're looking for a site like this, I'd recommend nextdoor.com. Bonus: not owned by Comcast.

"Sorry, we don't cover your zip"

Well... ok. I was even going to advertise it a little, but I guess I'm not cool enough.

Honestly, who cares and why is this worthy of the HN frontpage?

Because they had a lot of traction before the shut down and now the service is re-launching without the founder who made it what it was: https://twitter.com/adrianholovaty/status/426366737294958592

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