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“It’s a Beautiful Day <strong>in</strong> the Neighborhood” Let’s Get to Know One Another the GoGoVerde Way By Nicole M<strong>in</strong>ieri Back <strong>in</strong> the ’70s, millions tuned <strong>in</strong> daily to the live, unscripted “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television show, the second-longest-runn<strong>in</strong>g children’s series on PBS whose ma<strong>in</strong> premise was a friendly one-on-one between Fred Rogers and each viewer. Rogers welcomed young visitors <strong>in</strong>to his televised “make-believe” neighborhood and then took them on guided factory tours, exhibited educational experiments, discussed various issues, shared music, illustrated arts and crafts projects and <strong>in</strong>teracted with his neighborhood friends. Well, that was over 30 years ago, and although times may have drastically changed s<strong>in</strong>ce then, the “<strong>in</strong>teraction with your neighbor” concept has not! As a matter of fact, local resident Just<strong>in</strong>e Fenwick recently took the <strong>in</strong>novative idea of community <strong>in</strong>terplay and tossed it <strong>in</strong>to the explosive environment of onl<strong>in</strong>e social network<strong>in</strong>g, result<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the birth of GoGoVerde, a pilot onl<strong>in</strong>e community neighborhood program that is be<strong>in</strong>g tested and developed <strong>in</strong> <strong>Redwood</strong> City. “GoGoVerde was started as a project <strong>in</strong> Acterra’s ‘Be the Change’ program. <strong>The</strong> <strong>in</strong>spiration came [from] two places: try<strong>in</strong>g to do my own community-build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> my neighborhood around a general plan update to a park near my house, and from read<strong>in</strong>g the book Deep Economy: <strong>The</strong> Wealth of Communities and Durable Future by Bill McKibben, where the author outl<strong>in</strong>es all the potential benefits of liv<strong>in</strong>g more locally,” said Fenwick, GoGoVerde CEO and co-founder. “And years of research has shown that when people get to know their neighborhoods, their property values improve, their neighborhood schools improve and their neighborhood becomes safer. <strong>The</strong>re is noth<strong>in</strong>g mysterious about this. It is simply when people get to know one another, they start to watch out for one another and they start to work together on th<strong>in</strong>gs they collectively care about. GoGoVerde helps foster this connection between neighbors by provid<strong>in</strong>g an onl<strong>in</strong>e space for neighbors to <strong>in</strong>troduce themselves, chat, ask for help, offer recommendations and announce events. It provides a space where neighbors can request help or offer help <strong>in</strong> a particular area like garden<strong>in</strong>g or home improvement. GoGoVerde provides a place for people to connect with their neighbors, and onl<strong>in</strong>e tools allow people to connect when they can. We are hop<strong>in</strong>g that GoGoVerde will give people a tool to reconnect with their neighbors and establish a k<strong>in</strong>d of community we all long for: healthy, safe and friendly neighbors.” Shar<strong>in</strong>g Fenwick’s high hopes for GoGoVerde’s success are COO and co-founder Robbie Turner, community strategist and former City Manager Ed Everett, visual designers Kev<strong>in</strong> McBride and Geralyn Nelson, and a technical team consist<strong>in</strong>g of Peter Wansch, Michael Baierl, Marcel Kutsch and Sonja Fenwick. And with<strong>in</strong> their respective responsibilities, they all rema<strong>in</strong> on the same page: creat<strong>in</strong>g more neighbor-to-neighbor connections throughout <strong>Redwood</strong> City while work<strong>in</strong>g toward growth. “We are <strong>in</strong> the process of pick<strong>in</strong>g the next two cities to jo<strong>in</strong> the early adopter program,” said Turner, who is also the site’s moderator. “<strong>Redwood</strong> City is an early adopter of GoGoVerde and serves as the first city pilot for the Web application. Initially, Roosevelt and Woodside Plaza neighborhoods were started. Now all 11 of the neighborhoods have a GoGoVerde onl<strong>in</strong>e neighborhood, which all residents are <strong>in</strong>vited to jo<strong>in</strong>. Each day more and more residents jo<strong>in</strong> their onl<strong>in</strong>e neighborhood. GoGoVerde is tak<strong>in</strong>g feedback from the residents and the city to guide future development of the application.” <strong>Redwood</strong> City was orig<strong>in</strong>ally selected for the beta test<strong>in</strong>g of GoGoVerde because it is presently the most progressive city on the Pen<strong>in</strong>sula <strong>in</strong> terms of community build<strong>in</strong>g and civic engagement. “As city manager of <strong>Redwood</strong> City for almost 16 years, I love this community and love the citizens who are work<strong>in</strong>g hard to build a better <strong>Redwood</strong> City community. When I was <strong>in</strong>troduced to GoGoVerde, I knew immediately it was perfect for <strong>Redwood</strong> City and would be welcomed by the citizens,” said Everett. “GoGoVerde will br<strong>in</strong>g another powerful mechanism for <strong>Redwood</strong> City to cont<strong>in</strong>ue to stress community-build<strong>in</strong>g and civic engagement. Be<strong>in</strong>g on the cutt<strong>in</strong>g edge of these two very important concepts makes <strong>Redwood</strong> City a natural to test and learn how to improve GoGoVerde. Once we have worked with <strong>Redwood</strong> City and one other city, and we know we got it right, then we will be <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>g GoGoVerde nationally. People want and need community, and GoGoVerde will help them redevelop their community build<strong>in</strong>g skills, today <strong>in</strong> <strong>Redwood</strong> City and tomorrow the United States.” Go<strong>in</strong>g global def<strong>in</strong>itely seems to be the plan for the future, s<strong>in</strong>ce the <strong>Redwood</strong> City beta test has become the new buzz of the community. And accord<strong>in</strong>g to Turner, GoGoVerde is becom<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>strumental tool <strong>in</strong> keep<strong>in</strong>g the local community connected despite on-the-go lifestyles. “Everyone is so busy these days that they don’t have time to attend neighborhood meet<strong>in</strong>gs at night after work or, really, just get to know their neighbors faceto-face,” expla<strong>in</strong>ed Turner. “GoGoVerde allows neighbors to communicate any time from any place there is an Internet connection. It is very encourag<strong>in</strong>g to see the level of activity with<strong>in</strong> the neighborhoods. Neighbors are exchang<strong>in</strong>g recommendations for service providers, loan<strong>in</strong>g and borrow<strong>in</strong>g th<strong>in</strong>gs from each other, announc<strong>in</strong>g meet<strong>in</strong>gs and events, and talk<strong>in</strong>g about specific issues to their neighborhood, like crime and the local park.” And although GoGoVerde is <strong>in</strong> the heart of a test<strong>in</strong>g phase, the list of stories from members who are meet<strong>in</strong>g and help<strong>in</strong>g their fellow neighbors through this site is steadily grow<strong>in</strong>g. “Let me tell you some stories to give you a flavor of how people are us<strong>in</strong>g the website,” said Everett. “I know someone who needed to borrow a cha<strong>in</strong> saw to cut down some little trees. He borrowed it on GoGoVerde and met one of his neighbors. He then cut down the trees and asked on GoGoVerde if anyone wanted the firewood. Someone did and he met another neighbor. I know one person who traded a DVD for some fresh vegetables, and those two neighbors now know each other. I know a woman who asked if anyone knew of a good plumber because she said she had a leak <strong>in</strong> her backyard. A person who lived close to her, but didn’t know her, said he was not a plumber but would come over and take a look. He realized that was just a leak <strong>in</strong> her irrigation system and he fixed it. That is what used to happen <strong>in</strong> communities and is beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g to happen aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Redwood</strong> City. People have asked on GoGoVerde for personal recommendations for contractors, locksmiths, house cleaners, babysitters, and received great connections. <strong>The</strong> list goes on and on.” But the helpful website is prov<strong>in</strong>g to be more than just a free and secure onl<strong>in</strong>e forum for neighborhood network<strong>in</strong>g and shar<strong>in</strong>g; it’s also becom<strong>in</strong>g an excellent platform for members to become proactive <strong>in</strong> keep<strong>in</strong>g their neighborhood safe. <strong>The</strong> site is set up so citizens can organize watch groups aga<strong>in</strong>st crime, as well as set up emergency preparedness plans for man-made and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, blizzards, floods, riots and even terrorist attacks. For <strong>in</strong>stance, GoGoVerde member Stefanie Boicelli has owned a home <strong>in</strong> the Roosevelt neighborhood for six years and unfortunately was hav<strong>in</strong>g a problem with disorderly and outof-hand activities <strong>in</strong> the Red Morton park<strong>in</strong>g lot dur<strong>in</strong>g late-night hours. After post<strong>in</strong>g a poll on GoGoVerde to her Roosevelt neighbors ask<strong>in</strong>g for their support <strong>in</strong> gett<strong>in</strong>g the park<strong>in</strong>g lot closed and cha<strong>in</strong>ed off dur<strong>in</strong>g late hours, Boicelli was put <strong>in</strong> touch with the appropriate law enforcement personnel, who were then able to help resolve the issue <strong>in</strong> a timely manner. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Boicelli, the successful outcome would not have been possible without the overwhelm<strong>in</strong>g support and network<strong>in</strong>g on GoGoVerde. Part of the reason GoGoVerde works wonders for its members is the basic conduct rules that are strictly enforced on the site. <strong>The</strong> golden rules for this conclave are to be extremely polite, k<strong>in</strong>d and respectful toward fellow members. All posts are to be kept friendly, safe and constructive, and any illegal or negative behavior such as hate speech, slurs, harassment, derogatory comments or nude photographs is strictly prohibited. Hav<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Redwood</strong> City as the chosen community for this website is a crucial factor for overall success because it’s a liberal city that harbors all th<strong>in</strong>gs good for its people. “I love be<strong>in</strong>g a part of <strong>Redwood</strong> City,” said Turner. “It’s a very progressive city which is really try<strong>in</strong>g to build a great community us<strong>in</strong>g many different ways to reach their residents. GoGoVerde is a natural extension of the programs the city already has <strong>in</strong> place to encourage community build<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>The</strong> response to the GoGoVerde onl<strong>in</strong>e neighborhoods has been extremely positive.” Whether you are <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> a social network<strong>in</strong>g site that offers you the opportunity to connect and share with<strong>in</strong> your own neighborhood or are just pla<strong>in</strong> curious, visit their website at www.gogoverde.com and jo<strong>in</strong>. It’s free and absolutely safe! Remember what Mister Rogers would say, “It’s a beautiful day <strong>in</strong> the neighborhood, so let’s make the most of this beautiful day,” and get to know one another! <strong>The</strong> <strong>Spectrum</strong> 11
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