Belwood of Los Gatos

Update on the Nextdoor.com private intranet for neighbors in the Surmont-Belgatos-Belwood and beyond areas.  We’ve been growing since November 17th, and now, 2 months later, we’re up to 39 people (in 32 households).

What is neat is the sharing about issues and concerns that otherwise we wouldn’t know about.  On the positive side, neighbors have been asking for and receiving suggestions for gardeners, house cleaners and others.

On the less positive side, we’ve heard about some neighborhood issues: a break in on one street on a weekend afternoon in one case, and some vandalism at another. Who knew? But now that we do, we know to keep our eyes out.

In other words, this is almost like a virtual “neighborhood watch”.

Sometimes we’re all so busy that we don’t necessarily talk to our neighbors about concerns but this is a great way to do it.

I do know that people worry about their information being public.  The system requires members to be verified, either by mail (free) or by phone (which requires a one cent charge to a credit card). This is done to insure that everyone in this private site is actually a neighbor – for everyone’s protection.  Also, you don’t have to share your email address or phone number, but of course you can if you choose.

The Town of Los Gatos is embracing Nextdoor as a great way to facilitate communication and there’s a meeting later this week with others, like me, who’ve started Nextdoor sites in other parts of the town.  The Nextdoor neighborhood sites won’t line up exactly with the town’s groupings but it will be a great way to share information if we get more people onboard.

On the fence? Log in, have a look and see what you think.  There’s a lot to like about it!

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Have you heard of Nextdoor.com? It’s a platform that provides neighborhood websites. If you visit the site, you’ll see that it’s described as “The private social network for your neighborhood“.

In mid-November I started a site for the Surmont, Belgatos, Belwood and adjacent areas to the east and south in this east Los Gatos area: Gemini Court, Sebastian Court, Almond Blossom Court, Harwood Road, Alerche Road, Crider Court, Harwood Lane (private road where Harwood Road forks), and Harwood Court. These areas are all contiguous and use the same exit routes out of the area.  Many, but not all, are served by the Belwood Home Owner’s Association.   You can sign in at http://belwood-belgatos.nextdoor.com. There are 555 homes in this neighborhood that I set up.

Initially I was concerned about this being redundant since there are multiple neighborhood venues (this blog, the BelwoodHomes.org site, the Facebook pages – but many of them really only include Belwood and not Belgatos, Surmont or the nearby areas.

So what is the point of this “private social network for the area”?  First, it IS private: only residents can be involved in the site.  They verify one of two ways – either mailing you a postcard, which you must return, or by verifying your address through a credit card (they charge exactly 1 cent to do it).  Second, since it is private, it’s an easy and safer way to share relevant neighborhood information, whether it’s a block party, a theft in the area, organizing Christmas trees (as they do on Westhill Drive), the sighting of a mountain lion, traffic concerns, etc. – the whole gamut. It’s a great place to share names of good babysitters, gardeners, pet sitters, carpet cleaners and all kinds of services too.

Please check it out:
https://belwood-belgatos.nextdoor.com