We’re sorry to report that EveryBlock has closed its doors.

It’s no secret that the news industry is in the midst of a massive change. Within the world of neighborhood news there’s an exciting pace of innovation yet increasing challenges to building a profitable business. Though EveryBlock has been able to build an engaged community over the years, we’re faced with the decision to wrap things up.

Thank you for having let us play a role in how you get your neighborhood news. Thanks for the contributions, for the questions, and for allowing us to connect you to each other, in many cases to make great things happen in your community. Along the way, we hope we’ve helped you be a better neighbor.

In response to a growing number of user requests, today we’re excited to announce the launch of EveryBlock neighbor ads. For local merchants, we hope you’ll see them as a simple, do-it-yourself, cost-effective way to advertise your business at the neighborhood level. We’re only launching in Chicago for this introductory phase, with future plans to expand to our other 18 cities.

In a world of seemingly endless marketing options for small businesses, here’s what we’ve combined to make neighbor ads stand out…

1. We’ve kept it simple. Not too long ago I heard from someone, “Marketing is what a small business owner does on their laptop in bed at 11pm.” In that spirit, you can create a neighbor ad in under five minutes, no design skills necessary.
2. Neighborhood level targeting. We don’t know of another self-serve way to truly target ads at the neighborhood level. And while most geographically targeted ad options are tied to a user’s current location, ours deliver the message to their neighborhood of interest. And we think that’s far more relevant for local advertisers.
3. Deals on your own terms. We’ve added an option to include a coupon or deal of your choice. It adds an element of financial flexibility while redemptions can help you gauge the ad’s effectiveness.
4. The ad lives within EveryBlock content. Industry nerds lovingly refer to this as “native advertising.” It means that your message looks like EveryBlock content and lives within the flow of it rather than being relegated to a predefined advertising space to which users are becoming increasingly immune.

Additionally, with the launch of neighbor ads comes a change to our event posting policy. Not-for-profit organizations are encouraged to continue to post their events, while we ask that for-profit companies now post their events as neighbor ads. This will help us better manage the increasing quantity of event posts while funding EveryBlock’s future growth.

As we work through this introductory phase, please reach out to us with thoughts or questions at feedback@everyblock.com. We’ll be following up soon with news of additional ad features, and in the meantime really appreciate your input.

Get started with neighbor ads in Chicago →

EveryBlock is glad to support local businesses and community events in our cities. From cultural organizations, like Fourth Arts Block, to block associations, we’re sponsoring groups who are making their block a better place.

We’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with this season’s Brooklyn Craft Central Holiday Market in New York City. This local craft market is in its 5th year and we’re happy to be a part of it to support local businesses this holiday season.

So if you’re looking to cross off some names from your holiday gift list, stop by the EveryBlock table to meet a few of us on the team while shopping from local businesses and artists, and enjoying food from local vendors. For more information on this holiday market, visit Brooklyn Craft Central.

We're looking to hire a Web/iOS developer to a six-month contract to join our small and effective development team at EveryBlock. This is your chance to work on a wide variety of interesting problems, helping improve a great product with a passionate and growing user base. You should expect to have a hand in all aspects of the site, and your contributions will have an immediate, direct impact on the awesomeness of our service.

When it comes to developers, we like to hire Jills and Jacks of all trades. The ideal candidate will be equally comfortable building apps for iOS, developing back-end Python code, working with databases (we use PostgreSQL and PostGIS) and helping optimize our infrastructure.

Here is the requisite bulleted list of requirements:

• Experience developing iOS applications.
• Experience developing Web applications, and deploying them on Linux.
• Experience (and preference for) working on a small team.
• Clear communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Impeccable work ethic and ability to manage your own workload effectively.
• Ability to iterate quickly.

And here are some nice-to-haves:

• Experience using Python and Django to develop Web applications.
• Experience developing non-trivial JavaScript applications using jQuery.
• Experience building geo apps and using PostGIS.
• Passion about improving neighborhoods through information and enabling community conversation.

We have two designers and three developers at the moment; you'd be the fourth. It's worth mentioning that the entire team right now is ten people, and you have a chance to make a huge impact, beyond strictly development — suggesting marketing ideas, helping prioritize various strategies and tactics, etc.

We have a low-stress environment and a culture of getting things done with as little bureaucracy as possible. Though we're technically no longer an independent startup — we were acquired by msnbc.com (now NBC News Digital) in 2009 — we're culturally very much still a startup, given that our product is still in early stages and we're still figuring things out.

You'll need to live in the Chicago area for this position. Our office is in a comfortable loft space on the north side of Chicago, near a bunch of other startups. Several of us walk or bike to work; we're also equidistant from the Montrose and Irving Park el stations on the Brown Line, and several bus lines.

If you're interested, apply through our Jobvite site. Thanks for checking this out.

Today we're excited to announce our season long partnership with the Brooklyn Nets.

It's been great to see how people new to a neighborhood often use EveryBlock to connect with others. They might post a question in search of parking advice or a reliable dog-walker, or rally a group for a park clean-up. And when that new arrival is Brooklyn's first professional sports franchise in over 50 years, we know there's a whole new level of good that can come from the Nets using EveryBlock to talk to and hear from their new neighbors.

As the team continues to settle into their new home at Barclays Center, they'll use EveryBlock to keep an open dialogue with the surrounding community, as well as to post their own neighborhood events. So be it a question about post-game litter you may have noticed, rallying interest for a community project that involves the team, or trying to get Deron Williams to your kid's birthday party, come talk to the team on EveryBlock. Okay, not that last one.

For more details, check out our press release here.

Of nineteen EveryBlock cities, New York City and Philadelphia were the most impacted by Hurricane Sandy. While many people were left without electricity and internet access, several used EveryBlock to connect with their neighbors during and after the storm to share vital information. Here's some of what we saw unfold:

• When the New York City area transit system was suspended, neighbors posted questions and information about local businesses remaining open for food, city services and hurricane supplies.
• As the rain and wind hit the city, neighbors reported loss of electricity and other services, such as cable. Post-storm, neighbors shared updates on when power returned to their neighborhood or when it reportedly would return.
• The gasoline shortage that continues in the New York City area prompted neighbors to ask where gasoline was available and give tips on where lines were long or where gasoline had already run out.
• When subway and bus services resumed, neighbors shared the limited routes and other important commuter information.
• The NYC parks were reopened over the weekend, so neighbors quickly took to EveryBlock to recruit their neighbors for cleanup efforts.

Lastly, and most importantly, in the storm's aftermath neighbors quickly began posting about how to help those most in need. Discussions ranging from volunteer opportunities to donation drop-offs offered ways to connect and assist others.

It was inspiring to see so many EveryBlockers connect during a difficult time. As the recovery from Hurricane Sandy continues, we're proud to provide a tool that encourages neighbors to keep each other informed through posting alerts and breaking neighborhood news, asking important questions, and sharing ways to give back to those in need.

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a year and a half since we redesigned EveryBlock to focus on neighborhood conversation. We were excited to give users a greater voice—to be the icebreaker that connected neighbors around news, issues and questions. And while we admit to not knowing what was going to come from the change, the results have left us completely inspired and excited about where we can go from here.

As user posts continue to grow, our top priority will always be to maintain EveryBlock as a place for civil discussions about neighborhood news. That can be a tall order in the wild world of the Internet, which is why we’re asking you to play a greater role in keeping things, well, neighborly. Do we expect or want EveryBlock to be a saccharine sweet place of only group hugs? Absolutely not. Spirited debate and disagreements, if respectful, are keys to building the strongest ideas and making real progress.

With that in mind we’re introducing the EveryBlock Community Ideals. They’re the philosophies that inspire how our community strives to act. Starting in a couple weeks, as an EveryBlock user, you’ll be asked to agree to these prior to posting if you haven’t already as part of creating your account. If you’re not on board you’ll still receive your EveryBlock emails and be able to visit the site. But we certainly hope you’ll see this as a simple gesture to fellow users of your support for the community you’ve helped build.

Have you experienced a problem with your power or hot water and wondered if others in your neighborhood were having the same issue? Alert your neighbors of concerns and ask questions on EveryBlock to get to the bottom of a potential building or block emergency.

Last week, a Philly neighbor named Daniela posted a message to ask if others on her block had lost their running water. She had made a call to the city’s water revenue bureau, but didn’t get an answer, so she decided to reach out to her EveryBlock neighbors.

Within minutes, residents posted replies about the loss of water in their homes. Once neighbors noticed their water was turned back on they returned to EveryBlock to check in and share the good news.

Two other EveryBlock users in nearby neighborhoods also posted about the water issues last week. Neighbor Karenina had read about a water main break while neighbor JP’s home was hit with low water pressure and he was curious if he was the only one affected.

All of these EveryBlockers were able to connect with others who were experiencing the same problem, so they knew it wasn’t just something to take up with their landlord, but a neighborhood-wide concern.

We're pleased to announce that we have recently extended our partnership with Trulia to provide EveryBlock users with more comprehensive real estate information.

Previously, our listings only covered properties for sale. Now, we're including properties for rent as well. To access rental data on EveryBlock, you can either view the listings on your homepage (as seen below) or you can click on "Property Rentals" in the "Show Only" tab.

Please keep in mind that all information that is seen on your homepage can be managed by going to your user profile (top right) and clicking on "Manage your settings" where you can change the emails your receive, the places you follow, and the news types that show up on your homepage.

If you'd like to learn more about this partnership or would like to discuss new partnership opportunities, please contact me at parinda@everyblock.com.

Are you looking to meet more neighbors on your block, but don’t know how to get started? Share your interests with neighbors on EveryBlock, such as running or reading, to start a group offline.

Book clubs can be a fun way to get to know people in your neighborhood, while a fitness club can help everyone get fit together.

Just last week, a South Philly neighbor named Steph posted a message on EveryBlock to ask if there were any local book clubs she could join or if any neighbors were interested in starting one. She got a number of helpful and interested responses from several neighbors excited to start a book club together.

This week, another South Philly neighbor named Mark posted to find out if anyone was interested in starting a running club. A few neighbors have already joined in on the conversation, sharing their current speed and distance achievements, as they are interested in joining in on a regular group running schedule.

Get to know your neighbors by starting an activity-based group in your neighborhood! Post a neighbor message to see who might be interested and once your group has established a meeting time and place, add an event to the EveryBlock community calendar so others can attend.

Since last year’s redesign, neighborhood honors have been a way for us to recognize folks who have been active on EveryBlock.

As we started to think about the next level of neighborhood honors, we decided it was time to take a new approach that would reward the different types of contributors who make the EveryBlock community great.

We’ve replaced the “neighbor” and “active neighbor” designations with several jazzy looking badges (shout out to our awesome designer, P.J. Macklin) for various activities such as commenting on a neighbor’s first post or sharing an event. We will also be keeping "active neighbor" around for past users who already earned this badge, but it will only be visible on profile pages.

The "Blockstar" badge, which is intended to recognize neighbors who are above average when it comes to the number of thanks they receive for each comment or message, will be visible as you read discussion threads. You can any user's full set of badges by clicking on their name or photo and going to their profile page.

If you've already been contributing on the site, your past contributions will count toward the new badges. If you haven't been quite so active, now is a perfect time to get started!

In the weeks and months to come, we’ll continue to introduce new badges to keep things interesting. We hope these new badges will inspire you to contribute to EveryBlock, connect with your neighbors and improve your community.

We're at the end of harvest time among Seattle's urban farmers, and our fruit trees often yield more than our families and immediate neighbors can consume.

At EveryBlock Seattle, we've seen a few neighbor messages that offer up plums, suggest a tree fruit trade or barter for other backyard goodies (eggs, anyone?).

What are neighbors in your area doing with their extra harvest?

Hello, Pittsburgh!

Fresh off last week’s launches in Austin and Denver, today we’re introducing Pittsburgh as our 19th EveryBlock city!

It’s a neighborhood driven city with a bustling technology scene, so we’ve been itching to get up and running there for quite a while. Thanks to everyone we’ve met who’s been supportive of our launch, including Councilman William Peduto for his kind words.

"As an elected official one of the most important aspects of my job is to make sure that my constituents have the most up-to-date information about what's happening in their neighborhoods," said Councilman Peduto. "The platform that EveryBlock provides gives me and my staff a new set of tools to help us achieve this goal and makes it easier for citizens to engage with their government and with each other."

The more neighbors that join EveryBlock, the more useful it becomes, so we appreciate anything you can do to help spread the good word. And as you create your free account and give the site a try, please drop us a line at feedback@everyblock.com to alert us to anything that looks off, to share any thoughts, or to simply say hi.

We’re really excited to have just launched EveryBlock in our two newest cities, Austin and Denver.

Austinites, you’re invited to any and all of our inaugural meet-ups to mingle with your neighbors and learn how EveryBlock helps you best keep tabs on your community.

• Wednesday, October 3- Rattle Inn, 6-8pm
• Thursday, October 11- Bungalow, 6-8pm
• Thursday, October 18- The Belmont, 6-8pm

And if you’re in Denver, be on the lookout for a special program with our friends at Denver B-cycle. Post a picture on their Facebook page of you with one of the EveryBlock bikes, and a free 24-hour pass is on us.

The more neighbors that join EveryBlock, the more useful it becomes, so we appreciate anything you can do to help spread the good word. And as you create your free account and give the site a try, please drop us a line at feedback@everyblock.com to alert us to anything that looks off, to share any thoughts, or to simply say hi.

EveryBlock is working to support community events in our cities by partnering with organizations that are improving their neighborhood. From block associations to cultural organizations, we’re sponsoring groups who are making their block a better place.

One such event in New York City is the Fourth Arts Block’s upcoming 2012 FAB! Festival on September 22. Fourth Arts Block is leading the development of the East 4th Street Cultural District in Manhattan’s East Village. As an active EveryBlock neighbor, Fourth Arts Block shares their events and neighborhood activities on our calendar all year long, keeping neighbors in the loop of many cultural activities happening on their block.

The FAB! Festival brings together a selection of free performances by local artists, as well as diverse performances and activities from throughout NYC for this celebration of the arts in the neighborhood.

So if you’re planning to attend the festival, stop by the EveryBlock table to meet a few of us on the team while enjoying arts and culture activities all afternoon long. For more information on Fourth Arts Block and the FAB! Festival.