When we moved to the new neighborhood, one of our new neighbors invited us to this neighborhood social media thing called “NextDoor“. Like Facebook, but instead of friends, it is your neighbors, and broken into logical groupings like small neighborhoods.
We are in Santa Teresa-Oak Grove, and it has a hundred or so houses in it. It is surrounded by 8 near neighbors. Seems good so far.
You can post classifieds, reviews of trades people, and discuss crimes or security issues. Still all good.
However, it seems to lead to a bunch of “us vs. them” parochialism, and some downright NIMBY bullshit.
Two examples:
- 4th of July – This last 4th of July it was like a war zone. Since all the county is a “no fireworks” zone, all are illegal. So, if you are going to break the law, do it with the really good shit. Mortars, Roman Candles, M80’s and a lot more.
It was a fucking war zone. The jackasses down the street had firecrackers that were so powerful that it set off all the car alarms on the block. The people behind us had almost professional grade mortars and sky bursters. Insane.
At a local park, it was apparent that two groups of revelers were firing these serious fireworks at each other.
On NextDoor? Two factions, the dudes who thought it was awesome how people were celebrating their freedom buy blowing off thousands of dollars of fireworks, and the people who thought that the poor child who was severely burned in an accident, and the house that burned down while the neighbors kept lighting the night sky up.
I expect this sort of callousness in Arizona, but not in the Bay Area.
- Homeless in the underpass – the unfortunate situation in the bay area is that in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the number of displaced families who are reduced to urban camping is pretty high. One poster on the NextDoor commented that it was disgraceful, and that we should all call our supervisor to have them rousted.
This encampment you really had to know where to look, and to crane your neck to see them. Yes, an eyesore, but alas, there isn’t a lot you can do.
The postings were about 5-1 in favor of having the police roust them, and remove their makeshift camp. I was stunned that it took almost 20 replies before someone said that the last time the rousted them, it just moved them to the sidewalks in the neighborhood, and made them more visible.
I am more sanguine. These are people who by and large are victims of their circumstances. The posters who were certain that there were plenty of beds in shelters for these people are living in a fantasy world. That the county and city had plenty of funds to help all these people.
I wonder what fucking world they are living in. When there are never more than three police officers patrolling our 8 square mile district due to funding limitations, clearly there isn’t excess funds for the homeless.
I suspect many of these negative commenters are good church going Christians who are not living the word. (judging by the number of NOTW decals I see on cars). Where is the compassion for the fellow man?
In short, while I like the idea of NextDoor, I am not sure I want to see that much of the ugliness of my neighbors.
Don’t even get me started on the venting about the apartment complexes being built off of Cottle road. The hyperventilating there is off the fucking hook.
Like everywhere, NIMBY rules, and they are happy to have change as long as it is invisible and doesn’t affect them.
