March 11, 2008
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Love Thy Neighbor
One of the nicest luxuries that all of my years of traveling without having a home (or any bills to pay) afforded me, was the ability to save up enough money to purchase a condominium in a fairly affluent area. I was lucky enough to buy at the right time, and reap the rewards. No matter how upscale the place you live however, you can’t pick your neighbors. I thought about that today when I read this:
Got Bad Neighbors? Get the Word Out at RottenNeighbor.com
AUSTIN, TX — (BUSINESS
WIRE) Americans fed up with terrible neighbors have been actively
contributing data–including the street, city and a description of the
bad behavior–to a new real estate search tool that focuses exclusively
on the “neighbor-space.”Posts on awful–and the occasional great–neighbors already number
in the hundreds of thousands, making a search of the site in virtually
any city turn up productive information for the potential renter or
homebuyer. The site, www.RottenNeighbor.com,
features user-contributed post titles as diverse as “Nosey Neighbors,
Pine Hills, FL” and “The most unfriendly town EVER, Little Falls, NY.”The site has taken on a life of its own, with multiple mentions on
The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, CNN.com, The New
York Post and as one of Google Trends’ hottest searches. What started
with a few local news briefs quickly became a phenomenon that captured
the attention of the national press, and has continued to grow virally
through word-of-mouth and blog coverage.Founder Brant Walker, talking about the potential for the site, said
that “there has never been anything like this before, where people can
use the Internet to do neighbor research before they move. I just think
we’re giving people an incredibly valuable service here.”Users can search RottenNeighbor by zip code to get access to
detailed maps of states, counties, cities and neighborhoods. They can
also upload their own good or rotten neighbors to the database, filling
in the gaps and ensuring a more complete picture of their respective
neighborhoods.Added Walker: “We believe that when someone goes to make one of the
biggest decisions in their lives–where to live–that they should have
the maximum amount of information freely available to them. No one else
is giving them this information, so we hope people will turn to www.RottenNeighbor.com when they think about moving.”I don’t really have rotten neighbors. I would describe them more as eccentric. Like the guy on the first floor who STILL HAS HIS CHRISTMAS TREE UP!!! I just went outside and took this picture now:
Or the woman who lives next door to me who always leaves her garbage out in the hall and posts notes with duct tape all over the building!
I guess it could be worse though. When I typed my zip code into rottenneighbors.com, I found out about these car loving Persians and the Beverly Hills trailer trash just down the street. I wonder if that’s George Clooney writing about Britney Spears??
With the subprime crisis not yet in full swing, property values are going to get a lot worse before they get better, so despite Christmas in March and duct tape, I don’t think I’ll be posting anything online that decreases the value of my home. Anyone ever hear of an Easter Tree??
Comments (12)
Hey Carey, I want to mention my rotten neighbors too….they love to jump into their swimming pool at 3 o’clock in the morning and have parties during weeknights! LOL
ryc: ya, i saw that movie, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. i thought it was slow.
well, as your resident do it yourselfer, i have to inform you that is packing tape, not duct tape which is far from being semi-transparent! duct tape is heavy, gooey, and generally gray in color – though other colors are now available for the more artistic! i’ll have to check out my area, but since my nearest neighbor, while nosy, is an eighth of a mile down the road and the rest over a quarter mile away, i don’t get bothered by their activities – although one is a junk collector! have a great day man! peace, Al
I’d probably have my Christmas Tree up too, I mean putting it up and down it’s a lot of work. (I don’t think I’d light it up though.) Let me guess, the duct-tape lady is most likely over 40s? 50s maybe?
At least you aren’t listening to loud sex through the walls I’ve had to do that before. I once also had a neighbor that we dubbed the elephant upstairs! They walked so hard across their floor that is literally sounded as if it would all fall in soon.
You’re right. This site is a double edge sword. Great if you’re a potential buyer but bad if you’re a seller!
@curry69curry - You can always come to the HC for a quiet respite Garry :)
@generasianx - It was a bit slow, but her performance was quite good though, don’tcha think?
@pukemeister - Ah, rural living!
@ch_iu - She’s actually in her 30′s but she looks much older Lewis
@blessedbumble - The loud sex is coming from MY apartment! SNAP
my neighbors but up a 9 foot fence at the edge of their property, where there once was none. It’s across from our house, so basically for the last few years our driveway has become a 7 foot wide hazard tunnel. Our minivan only has 6 inches of breathing space on each side, making it near impossible to back out on to the street w/o busing a mirror or something. they said they wanted more privacy, but we can see straight into their kitchen from ours. infuriating. also, i apologize for the confusion: “vantage point” was the worst movie i’ve seen in theaters since “ghost rider;” i wouldn’t waste my time, let alone my money.
@AirGuitarVirtuoso - Wow, sounds like that site was had you in mind! Thanks for the clarification on VP. I’ll wait for it to come on HBO!
Thanks for the link what a weird site. But it is a good idea. I never had a way to find out about my neighbors when I bought this house. Judi
hahaha this is hilarious.
my, my… the dramas surrounding you… it’s no doubt you’re in LA.