Category Archives: Good Government

Bridge Closure Hurting Businesses – Another Use for FPF

Posted on Saturday, September 6, 2008 by • No comments yet

Oof dah… the Bridge Street bridge in Richmond, VT, was closed late Thursday… from an already tedious one lane down to zero.  The good people of Richmond (and surrounding towns, such as Huntington, should be grateful for Selectman Erik Filkorn.  He turned immediate to Front Porch Forum and got the news into hundreds of local households’ inboxes as people were preparing to commute home.  The local traditional media have now picked up on the story too.

From Erik’s most recent FPF posting…

Hi Everybody – I am amazed at what great feedback I’m getting from folks about communicating through the forum. Thank you Michael Wood-Lewis for creating this. Yesterday could have been much worse. I rode my bike to the village expecting to see a big line of cars, but most folks seem to have gotten the message.

I know this is a gigantic hassle for everyone and we are working with our contractors and the State to get this bridge opened as soon as possible. We are also trying to find the resources to do a little extra work on the roads which are taking the additional traffic. Fire, rescue, police, the highway department, everyone has really stepped up. We’re lucky to have such good people working for us.

While as commuters, we are being compelled to bypass Richmond until this is fixed, as residents, now more than ever, we must support the businesses downtown. Thomas Hark pointed out in one of the forums that business is way off. The bakery was down 75% for the day and the cafe was similarly hit. Unless we ALL make an extra effort to shop and dine in town this week, some of the businesses we rely on may not be here next week. It IS that serious.

One of the pleasant side-effects of the closure is that the village has never been more pedestrian-friendly. Many people parked at the Round Church for the Farmer’s Market yesterday, and the absence of cars (mostly) on Bridge Street makes it even nicer to walk around. For anyone who hasn’t been yet, VT Green Grocer has most everything you need to cook dinner on the South Side of the River and the Corner Market has just about everything you need on the North. Walking to the hardware store over the bridge when you’re just picking up a few things is good for you and you run into more friends that way. Take a walk to Film Buzz to make up for the fact that you’re going to end up on the couch.

Please, please, make an extra effort to support local business through this crisis. You may even find that you like shopping in Richmond better than spending $10 on gas to drive to Williston and the time you would have spent on the Interstate could be spent talking to friends in town.

So it goes,
Erik

Place Blog Data from New York Times

Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2008 by • No comments yet

Bob Tedeschi wrote in the New York Times (Aug. 10, 2008) about local news blogs and included some interesting data…

Baristanet.com [Montclair, N.J., and surrounding towns]:

  • Posts about five or six videos, articles or photos every weekday.
  • Debuted in early 2004 and now attracts 18,000 readers on peak days… and more than 82,000 monthly readers, or roughly twice the population of Montclair, and about three times the number of readers it had early last year.
  • The site has a full-time editor, Annette Batson, a full-time designer, and four part-time workers, [and] now consistently generates more than $10,000 in monthly profits.

Red Bank Green (www.redbankgreen.com) [Newark, NJ], started in 2006… attracts about 45,000 readers a month.

Hoboken411.com [Hoboken, NJ]… attracts more than 250,000 monthly visitors… readers click on “several million” pages monthly on his blog, founded in 2006, and have added more than 100,000 comments.

WestportNow.com [Westport, CT] started in 2003, has more than 40,000 monthly readers.

NewHavenIndependent.com [New Haven, CT], begun in 2005… has three full-time reporters and one part-time reporter, all paid for by $185,000 in grants, corporate sponsorships and private donations.

The Loop (GetInLoop.com) [Long Island, NY], a new hyperlocal site started last year… attracts more than 10,000 monthly visitors.

Launched in 2006, Front Porch Forum is a different model, but shares some things in common with these efforts. Our 10,000 subscribing households are local to our pilot area (greater Burlington, VT) and are about 20% of total households. These good folks supply nearly all of the writing (FPF employs no writers) and partake of our service every other day on average.

Lots of places seeking enhanced sense of community

Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 by • No comments yet

Front Porch Forum is focused on its pilot area of Chittenden County, Vermont (greater Burlington).  We’re working on expansion plans too and we’re fielding lots of lovely requests from individuals and communities across North America.  One such note just came in from Michelle in Louisville, KY…

I feel like our neighborhood desperately needs this form of outreach. We need a block watch, a place to hold forums, and other necessary meetings. I believe developing a tight knit community, restoration, getting to know your neighbors, etc. will greatly reduce the amount of recorded and unrecorded crime in my area, as well as produce an atmosphere of ownership and respect.

I look forward to being able to work with all of these places in addressing their needs for neighbor-to-neighbor connection and community building.

More on Old North End quality of life

Posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 by • No comments yet

The depth of community running through Burlington’s Old North End is bubbling to the surface more and more these days. As discussed previously, a number of residents used Front Porch Forum to spark a discussion about drug dealing, public safety and overall quality of life issues. Some natural community organizers among them, channeled the energy evident on Front Porch Forum and organized a community meeting… held last night.

Here’s a report posted to FPF by State Rep. Christopher Pearson…

Tonight’s forum was well attended and I must admit the discussion left me a bit humbled. While I get frustrated with late night walk-by noise and we’ve been talking about fireworks waking us up late at night all too many in the Old North End live with drug deals, theft and more on a daily basis.

The message from [Police] Chief Schirling was loud and clear: they need our help. Even if you know the police could not make it to your street in time to stop the disturbance they are constantly building cases and monitoring our neighborhoods to figure out where their attention is most needed.

Burlington Police at 658-2700. You might also find their Citizen’s Guide to Reporting Crime helpful.

And John Briggs reported for the Burlington Free Press too…

Crime numbers are down, yet it doesn’t feel that way for many residents in Burlington’s Old North End this summer.

Worries about the quality of life in the neighborhood are nothing new, but the approach to a variety of issues at a well-attended community meeting Tuesday, from drug sales to noise, was more “What can we do?” rather than “How can we get them?” as it was just a few years ago.

That’s great… so good to hear that the tone was mostly positive and working toward solutions. This was our goal when we took the unusual steps of suspending the topic for a couple weeks on one of the FPF Old North End neighborhood forums… it had wandered away from being civil and constructive. Encouraging results.

We’re starting to see something similar happen in Winooski now through Front Porch Forum… civil and constructive conversation among neighbors (and local public officials).

UPDATE: The Free Press published my letter to the editor today… much appreciated…

Old North Enders engaged for solutions

We were thrilled to see that local residents were focused more on “What can we do?” rather than “How can we get them?” at the recent community meeting about crime (“Old North End worried about quality of life,” July 30).

We’re humbled that thousands of neighbors have used FrontPorchForum.com to engage in civil and constructive conversation online about these persistent challenges. And we’re also glad that so many people heeded the call to move the conversation offline and engage in face-to-face dialogue at community meetings.

On the whole, we see more people getting to know their neighbors and engaging in solving local problems — a hopeful sign for the Old North End and Burlington.

MICHAEL WOOD-LEWIS
Burlington
The writer is the co-founder of FrontPorchForum.com.

“This person is MAD!!!!”

Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

People often ask how Front Porch Forum has grown so rapidly in such a short amount of time… it’s almost all word-of-mouth.  Neighbor tells neighbor.  Here’s a posting from a South Burlington neighborhood forum today that serves as a good example…

Re the notice about the appraisal increase… one of my neighbors did receive a notice like this.  This person is MAD!!!! I am forwarding this to her, and encouraging her to join Front Porch Forum!

While we do see people come on board in reaction to a problem like this, it’s much more common for folks to join because they hear it’s a great way to connect with neighbors and plug into neighborhood news.

Can the internet boost local democracy?

Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2008 by • No comments yet

Steven Clift provokes some thought with his piece today at MediaShift. .. part of the Personal Democracy Forum 2008.  In part…

After almost two decades of “e-democracy,” we seem content with simply accelerating online what’s already wrong with politics. We raise money online to support more political television ads, we “democratize” national partisan punditry through blogs aimed at influencing mass media agendas, and whip up outrage through e-advocacy campaigns that fall into the electronic trash cans of Congress. Online news, campaigns, forums, blogs and other online social networks may appear public, but are ultimately privately controlled spaces where only the owner has real freedom.

And…

I’ve been inspired by a small collection of “democracy builders” who are toiling on the edge of e-politics or dodging the grip of “services first, democracy later” e-government projects. The generational challenge we face in designing democracy to survive (perhaps even thrive) online is to identify the incremental contributions the Internet can make when democratic intent is applied to it and then to make those tools, features, practices, and rights universally accessible to all people in all cities, states, and countries.

Thanks to Steve for including Front Porch Forum as one of his examples.

Can’t beat an informed electorate with a stick

Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by • 1 comment

The good people of the Town of Westford are engaged in a running debate about deciding some local issues, like the school budget, via traditional town meeting vs. Australian ballot.  Front Porch Forum has hosted many well-conceived postings about this from a variety of angles.

I was struck by Mary’s posting on the FPF Westford Neighborhood Forum today where she hammered home the importance of citizens getting educated on the issues before weighing in, whether it’s at Town Meeting or a ballot box.

She went on to say…

Front Porch Forum is an excellent tool for distributing information, but obviously it does not reach everyone in town.  Which leads to sending out much information to the public to prepare them for what they are voting on.

I will say between info mailed, The Forum and added meetings helped out tremendously with preparing us for the [failed school] unification vote.

An idea to share:  check with your neighbors and see if they belong to Front Porch Forum.  If not, highly recommend they join.  If you know of elderly people who do not use computers, offer to print out the forum postings once a week or every other.  They would probably love to read this info and people’s postings.

About one-third (270) of Westford households subscribe to Front Porch Forum so far, with more joining every week.  Last month, FPF published five issues of the Westford Neighborhood Forum per week, each issue comprised of about five postings from residents.

Future of Vermont June 19

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

Glenn McRea of the Snelling Center for Government posted the following on his neighborhood’s Front Porch Forum today…

The Future of Vermont is is an important opportunity coming up.  The Vermont Council on Rural Development is sponsoring a series of statewide forums on the “future” of Vermont.  Front Porch Forum is an important part of that future as a vehicle and a connected community.  I hope people will put this on their calendar and come and talk about FPF and other vital issues about the future of our Vermont community.

Forum on the future of Vermont – City Hall Auditorium in Burlington, from 6:00 to 8:30 on June 19th. Please check out the website at http:/www.futureofvermont.org to learn more, to take an on-line survey, or to contribute ideas electronically to this statewide dialogue.

Thanks Glenn!  I plan to attend.

Door-to-Door Magazine Crews Sweep Chittenden Co.

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • 1 comment

A number of Front Porch Forum neighborhoods have lit up recently about door-to-door salespeople. In particular, young folks have been sweeping through local neighborhoods pushing magazine subscriptions and odd stories that raise suspicions. Hundreds, if not thousands, of local folks seem to be talking about this. Some people are afraid, others annoyed… a couple fathers even have a kind of vigilante approach in the works. In fact, some of these sales folks have posted their pitch on Front Porch Forum too. I had an aggressive kid at my front door in Burlington just the other day with a cockamamie story.

So I was keen to read Irene Wrenner’s post today. Irene’s an Essex Town Selectboard Member.

This is a follow-up to various messages posted on Front Porch Forum in recent days by those who wonder about young magazine sellers canvassing their neighborhoods. On the internet I found two sites that were informative and appear to be legitimate. They discuss the abusive living / working situations that some captive youth endure.

Parent Watch is a clearinghouse for information on child and youth labor abuse in the traveling door-to-door sales crew industry.

http://www.magcrew.com is dedicated to helping individuals who have sold or are currently selling magazines or other items for a traveling sales crew. It boasts a central area where people can come together and share stories about door-to-door magazine selling. Their aim is to help those who are being or have been abused by Magazine Crews.

The New York Times article by Ian Urbina, “For Youths, a Grim Tour on Magazine Crews,” was published February 21, 2007 and contains advice for those of us who wonder what to do when approached:

“Ms. Williams, from Parent Watch, said her organization advised customers not to buy from the sellers or to let them in the house, but to offer them a phone to call home or her organization’s phone number to help anyone who might want to arrange a bus ticket home. She said her organization had lobbied for legislation to prevent sellers from being categorized as independent contractors and to provide them with minimum wage and safety and health protections.”

I hope the above is helpful to those who are concerned, as I am, about these solicitors.

UPDATE: More and more neighbors are posting stories about these young folks ringing their doorbells.  Mara in South Burlington offered these links for tales…

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/190/RipOff0190670.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/258/RipOff0258651.htm
http://www.scamclub.com/blog/2006/11/freedom-sales-is-scam-dont-get-fooled.html

Local Elected Officials put FPF to Use

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

Thanks to a local selectboard member for sharing her experience with Front Porch Forum in her Vermont town…

I am constantly amazed at how much good thought and work you put into making this happen. I think FPF is really having a positive effect in Hinesburg. I find it incredibly useful as an elected official to know what is going on all around town.

About 200 local public officials in FPF’s pilot area subscribe to the service currently.  More are welcome.

About Blog

Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more

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