Want to improve your block? Ask Neighborhow

Ever wondered how to plant a street tree or plan a block cleanup? Stand on the shoulders of the giants: your neighbors.

Plenty of folks have successfully planned neighborhood improvement projects. Instead of asking the same questions or facing the same road blocks as others before you, should there be a place to learn from each other’s project experiences? That’s the focus of Code for America’s newest Philly project, Neighborhow, which aims to crowd-source neighborhood improvement project “examples, how-dos, and best practices.”

Anyone can add or edit content on the Neighborhow website so that people planning improvement projects can learn from the experience and advice of others who have done similar projects, and connect with city and community resources. It’s like a commons for the common good.

To start off, Neighborhow will go through a pilot phase this summer, testing and refining the concept by focusing on three types projects: coordinating a block cleanup, planning a block party, and starting a neighborhood watch group.

You can help power Neighborhow by volunteering as a writer, editor or doer. To find out more and get involved, click over to neighborhow.org.

Want more:

• Do-Gooding By Example, by Elizabeth Hunt, 2012 Code for America fellow [May 29, 2012]
• Visit Neighborhow.org