We get that question all the time here at FPF… especially leading up to Town Meeting Day and November elections.

The answer, of course, is “YES!”  Some of our members are disappointed to hear that.  They express a desire to keep FPF conversation “polite,” which therefore excludes mention of politics and religion… or anything that might bring feelings of discomfort.

I appreciate that point of view.  That’s the kind of thinking I grew up with.   But FPF operates under a different principle… the idea that more conversation and information sharing among neighbors will lead to more people getting involved in local issues, and result in better decisions being made much of the time.

This process can be messy.  People need to behave and have thick skins.  Local powerbrokers may need to loosen the reins a bit and develop strategies for engaging hundreds or thousands of constituents (that’s one place FPF can be of service).

In South Burlington, VT, for example, one City Councilor is speaking up about the U.S. Air Force’s plan to replace local F-16 fighter jets with new F-35s.  Her postings have reached directly into 2,000 South Burlington homes (out of 7,000 total) and have circulated widely beyond.  She’s forwarded many links to websites to facilitate voters in doing their research.

After dozens of postings from neighbors across several weeks (with various opinions and sharing more research), the Burlington Free Press picked up the story today, with staff writer Joel Banner Baird delving into the concerns and gathering quotes from various residents and local officials.

While I’ve heard that some civic leaders in South Burlington are upset at the Councilor for bringing the public into this issue through Front Porch Forum, most citizens I’ve heard from are grateful.  E.g., as quoted from the Free Press… Gene Palumbo, “We need more information.  We’re all curious.”

In another case, a selectboard member in Essex Town posted a campaign announcement plugging her re-election across the 18 FPF neighborhood forums in her area.  Other folks rightfully questioned this use of FPF, concerned about fair access to voters through FPF… fair between incumbents who enjoy wide access vs. challengers without access.  Well, FPF has a solution in place!

As laid out in FPF’s election-use guidelines, anyone on the ballot may post a single campaign announcement across ALL relevant FPF neighborhood forums.  So, everyone gets ONE shot to reach all FPF members.

Burlington grappled with many ballot items (e.g., instant run-off voting, IRV) on FPF this year, as well as debating choice of candidates.  Westford got into school budget issues.  Huntington explored conflict of interest.  Starksboro heard from candidates for two races… the first contested seats in years.  A Milton challenger used FPF and other means to unseat an incumbent.

Several local political observers report that Front Porch Forum is a surprisingly powerful new tool for both elections and ongoing governance.  Now that FPF’s service region blankets one-quarter of the state’s population (Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, plus Starksboro), we’re hearing from campaigns for statewide office as they ramp up for November 2010.  So weigh in and stay tuned!

I live in one of the neighborhoods served by Front Porch Forum (FPF), the electronic neighborhood networking tool described by Bill McKibben in the most recent issue of Yankee Magazine.

The article described how useful FPF is for finding lost cats, and borrowing cake pans and canoes.  In my neighborhood it allowed us to rally round a young mother who was dying of a chronic, progressive disease.  Because of the demands of her illness, she and her husband had not gotten to know many people. However, with FPF, we were able to arrange for someone to prepare and deliver dinner for this family every night for two months before she died, and for several weeks after the funeral.  Through FPF, the family also received a steady flow of cards and notes, and practical help with dog walking, errands, and driving the kids to after-school activities.

What struck me most during this period was the number of neighbors who expressed appreciation that FPF allowed them to find out about and participate in helping this family at a time of profound need.  As the Yankee article said: most people want to be neighborly, but we no longer have the local institutions and the time to do it the way we used to. FPF is a modern community-building tool that has admirably filled the need in the fortunate neighborhoods that have access to it.

Maybe Internet forums, not fences, are what make good neighbors.

After discussing her own hard-to-live-with neighbors, she says…

Ironically, rather than face-to-face discussions, it may be that the Internet is the best source of info about potentially exasperating neighbors. You can go to sites like RudeNeighbor.com, where people post items about loud parties and bad behavior.

Although researching online kvetching about your potential neighborhood is one option, I really like the notion of the Front Porch Forum.

Started by Michael Woods-Lewis and his wife, Valerie, about 10 years ago, Front Porch Forum is comprised of groupings of neighborhoods in Vermont, each of about 400 homes. People sign up and must clearly identify themselves (no anonymous ravings), and then post items of concern or interest to local neighbors.

To date, 17,000 households across 25 towns in that state interact and discuss what’s going on in their neck of the woods.

What’s key about FrontPorchForum is that it is a micro-community, not a giant group of users such as on Facebook or Twitter. And while the geography of the organization to date has been limited to the Vermont area, FPF will set up a forum in any area for a fee. Or you could start one of your own!

From a real estate perspective, this is a great option for giving insight to prospective buyers about the nature and zeitgeist of a neighborhood. Had there been a forum for my community in Connecticut, I most likely would have seen the many qualms others in the area have had with the infamous Mary and Jerry over the years (no, their ire has not just been focused on me).

Susan Comerford, a longtime community organizer and now associate dean for academic affairs and

Credit: William Duke

research at the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Services, calls it “the best community organizing tool that’s come along in the last 30 or 40 years.” To understand its importance, says Comerford (who started posting on the forum the day she needed a recommendation for a carpenter), you have to think about what’s happened in the American economy in recent decades.

“It’s not that people care less about community,” she notes. “It’s that the economy has shifted how much people have to work to keep up their standard of living. You don’t have one of the two partners home during the day making all those social connections, providing some sense of safety to the neighborhood. People have less disposable time than they used to.”

In a world like that, a system that lets you sit down for 10 minutes at the end of the day and learn what’s happened to your neighbors should, in Comerford’s view, earn Wood-Lewis one of those MacArthur “genius” grants.

UPDATE: The media coverage of Bill’s look at FPF is growing.  Check it out here, starting March 1, 2010.

So, if you’re curious about the name… here’s the brief tale.

It makes sense.  FPF has a huge local audience and Town Meeting Day is March 2… less than a week away.  Candidates, political parties, advocacy groups… they all are working to get the word out about their issue, their campaign.

But at its core, FPF isn’t about blasting out a single message to thousand of local homes.  It’s about neighborhood-level conversation.  Any local resident may join the single FPF neighborhood forum where he/she lives and post to his/her heart’s content.  (FPF is available in 25 Vermont towns.)

Most people are glad to read items from their clearly identified nearby neighbors… then continue the conversations on the sidewalk or at the local store or school.  FPF members seem less excited about reading one-way bulk postings from non-nearby neighbors.

That said, FPF does offer a range of options around elections, spelled out in our FAQ.  If you want to weigh in before Town Meeting, check out the guidelines and start posting!

Case in point… a Burlington resident who opposes a ballot measure to repeal Instant Runoff Voting.  She asked FPF to broadcast her posting across many of Burlington’s nearly 40 online neighborhood forums.  We declined and encouraged her to post it on her “home” neighborhood forum and ask friends in other neighborhoods to forward her message.

She took our advice and now we see her message popping up all over the city, and in each case it has a lead-in sentence from the friend stating their agreement with her position.  So now thousands of potential voters are getting the message, each with an extra pitch from a nearby neighbor… very effective.  “Best advocacy tool in town,” is how she put it.

And the original advocate had to convince dozens of friends across town to help her get her message out.  This is democracy!  Just the opposite of big money buying elections through mass media.

Indeed, I answered a knock on my door this morning and found a neighbor returning a borrowed pan.  We took the opportunity to discuss the merits of the IRV-repeal ballot measure for five minutes, each getting a little more food for thought before our respective moments in the voting booth next Tuesday.  A great use of Front Porch Forum!

House Concurrent Resolution 235
Congratulating Front Porch Forum on Its 10th Anniversary

Offered by: Representatives Wizowaty of Burlington, Aswad of Burlington, Bissonnette of Winooski, Donovan of Burlington, Frank of Underhill, Head of South Burlington, Heath of Westford, Jerman of Essex, Johnson of South Hero, Krebs of South Hero, Larson of Burlington, Lippert of Hinesburg, Lorber of Burlington, Minter of Waterbury, O’Brien of Richmond, Pugh of South Burlington, Ram of Burlington, Spengler of Colchester, Stevens of Waterbury, Till of Jericho, Waite-Simpson of Essex, Weston of Burlington, Wright of Burlington and Zuckerman of Burlington

Whereas, Front Porch Forum (FFP) has helped thousands of Vermont neighbors connect and build real community through its free, online service, and

Whereas, FPF now hosts 140 online neighborhood forums that blanket all of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, plus Starksboro, and

Whereas, more than 17,000 Vermont households subscribe to FPF, including in excess of 40 percent of dozens of neighborhoods and towns, and

Whereas, hundreds of local businesses and public officials use FPF to connect with Vermont customers and constituents, and

Whereas, thousands of Vermonters use FPF to find lost pets, report break-ins, organize neighborhood clean-ups and block parties, give away and sell household items, announce public events, debate local issues, and more, and

Whereas, FPF has been recognized nationally for helping Vermonters lead more civically engaged lives, and

Whereas, FPF looks forward to expanding its service to all Vermont towns, and

Whereas, today, March 30, 2010, marks Front Porch Forum’s 10th anniversary, now therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives: That the General Assembly congratulates Front Porch Forum, Inc. on its 10th anniversary and its success in reinvigorating Vermont neighborhoods while building new online communities, and be it further

Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Michael Wood-Lewis at Front Porch Forum, Inc. in Burlington.

Just posted the following list of local search api’s on SearchEngineLand.  I am going to be maintaining the list here and will be updating it from time to time.

• Alcatel Lucent Open API Service
• CityGrid (CitySearch)
• Earthmine
• Foursquare
• GoWalla
• Hoovers
• Outside.in
• Praized
• TownMe
• Trulia
• Twitter/MixerLabs
• Yahoo! Local
• Yelp API
• WhitePages.com
• Zvents

“These sponsorships are intended to inspire and support grassroots groups that have a vision for their neighborhood or the city and how it can be improved to the meet the needs of all residents,” said Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur of AARP Vermont.  “The sponsorship is open to grassroots groups and small non-profits in Burlington and should represent a desire to make change through local level activism and advocacy.”  Following the May 6 application deadline, three groups will be selected for grants ranging from $500-$2,000.