The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced Sept. 14, a partnership with Nextdoor, a private social network for neighborhoods, to enhance communications with residents across Los Angeles County. Using Nextdoor, residents across the county can now receive messages directly from Metro and receive updates on Metro projects scheduled for their neighborhoods, transportation safety tips and planning initiatives.
The partnership with Nextdoor is a continuation of Metro’s commitment to transparency and open dialogue with the communities it serves, especially at a time the agency is rapidly expanding its system.
“With five rail projects currently under construction and future expansions under consideration, it’s paramount Metro utilizes all available mediums to engage with residents in and around our project areas ,” said Metro CEO Phil Washington. “Nextdoor is a tool that allows us to quickly and easily communicate information to residents about upcoming projects, planning initiatives or issues that affect their neighborhood.”
Metro began discussions with Nextdoor based on feedback from residents in the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project corridor and in the North Hollywood/Van Nuys service area. Metro’s initial outreach efforts on the online network will focus on the neighborhoods in those areas, with plans to expand to other project area neighborhoods after a 90-day pilot period.
Thousands of neighborhoods in Los Angeles County are already using Nextdoor to connect to each other. The private social media network has proven to be an essential tool both locally across Los Angeles County as well as nationally, with more than 40 percent of U.S. neighborhoods using Nextdoor.
L.A. County residents are able to use Nextdoor to join private neighborhood websites to share information, including neighborhood public safety issues, community events and activities, local services and even lost pets.
Nextdoor is free for residents and for Metro. Each L.A. County neighborhood has its own private Nextdoor neighborhood website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood. Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website. All members must verify that they live within the neighborhood before joining Nextdoor. Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by Google or other search engines.
