New Startup Neighborland Launches; To Hold Hackathon This Saturday In NOLA

Neighborland, the new startup that provides a fun and easy way for residents to suggest new businesses and services that they want in their neighborhood, is holding a hackathon this weekend in New Orleans.

Neighborland was founded by Candy Chang, Dan Parham, and Tee Parham.  The  group decided to set up shop in New Orleans partly because its a city that  embraces new technology and smart growth, and supports better resident-powered tools.

Neighborland, which launched in public beta several weeks ago, is a fantastic tool for residents to voice new ideas for vacant commercial real estate, existing public space, and development projects in the works.   The concept is all about building relationships between all the moving pieces that make a neighborhood work.  Two of the most popular ideas on the site include “I want the street car to go to Poland Avenue in the Bywater” and   “I want Circle Foods renovated in Seventh Ward.”

On Saturday June 11 Neighborland will host a “hackathon” event from 2 PM to 5 PM.  Everyone is invited to join neighbors and colleagues at the Icehouse (2803 Saint Philip Street in Mid-City) for free drinks, food from Sammy’s on Elysian Fields, and live music.  They suggest that you bring your laptop to test out the platform while enjoying the afternoon.   The Neighborland team will also give some brief remarks about the service and collect feedback from folks after using the site.  For questions, you can email Neighborland’s community manager, Alan Williams, at alan@neighborland.org.

What: Neighborland.org “soft launch hackathon”

Where: The Icehouse, 2803 Saint Philip Street (Mid-City)

When: Saturday, June 11 from 2 PM to 5 PM

The Neighborland team also includes James Reeves, Chris Palmatier, and Alan Williams and is project of the New Orleans-based Civic Center.  Civic Center champions civic engagement through stories, services, products, and public installations.  Neighborland is also supported by the Tulane City Center, part of Tulane’s School of Architecture, with the generous support of Tulane’s Social Entrepreneurship Program and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Much like another website I started back in 2008 that focused on community driven policy change, Neighborland has the potential to make a massive impact in community development.