Neighborland

Neighborland was a public engagement platform designed for government agencies, place-makers, and civic organizations. Our mission was to empower residents to shape the development of their neighborhoods. To do this, we helped improve the way civic organizations collaborated with their communities. Over 3 million people participated on Neighborland, and our partners’ projects have yielded over $700 billion in social and economic impact to date. Neighborland was acquired by Nextdoor in 2019.

Neighborland was co-founded by Dan Parham, Tee Parham, and Candy Chang in 2010 and operated until 2023. Our team included some amazing people including: Scott Jacobsen, Chris Palmatier, Alan Williams, Bridget Harrington, Rob Chappell, James Reeves, Tom Kolbeck, Jon Axtell, Lawrence Grodeska, Frank Campanella, Meli Burgueño, Brendan Crain, Ellen Black, Matthew Hall, and Earl Carlson, among many others. We developed Neighborland with the generous support of Tulane University’s Social Entrepreneurship Program and the Rockefeller Foundation in New Orleans in 2011. We created our founding documents with the support of the University of Colorado’s Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. In 2012, we raised a seed investment with Toni Schneider and Christiaan Vorkink from True Ventures; Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Jason Goldman of Obvious Corporation; Steve Schlafman and Ken Lerer at Lerer Hippeau Ventures; Topher Conway at SV Angel; Patrick Gallagher at Tuesday; and Chris Schultz and Peter Bodenheimer at Voodoo Ventures. And we deeply appreciate our advisors who included Alex Rainert, Ben Blumenrose, Enrique Allen, Stephen DeBerry, Josh Mendelson, Joshua To, and Ophelia Basgal.

A sincere thank you to all of the contributors for their support on the Neighborland journey.

Outcomes

Connect SoCal
Southern California’s Association of Governments (SCAG) 2020 Long Range Transportation Plan guides $638b+ in transportation investments in Southern California through 2045.
Source: SCAG

Resilient SF
$35b in capital improvements included in the City and County of San Francisco’s 10 Year Capital Plan.
Source: City and County of San Francisco

National Landing Strategic Plan
The development of Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Potomac Yard, including Amazon’s HQ2, is estimated to generate $15b in economic impact by 2030.
Source: National Landing BID

Housing Authority of Los Angeles Vision Plan
Guides the Authority’s $1b annual budget to produce and preserve quality affordable housing and foster healthy communities over the next 10 years.
Source: HACLA

Resilient LA
$15b in capital improvements ($150m annually) included in the City of Los Angeles’s approved budget from 2020–2030.
Source: Resilient LA

Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan
$150m approved by voters in a Parks Bond in November 2021. Total AEC budget estimated at $1b+ over the next 10 years.
Source: Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy

Turner Field Livable Centers Study
Total economic impact for the 87 acre site in downtown Atlanta near Center Parc Stadium estimated at $1b+.
Source: City of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Regional Commission

Stonestown
2,930 housing units and 200k gross square feet of retail, commercial, and community spaces estimated at 2b+ over the next 10 years in San Francisco.
Source: Brookfield Properties, SF Yimby

Downtown South
A 145 acre district in southern Raleigh with an estimated build out of 2,000 apartments, 800 hotel rooms, 2.1m square feet of office, and 165k sq feet. Impact estimated at $2b+ over the next 10 years.
Source: Downtown South, WUNC

Imagine Mesa
$800m in capital improvements approved by residents in 2018; $7.9b in total economic impact.
Source: City of Mesa

Allegheny County Department of Human Services
Participatory budgeting process to inform ACDHS’s $897m annual budget.
Source: ACHDS

San Francisco State Strategic Plan
Strategic plan to guide annual operating budget of $500m.
Source: SFSU Strategic Planning

Better Market Street in SF
$450m capital improvement plan approved and in development.
Source: SF Planning

Miller’s Landing
65 acre, $300M redevelopment with 450k sq feet of office space and 250k sq feet in retail in Castle Rock, Colorado.
Source: P3 Advisors, Denver Business Journal

San Jose State University Campus Master Plan
Strategic plan to help guide $240m in investment over the next 10 years.
Source: San Jose State University

New Orleans Food Truck Coalition
$15m/yr in gross economic impact since city council legalization of food trucks in 2013 ($150m total).
Source: City of New Orleans

City of Atlanta District 3 Master Plan
$100m+ in proposed capital improvements across 4,800 acres in downtown Atlanta.
Source: Atlanta Planning

Rampart Saint Claude Streetcar in New Orleans
$42m in construction approved by residents, construction completed 2017.
Source: City of New Orleans

Central Market / Tenderloin Community Benefit Agreements
$45m in community benefits with Twitter, Zendesk, Spotify, Yammer, Zoosk, and One Kings Lane approved by City and County of San Francisco Administrator in 2016.
Source: City and County of San Francisco

Central Waterfront and Dogpatch Public Realm plan
Public realm improvements funded by the Pier 70 development. AEC estimated at $50m+.
Source: SF Planning

South Downtown Design and Activation plan
Public realm investments funded by development in the East Cut. AEC estimated at $50m+.
Source: SF Planning

Corrine Drive Complete Streets
Complete street investments in Orlando, FL. AEC estimated at $20m+. Source: MetroPlan Orlando

City of Berkeley, CA Civic Center Vision and Implementation Plan
$1m in public space and civic architecture improvements included in the Measure T1 bond approved by voters in November of 2016.
Source: City of Berkeley

Contact

We’re currently advising organizations on their public engagement strategy and technology, and are open to collaborations that help people shape the development of their communities.