Dan Parham (Neighborland)

Neighborland is a platform that started from an idea created by Candy Chang, who asked a very important question: why are there now services in my neighborhood and how do I find out where things are, what people thing? She created a project called “I wish this was” - stickers placed all over town where people wrote in what they wished something in a certain neighborhood was or could be. She then recorded the data. (Example - an old parking meter sticker said “I wish this was a bike rack.”)

• People responded to each other on the stickers, sharing ideas and trying to collaborate. She then posted online and included the location on Flickr.
• Dan then built the tool (Neighborland) to help people “create the neighborhoods they want to live in.”
• A complete, connected, and compact neighborhood is sustainable a neighborhood.
• Everyone can create ideas - people can add what they want in the city, in their neighborhoods, on the platform. The ideas are then aggregated to show how many people support it. It has discussion threads for further chat and information exchange right in the tool.
• You can see what people want in the city. Conversations happen everywhere. Having them on an open and transparent online platform is powerful. 
• Example: the St. Claude NIght Market - residents are self-organizing, pro typing, and connecting around one idea. The market is now a regular event. 
• Neighborland is about people connecting, sharing and understanding, and finding the resources to get something done. 
• Start with a fun and interesting question and conversation.
• Neighborland challenged the RTA to open their data. They did - and now developers can use the data to build tools for transportation to increase transparency.
• You have to understand politics if you want to get something done.