BALTIMORE, MD - Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., today announced that his agency is the first in Baltimore to partner with Nextdoor (www.nextdoor.com), a free, private social network for neighborhoods. This expands the agency’s electronic outreach tools, which include Facebook, Twitter, and the GovDelivery digital communications platform.
Baltimore residents who are Nextdoor users will automatically receive DPW’s updates.

The addition of Nextdoor enables DPW to increase and strengthen community engagement. This will supplement the work of the DPW community liaisons, who act as personal points of contact for citizens and neighborhoods.

Nextdoor will allow residents across the city to receive messages directly from DPW, along with updates on agency projects scheduled for their neighborhoods, changes to service schedules, utility safety tips, and service updates.

Nextdoor is a continuation of DPW’s strategy to enhance customer satisfaction and improve communications with customers. Water customers and those who utilize services by the Bureau of Solid Waste will benefit from the timely delivery of service messages to neighborhoods through Nextdoor.

Nextdoor has proven to be an essential and well-adopted tool both locally in Baltimore as well as nationally. More than 181 neighborhoods in Baltimore use Nextdoor to connect with each other, and now DPW can join those conversations.
“I want DPW to be focused on great customer service, including delivering clear, timely information about our projects,” said Director Chow. “Nextdoor will help us to achieve this goal.”

Nextdoor allows users to create private neighborhood websites to share information, including neighborhood public safety issues, community events and activities, local services, and even lost pets. 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. The service is free for residents and for DPW.

Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit www.nextdoor.com and enter their address. If residents have questions about their Nextdoor website, please visit help.nextdoor.com.