Proud to be from Pittsburgh: Nextdoor

PITTSBURGH — From her Lawrenceville store front, glass artist Bernadette Gerbe sees her neighbors every day.

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But she didn't know most of their names until she started using Nextdoor, a private social network that unites people with their community.

“It's helped me feel connected to the neighborhood,” she told Channel 11’s Peggy Finnegan.

Nextdoor Lawrenceville started about 3½ years ago with 75 members. Now, there are more than 2,000.

Those members are making old-fashioned connections, using modern technology.

People use the network for anything from finding a babysitter to reporting a lost pet to alerting neighbors to trouble.

“It's nice that when things happen, you can make the rest of the neighborhood aware of it very, very quickly,” said Gerbe.

Nancy Leff said the network not only helped her make friends but also survive the rough winter.

She doesn't drive.

“I have a number of times put on the website, ‘Can anyone take me to get milk and water or something because there’s a storm going on?’” Leff said.

One of her requests received six replies, including one from Gerbe.

Gerbe and her husband were glad to help out Leff.  “My husband and I have both helped her out with rides in the past and, you know, it's not a problem for us, and it helps out a neighbor,” she said.

They said that Nextdoor lets them harness the power of the Internet to build a safer and closer community.

Nextdoor is free and already being used in 55,000 neighborhoods across the country.

Cox Media Group