It's a pretty understandable urge: You move, and once you're settled in you want to know everything there is to know about your new block. Were there killings? Were those killings carnal and/or grisly? Is there a sure-sign-of-gentrification-beer-garden opening on the corner? Were there killings (grisly or carnal) AT the beer garden on the corner? Is the beer garden infested with rats and/or locusts, and if so is that property currently for sale? About a month ago I moved to a new apartment in Prospect Heights in Brooklyn (11238) and since then I've been obsessed with Everyblock, a site that aggregates a range of seemingly disparate news (restaurant reviews, building permit violations, crime reports, cycling events) into one concise email, site visit or RSS feed. Right now it's only up and running for Chicago, San Francisco and New York, but the basic idea is fantastic. From the Everyblock site:

"What’s happening in my neighborhood?"  For a long time, that’s been a tough question to answer... the number of daily media reports, government proceedings and local Internet conversations is staggering. Every day, a wealth of local information is created — officials inspect restaurants, journalists cover fires and Web users post photographs — but who has time to sort through all of that? Our mission at EveryBlock is to solve that problem. We aim to collect all of the news and civic goings-on that have happened recently in your city, and make it simple for you to keep track of news in particular areas. We’re a geographic filter — a "news feed" for your neighborhood.

My friend Paul is one of the innovators behind Everyblock, and he told me that they are particularly proud of the fact that the site (currently) feeds in 29 different data types directly from government sources, most of which wasn't previously available online. In my feed today I learned some depressing stuff: 9 grand auto larcenies last week within 8 blocks of my house. (Yikes!) But I also learned that Lil' Miss Muffin serves a hot hot lemon poppyseed (oh my god does she ever) AND that there is a reward for a lost yorkie (okay that's depressing too) AND that the cycling hours in Prospect Park have changed for the Spring AND that there is a raging debate over porn in libraries. (The debate being "more vs. lots more," I hope.) Also, all of Park Slope is apparently freaking out about new parking rules. They should park within 8 square blocks of my house; that would solve it right quick. Everyblock is funded by the Knight Foundation until the Summer of 2009, and Paul told me that there are plans to expand into more cities. Equally important is adding new datatypes in each existing location. "Feedback," Paul said, "has been extremely positive: we've gotten notice in journalism circles, and in the web development community. But most satisfyingly, we hear about it all the time from people who found it through friends of friends or other referrals. I think it's one of those things that, once you see it, especially once you type in your own address and see your block with all the news going on around you, it clicks and people have been really responding to that." More datastreams would be nice; my fantasy is some sort of seamless integration someday with all my various social networking sites, and the content on Everyblock does skew towards the graffiti reports and noise violations. But for someone getting to know a new community, it's invaluable. "We ultimately want it to be something you read every day," Paul told me, "But we want it to be relevant for people regardless of how often they visit. We're working to tame the raw stream of information that the site currently presents ... bringing more context to stories and groups of stories, and letting you customize which kind of stories you want." Part of why we started Pinko is to make the morass of "activism" and social responsibility a little more accessible. Everyblock is the kind of project we're excited about; do give it a look. The Details: 1. Go to Everyblock and enter in your neighborhood, city, or zip code. 1b. If you live somewhere OTHER than New York, Chicago or San Francisco, first curse loudly, then send them a donation or some shit so there can be an Everyblock in your town. 2. Do all kinds of crazy shit with it: enter your zip, your neighborhood, etc. and see what's up. 3. There are lots of ways to use it. You can add your block feed to your RSS reader, or visit as often as you like. Paul told me that he hopes neighborhood groups will use it, i.e. printing out a list of crimes for the community policing meeting. Other websites can also utilize Everyblock.com feeds as syndicated data for their own applications.