In the spirit of sharing the things you do, or the things you possess, with others in your local community, one mobile app has ranked Seattle’s top ten most motivated sharing communities based on a number of social metrics. The app, named My Neighbor, helps facilitate the benefits of a sharing economy.
Members of MyNeighbor are able to post their own goods and services making them available to their neighbors, setting a price (for a fee or free) and providing a brief description. Conversely, members can also request items or services they may need or browse their neighborhood’s library of available goods and services and opt to “borrow/hire” them directly from a neighbor over renting or buying. Additionally, neighbors can now choose to post their offers in their own neighborhoods or in nearby neighborhoods as well.
Users can also opt to have a portion or all of the proceeds donated to a charity or non-profit organization of their choice, providing a new channel for neighbors to put money directly back into their community.
According to research done by Nielsen, 68% of consumers are willing to share or rent their personal assets for financial gain. Additionally, MyNeighbor found that the primary reason people don’t borrow or lend is because they don’t know what their neighbors need or would be willing to lend. The MyNeighbor app was specifically designed to facilitate these connections by simultaneously aggregating supply and demand and allowing neighbors to set their prices and bridge new neighborhood relationships.
After eighteen months as a catalyst in stimulating Seattle’s sharing economy, the service has identified the top ten Seattle neighborhoods who are embracing the new economy. They are:
1. Capitol Hill
2. Madrona
3. Central District
4. Queen Anne
5. Belltown
6. Madison Park
7. Pioneer Square
8. Madison Valley
9. Magnolia
10. Roosevelt
To determine this ranking, MyNeighbor looked at the five key factors. The first factor is existing penetration and engagement of sharing economy services like MyNeighbor. The second factor is the presence of dogs in the neighborhood which are found to be a social catalyst. The third factor we explored was the presence of Millennials in a neighborhood. Millennials are leading a mobile lifestyle and are 3x as likely as likely to use a shared economy service as a baby boomer and 2x as likely as a Gen-X’er. The fourth category we considered was the walkability of a neighborhood which is an indication of high neighbor social interaction. The fifth and final factor was the overall livability of a neighborhood which takes into consideration things like neighborhood amenities, cost of living, crime rates, education, employment and housing.
The MyNeighbor app was created by Seattle tech veterans Brendan Benzing and Sebastien Martelis and is currently available on iOS and Android and can be found in the iOS App Store or Android’s Google Play Store with Windows and Web-based versions to follow. My Neighbor is a neighbor-powered service, so neighbors outside of Seattle can help accelerate their launch by downloading the app at http://www.get.myneighbor.com and inviting other neighbors to join. More neighbors mean a greater variety of goods and services being offered as well as more borrowing and lending.
All things worth sharing, and being thankful for! [24×7]
