Clients

Networking with your neighbours

Homeowners who find themselves in front of a computer more often than in their backyards have a new choice to maintain neighbourly chit-chat. It can be done simply with the click of a computer mouse, thanks to e-Communities such as Genstar's Panorama Hills and Evergreen.

Enter "Neighbournet," the developer's Intranet answer to city residents never getting to know the people living around them.

"By no means do we think people should stop talking to one another in the traditional way, but it provides the initial contact," says J.J. Macalino of Genstar, who'll host the grand opening of e-Community, Evergreen, this weekend. Panorama Hills was Genstar's first e-Community. "The great thing about it is it's the central point of the community, yet the technology is very discreet and you wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking for it."

Residents can log onto the Intranet service by computer to find out about community meetings, babysitters, lawn moving services, and yard sales- or chat with neighbours with similar interests. Community businesses such as dry cleaners and 'Net grocers will advertise online, while some are even offering discounts and delivery services to residents via the Web.

"I believe it will better neighbours' relationships- and if you've ever been in a chat room you'll know it's huge," adds Macalino, adding, "the technology is meant to enhance people's already busy lives."

And because both communities are master-planned (meaning large), homebuyers pay a low amount for the service-at about 1% of their home's overall costs. Macalino predicts more communities will follow suit with their own Intranet services, as will Genstar in its new neighborhoods.

"Once you set it up for one- that's the hard part- it's basically copy and paste for new sites after that."

Although Genstar is the first to try virtual community message boards and chatrooms in Calgary, the concept of connecting electronically with neighbors has been around the U.S. for a few years.

"In the last 50 years, people have flung themselves out all over and they've lost the connection they have with their communities," says Joe Snowden, president of elliptIQ, Neighborware software creator.

Now in six U.S. communities, Neighborware is similar to the technology in the two "wired" Calgary neighbourhoods. Kids' clubs, connections with schools and healthcare, and spots for families to create Web pages are among the software's capabilities.

"We're really dealing with large-scale pent-up demand," says Snowden, who hopes to work with Calgary developers to bring more e-Communities to the city in the next year.

For more information about Neighborware, visit www.neighborware.com.

To sample Genstar's e-Communities, click on www.myevergreen.com or www.mypanoramahills.com, or check out demos at Evergreen showhomes, noon to 5 p.m., March 4.