02The IdeaA different model for neighborhood life
A community-building and neighborhood-fortification tool
The internet is very good at reaching everywhere. Neighborhoods matter because they are somewhere.
Most digital platforms are built for distribution and growth: more people, more reach, more engagement. Those systems are extraordinarily effective at moving information, but their basic incentives work against some of the things neighborhoods are good at producing—community, discovery, familiarity and fellowship.
The Ward starts with the opposite premise: place is the organizing principle.
The Ward gives a neighborhood a place of its own online. It brings together the people, places, businesses, events, exchanges, and local knowledge that already make it a community and makes those connections easier to see and use. The goal is not to create another social network; it’s to strengthen the network that’s already there.
03The ExperienceWhat people can do
The Whole Neighborhood is ThereIf it’s in the source data, it’s in the Ward. Homes, businesses, landmarks, and everything in between.
The Society Pages
An old-school neighborhood directory: businesses, institutions, public spaces, and other places, together and searchable.
This is live Lafayette Square data. Click through the categories to explore the neighborhood, then choose a place to see its Place Card below.
You can always find out
who’s open late what’s happening tonight where the band is playing where to get dinner what’s open right now what your neighbors are giving away what’s happening this weekend where to get a drink who’s having a sale what’s going on at the park where the block party is what just opened who can lend a hand what your neighbors are talking about what’s happening down the street
The Ticker
What’s happening now, running across the map. Events, announcements, menus, and other timely information from around the Ward.
Neon
Open businesses light up on the map, color-coded by type. At a glance, you can see what’s open and where the neighborhood is active.
The Bulletin Board
The neighborhood commons: announcements, Buy Nothing, services, recommendations, requests, and whatever else neighbors need to put in front of one another.
Standing in the Ward
No accounts, emails, passwords, or real names. Choose a handle and an avatar; the rest stays on your device.
Townie — you are aroundScan a neighborhood QR code on three different days within two weeks, and you’re a Townie. Townies can post, comment, rate and review, and participate in the neighborhood.
Resident — you live hereResidents are Townies who live in the Ward. Your home can be associated with your Resident account, whether it’s a house, loft, or apartment. Lofts and apartment buildings also have private spaces where residents can connect with their neighbors and share information.
Guardian — you look after this placeGuardians manage a Place: hours, photos, menus, events, announcements, and other public information.
Keyholder — you work hereKeyholders help keep a Place current. A Guardian can give staff access to the everyday things they handle — menus, hours, announcements, replies, etc.
Courier — you carryCouriers are Townies who carry for Cary. Because they handle orders and come to people’s doors, Couriers are identity-verified and background-checked.
The Ward can’t produce a list of residents because it never collects the information needed to make one.
The Civic Economy
Each Ward decides how — or whether — it makes money. Hosts can build around the Ticker, local commerce, services, or activate additional modules such as Cary.
Cary
Cary is the Ward’s optional neighborhood delivery service. Local businesses keep the full price of the order, and most of the delivery charge goes directly to the neighbor who carried it. The Ward keeps only a small amount to support the service.
Couriers choose when they’re available and which deliveries they accept. Nothing is assigned, declining costs nothing, and there are no acceptance rates or penalties.
Cary for your neighborhood
04Bring It SomewhereStart with a neighborhood
A Host is a partner rather than a customer, so every map starts with a conversation about the place, what it needs, and how we can work together to do right by it.
A host might be a neighborhood organization, local publication, business district, civic group, city, institution—or simply someone with enough connection to a place to get the right people around a table.
Built to travel
The Ward was designed from the beginning to become more than one neighborhood. Each Ward is built for its particular place, while the underlying system is designed to be reused from neighborhood to neighborhood.
05PartnerBuild with me
It’s going to take a village.
The Ward is a working system, but no one person can take it everywhere it could go. We’re looking for people who can help build the next part of it: people with neighborhoods, resources, expertise, relationships, or simply a strong instinct that this ought to exist.
Investors
Help turn a working system into durable infrastructure. We’re interested in people who understand that the opportunity isn’t one neighborhood or one website, but a platform that can be established place by place.
Partners
There are parts of The Ward that should be built with people who already know the territory: technology, mapping, local media, transportation, insurance, commerce, public data, cultural institutions and city government. Some partnerships may be local. Others could become part of the kit everywhere it goes.
Friends
Introductions matter. So does advice. So does knowing the person who knows the person. If The Ward reminds you of someone—a funder, mayor, engineer, publisher, neighborhood obsessive, foundation director, lawyer, operator, or unusually useful troublemaker—we would very much like to meet them.
You don’t need to know exactly where you fit. If you can see a way to help The Ward become part of more real neighborhoods, get in touch.
