3 Tech Trends That Are Making Neighborhoods Matter Again

The advent of the Internet and mobile technologies is changing the face of neighborhoods worldwide. Though their reach is global, in combination with mobile hand-helds, the Web has significant local effects. Here are three technological trends that are making neighborhoods matter again.

1. Checking in

Foursquare is perhaps the most popular early check-in app, but the behavior has spread across social networks and mobile platforms. When someone checks in to a location, that data is aggregated for research. More importantly, the neighborhood looks more popular online, which drives many trendy opinions on which areas to live and work in. In other words, neighborhood marketing is now a real-time activity!

2. Energy costs

The cost of gas and transportation has risen in recent years, and even though they may have stabilized fairly recently, other costs haven’t. The expense of driving a long distance to work is no longer something employees find acceptable as a fixed employment cost. Instead, people are looking for a a job closer to their residence or moving closer to work. That’s a significant part of a massive and recent trend in urbanization.

3. Social media and ratings drive local favorites

Social media is scary for many businesses but beautiful for consumers and the companies they love. It’s becoming much easier for great companies to establish themselves as neighborhood experts instead of being forced to spread their knowledge thinly across a much broader region to stay in business.

Read More Article :

• Google Reader died because of lack of interest from Larry Page: Report
• Online retailer ModCloth adds crowdsourced apparel fittings
• Celebration planned for 30th anniversary of the Macintosh
• Government requests for Twitter users’ data on the rise
• New US spying revelations coming from Snowden leaks: Journalist

The consumer and the business provider both benefit from this level of specialization. Technological word-of-mouth will happen with social media and consumer-generated Yelp or Google Reviews ratings. For example, this West Village real estate agency site offers a clear instance in which this local marketing phenomenon is being implemented. Because the agents at Keller Williams are recognized as local experts and have the technology to back up that status, they can present a more detailed and thorough shopping experience on their site. They can focus on specific neighborhoods and give their customers an advanced and expert opinion on what it’s like to live in the West Village area, the type of experience their clients are looking to reward with positive ratings and social media raves.