Volunteer-Created Site Could Link Up to 35,000

By Kirsten Valle, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Aug. 12–STEELE CREEK — If you’re looking for details about the area’s latest development, a new church or community events, you can turn to one outlet: the Steele Creek Residents Association Web site.

Volunteer Dave Wiggins has rolled it all together on the site, a hodgepodge of news, rezoning information and links to local groups.

It’s part of a growing number of Web sites meant to foster community and keep neighbors informed, but it stands out because of the information available and number of people who rely on it, neighbors and experts said.

“Steele Creek has a lot of people who have been here for generations, but there are a lot of others who just moved in,” Wiggins said. “That’s the thing about the site. Newcomers can find out about the community and get involved.”

Wiggins, a geographer for the U.S. Census Bureau, moved to Steele Creek from east Charlotte in 1999. About six years ago, he attended an annual meeting of the residents association and agreed to create a site.

Until then, the association, which formed in 1980, relied on word of mouth, church bulletins and local newspapers to spread information.

“It grew, and yet people didn’t come to the meetings because there was a lack of communication,” founder Linda Blackwelder said.

With the help of a Web designer, Wiggins built the site. He added links, events and a few months ago, a message board.

Now, Wiggins spends about 10 hours a week updating it.

Many of North Carolina’s larger neighborhoods have Web sites, but it’s unusual for a site to serve several communities or an entire part of town, said Jim Laumann, president of Homeowners Associations of North Carolina, a company that provides educational services to associations statewide.

“We see everything from the very rudimentary to the extremely well-designed Web sites,” he said.

The most successful use e-mail to alert residents about events, rather than asking them to check the Web regularly, Laumann said.

Updating the sites is also important.

“When the news reflects the 2004 Easter egg hunt … people will immediately move on and never come back,” he said.

Several Charlotte-area communities have Web sites, including a group of neighborhoods on Sardis Road North, Myers Park and Dilworth.

Neighbors sign onto the Dilworth site, which debuted in the mid-1990s, mainly for the discussion forum, said Geoff Owen, president-elect of the Dilworth Community Development Association.

The site often prompts them to e-mail one another, he said.

“It’s replaced the fact that we don’t sit on our front porch and talk to our neighbors anymore,” Owen said.

Wiggins, for one, hopes more people join the conversation.

“Thirty-five thousand people live in Steele Creek, and almost all of them have access to the Internet,” he said. “Certainly, they haven’t all been on the Web site.”

Tips for a Successful Site

–Make sure it fits your community. If you live in a small townhome neighborhood, for instance, a Web site might not be necessary.–Find a purpose. Do you want the site to include community contacts, covenants and other unchanging information, or do you want it to be a dynamic site, with recent news and events?

–Use e-mail. Consider tying the site in with an e-mail broadcast system, rather than relying on residents to check the site regularly.

–Use passwords. Protect information like community directories and babysitters’ names. Those are often targets for solicitors.

–Be wary of discussion boards. While they can be a great community forum, people can post negative things.

–Get help. Homeowners Associations of North Carolina has a service called the Town Crier, where communities can set up sites and update them from any computer. For details, visit www.hoa-nc.com.

SOURCE: Jim Laumann, HOA-NC.

Community Sites

–Steele Creek Residents Association: www.steelecreekresidents.org

–Sardis Roads: www.sardisroads.com

–Myers Park Homeowners Association: www.mpha.com

–Dilworth Community Development Association: www.idilworth.org

Reach Kirsten Valle at 704-358-6043.

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