City of Scottsdale’s fist history class
In 1998, the City of Scottsdale, AZ established a Neighborhood College program to help residents better understand how to work with their City to access services — and how to work with their Homeowner’s Association (HOA). HOA classes were taught by volunteer local attorneys while other classes were taught by City staff. The classes were offered at no cost and the program was well-received by residents. However, over the years, attendance waned.
Bruce Wall and Jamie Petermann from the City’s Office of Citizen Service, decided to try to attract a more diverse group of residents. Neighborhood college classes were not of interest to many residents who were not associated with an HOA. Bruce, a local history buff, decided to see if residents were interested in learning about Scottsdale history. He created a class called “From Scott to Drinkwater: The History of Scottsdale”.
Bruce’s goal for the first class was to get 20 people to attend. After promoting the class through the City’s traditional communication methods, a dozen people had signed up. Then Bruce posted a message on Nextdoor, hoping to reach people who weren’t already connected to the City. The response was overwhelming! “This was the closest thing we’ve had to a viral post on social media”, says Bruce.
Over 80 people signed up for the first history class. The response was so enthusiastic Bruce decided to offer a second class, which also promptly filled up following one post on Nextdoor. They had to move the venue from a small classroom to the library auditorium. Almost 200 people attended the second history class, by far the largest class in the history of Neighborhood College. Bruce attributes much of the success of these classes to the ability to reach a diverse group of residents through Nextdoor.
Due to the demand driven by Nextdoor, classes had to be moved to the library auditorium
The City’s “Government 101” class has enjoyed a similar resurgence thanks to Nextdoor. This 10-week class, taught by department directors, explains how the City works and is an important recruiting tool to get citizens more engaged in local government. In the past, the City struggled to enroll 30 people each year. In recent years, as the City has promoted this program on Nextdoor, classes have been filling up quickly. The class now regularly fills up with 75 people — and another 50–75 on the waitlist!
As Jamie Petermann, City of Scottsdale Citizen Advisor, put it, “If you’re not sharing your event on Nextdoor, you’re missing out!”
Nextdoor is a free neighborhood engagement platform used by over 2,500 public agencies across the country. To learn more or to sign up, please visit business.nextdoor.com/en-us/public-agency.
