Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080628/article_364912.htm
Tortured neighbors seek revenge
Created: 2008-6-28 1:03:55
JUST outside his bedroom window, beyond the chain-link fence that surrounds his next-door neighbor's yard, sit the reasons David Adams says he can't sleep: two bushy-tailed dogs that bark and howl all night.
The Magnolia, Mississippi, resident plugged up his ears and even took his neighbor to court alleging a noise violation. But the barking went on. Finally he discovered a Website seemingly tailor-made for such suburban woes: www.RottenNeighbor.com.
"Nothing seemed to work. I couldn't get any help from the city," Adams said. "So I figured, let's try public humiliation."
He posted a video of the troublesome pooches on the site, and other users chimed in on his plight. The site founded last July is part online therapy, part trashy paperback novel. It singles out neighbors for offenses ranging from shoddy lawn upkeep ("They have garbage all through their yard") to alleged violence ("He has tried to run us down with his push lawn mower").
Users are invited to post advice on dealing with neighbors who fight and yell, who let their animals defecate on other people's property, who neglect their septic tanks - even those who cook foul-smelling food.
Using Google Maps, the site zooms in on homes of the accused, represented by structures colored red (for the rotten) and green (for the good) that resemble plastic pieces of a Monopoly board game.
Type in Columbus, Ohio, for instance, and the site brings up a bird's-eye view of the city. Click on one of the houses to see comments from agitated residents, like this one complaining about a neighbor who "stomps around at all hours of the day."
"He puts his cigarette butts and packages on my patio and spills beer on my grill," the anonymous user writes.
Most of the postings are anonymous, which is just fine with site co-founder Brant Walker, 27, who came up with the idea when he moved into a new apartment and noticed a rotten smell coming from his neighbor's door.
Walker said the site averages several hundred thousand hits per day.
The Magnolia, Mississippi, resident plugged up his ears and even took his neighbor to court alleging a noise violation. But the barking went on. Finally he discovered a Website seemingly tailor-made for such suburban woes: www.RottenNeighbor.com.
"Nothing seemed to work. I couldn't get any help from the city," Adams said. "So I figured, let's try public humiliation."
He posted a video of the troublesome pooches on the site, and other users chimed in on his plight. The site founded last July is part online therapy, part trashy paperback novel. It singles out neighbors for offenses ranging from shoddy lawn upkeep ("They have garbage all through their yard") to alleged violence ("He has tried to run us down with his push lawn mower").
Users are invited to post advice on dealing with neighbors who fight and yell, who let their animals defecate on other people's property, who neglect their septic tanks - even those who cook foul-smelling food.
Using Google Maps, the site zooms in on homes of the accused, represented by structures colored red (for the rotten) and green (for the good) that resemble plastic pieces of a Monopoly board game.
Type in Columbus, Ohio, for instance, and the site brings up a bird's-eye view of the city. Click on one of the houses to see comments from agitated residents, like this one complaining about a neighbor who "stomps around at all hours of the day."
"He puts his cigarette butts and packages on my patio and spills beer on my grill," the anonymous user writes.
Most of the postings are anonymous, which is just fine with site co-founder Brant Walker, 27, who came up with the idea when he moved into a new apartment and noticed a rotten smell coming from his neighbor's door.
Walker said the site averages several hundred thousand hits per day.
Agencies
Copyright © 2001-2009 Shanghai Daily Publishing House