What if you keep the spirit of Allston Christmas alive all year round? A website developed by a Boston resident is doing just that.
Jack DeManche developed and launched Boston Curb Alert last August. He's lived in Boston for a number of years now and has seen many a Sept. 1 scramble. So DeManche got to thinking: What if people could flag household items, furniture and appliances that are left out for the taking throughout Boston's streets, no matter the time of year?
“It occurred to me that there’s no way to organize the unwanted household items that are discarded,” he told me.
Within four days, he developed Boston Curb Alert. The site pulls photos of items kicked to the curb throughout the city straight from social media. People can snap photos of things they come across on the street - or ones they’re trying to get rid of themselves - and post it on Twitter using the Curb Alert hashtag associated with the neighborhood. The website does the rest, aggregating all of the items up for grabs in different parts of the city in a centralized feed.
As of now, you can tip off folks about trash/treasure in the following areas with their respective hashtags:
- Allston - #AllstonCurbAlert
- Boston Proper - #BostonCurbAlert
- Brighton - #BrightonCurbAlert
- Brookline - #BrooklineCurbAlert
- Cambridge - #CambridgeCurbAlert
- Charlestown - #CharlestownCurbAlert
- East Boston - #EastBostonCurbAlert
- Jamaica Plain - #JPCurbAlert
- Mission Hill - #MissionHillCurbAlert
- Somerville - #SomervilleCurbAlert
- South Boston - #SouthieCurbAlert
"I've been asked what the difference is between this and Craigslist," DeManche said. "The problem with Craigslist is that, from your phone, there's no easy way to upload a posting. With Boston Curb Alert, you can do it all on the go: Take a picture, put in on social and it ends up on the site for everyone to see."
Since launching Boston Curb Alert in August, DeManche has made small iterations on the site. Come spring, though, he'll be relaunching it with new branding and functionality. He's keeping the details under wraps, but he did disclose that the site's services will also be available in six cities throughout the country - not just in Boston.
"Boston acted as a proof of concept," he said. "It's such a transient city. People are moving in and moving out all of the time... I've realized there are plenty of other cities like it, and the concept could work there, too."
Curb Alert is a side project for DeManche. He's discussed potential ways to make money off the site with members of the startup community, but he's not pursuing them for the time being.
"It's just been fun for me because it directly impact the community," he said.
