YourStreet was originally a social networking site built around neighborhoods. Now the site has relaunched as a kind of local news-driven local-social network — something of a cross between Topix and local content aggregator Outside.in.
Here’s how YourStreet describes itself:
YourStreet transforms the way you experience local news by indexing and mapping thousands of articles, blogs, and conversations down to the street level. YourStreet connects you to the local information that impacts you most – what’s going on in your town, your neighborhood and even your block.
I haven’t spoken to CEO James Nicholson (except in email) but am eager to do so. I think the site is interesting and has potential. I would imagine the site will expand beyond “news” relatively quickly into events and local recommendations (eventually). Nicholson told me:
We aggregate and map 10,000+ news articles a day for over 35,000 locations across the U.S. YourStreet also allows users to contribute their own comments, conversations, articles, and profiles. We look at the news as the foundation upon which a location-based community can be created.
Of course there are the familiar business-model questions that dog all local sites but I would imagine there’s some sort of plan in place. More discussion after I speak to them.
