Towne Square
The heart of your neighborhood. General discussion, updates, questions, and all the day-to-day stuff that doesn't fit in a more specific channel.
It takes a Towne.
And your next-door neighbors.
The invite-only neighborhood social network. Real people, vouched in by real neighbors. No ads, no data sales, and a seat for every opinion.
And inevitably, a coyote. And an e-bike, too.
Closer than next door.
Run by neighbors. Open to every viewpoint. Yours and private. Here's what each one means.
Neighbors run this place
Posts rise and fall on how the people here vote. The community decides what it sees, together, not a faceless moderation team.
A place for your voice
Political posts stay. Nothing is removed for having a viewpoint. We don't take sides or take them down. A quick flag moves a political post to Towne Hall, our opt-in civic corner. It's a category, not a downvote, and it never counts against anyone.
Yours, and private
No ads, no data sales, no algorithm farming your attention. And your photos stay yours: delete one and it comes out of the post, comment or message you shared it in. Free, and built to serve the neighborhood.
It’s political.
Seated. Not silenced.
Other apps give you two options: scroll past heated threads to find a missing cat, or watch posts vanish for being political. Towne does neither. Nothing here is deleted for having a viewpoint. It moves to a room you choose to enter.
1
Neighbors flag political content
Anyone can flag a post as political. Flags are separate from upvotes and downvotes. They don’t punish the author, they just categorize the content.
2
Flagged posts get a Political tag
A marked post is labeled, not hidden and not dimmed. Marking is a category, not a downvote, and it never counts against the author.
3
Highly political posts auto-move
When a post crosses the threshold, it moves to the Towne Hall channel, a room of its own for civic debate, out of the main feed.
Towne Hall. In session.
Housing density. School bonds. The stuff that actually affects your neighborhood.
Towne Hall is where civic conversation lives, one tap away for anyone who wants it and out of the way for anyone who doesn’t. Political posts from your main feed automatically land here once the community flags them, keeping your scroll clean without silencing anyone.
The result: a neighborhood feed that feels like a neighborhood.
Safety alerts stay prominent. Lost pets get found. Garage sales get attended. Political debates still happen, just in the room designed for them, by neighbors who chose to be there.
Enjoy your next-door community.
Recommendations
Rave.
Don’t rate.
When someone on your street finds a good electrician, that is the most useful thing anyone says all week. On every other network itscrolls away by Thursday. Here it becomes a page that stays, in your neighbors’ own words.
There are no stars, no ratings, and no way to leave a complaint. Just neighbors saying who they would call again. A business cannot pay to appear here, and cannot pay to have anything taken down.
Own a local business? Claim its page for free and add your own words. When neighbors who recommend you confirm that you run it, your page is Verified by neighbors.
Shared Photos
Your photos stay yours.
Every photo you share lives in a private album only you can see, and the album tells you where each one went: a post, a comment, a message. Tap one to jump to where you shared it.
Change your mind and delete it, and it comes out of that post, comment or message for everyone. Recently Deleted holds it for 30 days in case you change your mind back.
That’s Shared Photos. Because nothing you post is more yours.
Polls
Ask the whole neighborhood.
Where should this year’s block party go? Is the new crosswalk working? Put the question to your neighbors and see what the town actually thinks.
Give it two to five choices and let it run for a day, or up to a week. Votes are anonymous and final, and you see the results once you’ve voted, so the early numbers never sway anyone.
That’s Polls. The town meeting, minus the folding chairs.
Our mission
“We should be one. Different views, different backgrounds, but one community all the same.”
Marc Hoag, Towne founder
From my 2023 essay that became the founding thesis of TowneWhy Towne exists
A neighborhood platform should strengthen community, not silence it.
Towne started with a simple conviction, earned the hard way. Careful, polite posts kept getting quietly deleted on the platform that was supposed to bring neighbors together.
Read the full storyWhat Towne is for
The everyday reasons neighbors show up.
Know what's happening nearby
Safety alerts, road closures, a lost dog, the coyote by the park. What you actually need to know, from neighbors who are actually here.
Find local help you trust
The right plumber, a good babysitter, an honest mechanic. Ask the people who will see you at the store, and hear back from someone who actually lives here.
Build community
Block parties, the council meeting, a pickup game, a meal train for a new baby. The events and everyday talk that make a place feel like home.
Eight channels. One neighborhood.
Each channel has its own personality, layout, and purpose. Not a generic feed with hashtags. Purpose-built spaces for how neighbors actually communicate. Towne Square, Towne Hall and Recommendations are open today, and the rest arrive as neighborhoods grow into them.
Towne Hall
Politics and civic debate, by choice: a channel of its own that you open when you want it. Politically-flagged posts auto-move to Towne Hall so your main feed stays clean.
Recommendations
The plumber, restaurant or vet your neighbors actually use. Recommendations only: no ratings, no complaints, and nothing here can be bought.
Safety & Alerts
Coming soonBreak-ins, road closures, wildlife sightings, emergencies. Auto-push notifications keep everyone safe.
Marketplace
Coming soonBuy, sell, or give away. Photo-first listings with price badges. No payment processing, just neighbors trading.
Events
Coming soonLocal happenings, meetups, garage sales. Date/time, maps, RSVP buttons, and attendee counts.
Lost & Found
Coming soonMissing pets, found keys, lost items. Photo-first with status tracking: Missing, Found, Reunited.
Jobs & Gigs
Coming soonLocal work, side gigs, and hiring. Neighbors helping neighbors find their next opportunity.
The little things
It’s the small things. The neighborly things.
Search that actually works
Looking for a plumber a neighbor recommended, or that post about the road closure? Find it in a keystroke. Neighbors and posts, instantly, even if you fat-finger the spelling. The thing every other neighborhood app gets maddeningly wrong.
Real neighbors, real profiles
A photo, where they're from, a line or two about themselves. The neighbor who left the porch light on for the package, the one with the good ladder. People you'd actually recognize at the mailbox, not anonymous usernames.
Bring your block, become Mayor
Towne is only as good as who's on it, so invite the neighbors you actually know. Bring five who join and you earn the Mayor badge, the neighbor who helped build the block. (And the first 50 to post in each neighborhood are Founding Neighbors, forever.)
Your name, your call.
Nobody puts your name on
anything without asking.
When a neighbor mentions you in a post, it doesn’t just appear. You get asked first. Approve it and the mention stands. Reject it and your name comes off the post entirely.
And if someone keeps trying, one tap stops them tagging you again. On every other network your name is something other people spend. Here it’s yours.
More than a feed
A real neighborhood. Not just a feed.
Friends in other towns
Connect with people you know in other towns, when you both say yes. Post to your town, or to your town and your friends, and message your connections directly. Being friends never shows anyone your town-only posts.
Private Shared Albums
Coming soonBlock parties, neighborhood potlucks, the great September storm. Share photos only with the neighbors who were there. Never public, never sold. Build the shared memory that turns a zip code into community.
Members-Only Events
Coming soonHost a book club, a group hike, a kid's birthday. The guest list is actual neighbors, not strangers claiming to live 'around the area.'
The directory
Know who’s around the corner.
Everyone in your town, in one place, with a photo and a name you would recognize at the mailbox. Find the neighbor you met at the park, see who the Founding Neighbors are, and say hello.
Vouched in. Settled in.
1
Get vouched in
Towne is invite-only, and the door is a person. A neighbor vouches you in with a code, or you ask for one and a real neighbor decides. That is what keeps the bots out. Every member can vouch in a few neighbors, so it usually starts with someone you already know.
2
Come in and settle
Enter your code and confirm your email with a magic link, no password. Tell us your name and ZIP to land in your neighborhood, then add a photo and a line about yourself so neighbors recognize you.
3
Connect
You're in. Read what your neighbors are saying, post something yourself, vote, and message anyone directly. Your ZIP is your feed, and friends you connect with in other towns see only what you share with them. The first fifty to post in each town are Founding Neighbors, and the number stays beside your name.
Early counts
Some things you can
only be once.
Towne keeps two marks, and both are free. They are not bought and they are not given out later.
★ Founding Neighbor #7
The first fifty to speak up
Every town keeps fifty of these. Post once, early, and the number is yours: it sits beside your name on your profile, on everything you write, and in the neighborhood directory. When the fifty are taken in your town, they are taken.
👑 Mayor
Bring five, and it’s yours
Invite five neighbors you actually know, and when they join you are the Mayor of your neighborhood. Not a title we hand out. A record of who did the work of getting the place started.
And if nobody is in your town yet, it’s up to you to start it and invite your neighbors.
Frequently asked questions
It takes a Towne.
Towne is invite-only and free to join. No ads, no data sales, ever. If a neighbor vouched you in, be one of the first 50 to post in your ZIP and earn Founding Neighbor: a permanent badge for the people who started your Towne.