City Launches rBlock to Connect, Inform Residents

The City of Palo Alto Wednesday announced the launch of a service designed to build community and boost civic engagement.

The tool, rBlock, is a location-based communication network for local residents and businesses. The service allows the City of Palo Alto to share information with all residents and businesses based on their geographic location as well as offering a platform for local to privately connect with each other.

“The City is very excited about rBlock’s potential to connect citizens with their immediate neighbors, fellow Palo Altans and city government to share information, solve problems, generate imaginative ideas, and stay connected,” said City of Palo Alto Manager’s Assistant Sheila Tucker.

rBlock allows the City to post information targeting to specific blocks that, for example, might be impacted by street repairs or utilities upgrades, according to Tucker. Or, the City could announce to all residents that a library has closed or that a city-sponsored event is coming up.

Residents can also use the tool to make highly target announcements to their bock or neighborhood, or even to the whole City. Each rBlock user can customize their page in order to view only the type and geographic range of announcements that are of interest to them.

The City is encouraging all residents to sign up for rBlock now here.

The service is free, and an iPhone app is available that allows users to check posts on the go.