EveryBlock is a combination of many different types of local news — from public records like crime reports, to neighbor discussions, to photos people have taken in your neighborhood.

Generally, you'll find four types of things on your EveryBlock homepage:

• Neighbor messages — what your neighbors are talking about. This could be anything from news reports ("Here's the scoop on that new bakery coming to Main St.") to questions ("Did anybody hear those sirens last night?") to more in-depth discussions ("Who's our best candidate for alderman?"). We encourage you to participate! The more people posting and commenting, the more valuable the service is to your neighborhood.
• Civic information — building permits, crime reports, restaurant inspections and more. In many cases, this information is already on the Web but is buried in hard-to-find government databases. In other cases, this information has never been posted online, and we’ve forged relationships with governments to make it available.
• Media mentions — any time your neighborhood is in the news, we'll let you know about it. Every day, throughout the day, we read through your city's mainstream media outlets, community weeklies, neighborhood blogs, discussion boards and let you know when your neighborhood was mentioned.
• Fun from across the Web — local photos posted to Flickr, user reviews of local businesses on Yelp, lost-and-found postings from Craigslist and more. We figure out the relevant places and point you to location-specific items you might not have known about.

The common thread here is that everything is neighborhood-focused and timely. You won't find city-wide information here, and you won't find "static" information like census data and the location of your nearest grocery store. We're all about the newness.

Choose your city on our homepage, then create an account. We'll walk you through the short steps of following places and setting your preferences.

If you have any questions or need help, don't hesitate to email us at feedback@everyblock.com. We read every one of these and take feedback to heart. We also have a FAQ.

The EveryBlock team is (mostly) based in Chicago. Here's a little about us:

Brian Addison

Brian is the President of EveryBlock, charged with charting our overall course for growth and overseeing everything from marketing and operations to business development and monthly water cooler deliveries. At his core a brand strategist, his background features a blend of digital and traditional marketing leadership, including stints at Foote, Cone & Belding, Ogilvy & Mather, Wirestone, and Beam Global Spirits & Wine.

Always placing an emphasis on community, Brian founded Park Place Charities, a non-profit dedicated to providing children in Chicago’s Cabrini Green housing project with a safe place to play. He also currently serves as a trustee of The Chicago Academy for the Arts, named a national school of distinction by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

A troubled Cubs fan, Brian has always lived within walking distance of Wrigley Field, where he can often be found dreaming of that elusive World Series with his wife and two children.

Contact Brian at brian at everyblock.com.

Adrian Holovaty

Adrian Holovaty founded EveryBlock in 2007 and now spends his time leading the product side of the company. He’s a Web developer who is well known in online journalism circles as one of the pioneers of "journalism via computer programming." Previously, he worked as editor of editorial innovations at washingtonpost.com and developed one of the original Google Maps mashups, chicagocrime.org.

Geeks might know Adrian as the co-creator and Benevolent Dictator For Life of Django, an open-source framework that helps programmers build Web sites. He co-wrote the free Django Book and has released a number of other open-source projects.

Adrian lives with his wife in Chicago and spends his free time playing gypsy-jazz guitar and posting YouTube videos. 20,000 subscribers and counting!

Contact Adrian at adrian at everyblock.com.

Joseph Kocherhans

Joseph is a developer at EveryBlock. Before coming to EveryBlock, he worked on the Web team at the Lawrence Journal-World, leading the creation of the award-winning business directory Marketplace, and refining the Ellington content management system.

Joseph is also one of the leading contributors to the Django Web framework, while simultaneously working several years as an independent freelance developer.

Joseph grew up in Salt Lake City and lives in Chicago. He loves a good music scene, and has a strange obsession with the Charango.

Contact Joseph at joseph at everyblock.com.

Becca Martin

Becca Martin is director of community management at EveryBlock.

She previously worked at McDonald's Corp. as a senior communications manager with responsibilities for AboutMcDonalds.com, social media and internal communications.

While Becca lives in the suburbs, she’s a city girl at heart. When she’s not blogging about her community, she spends her free time writing fiction and working on her dance moves.

Contact Becca at becca at everyblock.com.

Sandor Weisz

Sandor Weisz is the designer at EveryBlock.

He has worked as a web designer and developer in Chicago for over a decade. Before joining EveryBlock, he ran Methodtree, Inc., a web design business specializing in non-profit and university work.

His secret identity is The Puzzler, the author of a blog of the same name, where he talks about and creates puzzles and games on an almost daily basis.

Sandor lives in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood with his wife, son, and daughter.

Contact Sandor at sandor at everyblock.com. He is also on Twitter at @santheo.

Feihong Hsu

Feihong is a developer at EveryBlock. Before coming to EveryBlock, he worked at Leapfrog Online, where he worked on direct online marketing sites and internal web applications for managing marketing resources.

While at Leapfrog Feihong forked the Spynner project to create PunkyBrowster, a programmatic web browser with a synchronous API.

Feihong hails from Shenyang, China and moved around the US before finally settling in the Chicagoland area. He likes yoga, watching Chinese dating shows, and writing inscrutable language puzzles.

Contact Feihong at feihong at everyblock.com.

Sarah Shaker

Sarah Shaker is the New York-based community coordinator for EveryBlock.

She previously worked as a producer on “As The World Turns” before moving on from dramatic soap opera scripts to social media and community management in the hyperlocal space.

As a downtown girl, Sarah launched a New York City lifestyle blog and is a freelance dating writer. She is a self-proclaimed foodie, trying out the newest NYC restaurants almost as quick as they can open.

Contact Sarah at sarah at everyblock.com.

EveryBlock was originally funded by a two-year grant from the Knight Foundation through its Knight News Challenge program. It is now wholly owned by msnbc.com.

Feedback and general contact

Suggestions, bug reports, love letters? We’d love to hear from you. Send them all to feedback at everyblock.com. (Please make sure to indicate which city you’re writing about and, if applicable, a link to the page you’re having trouble with.)

Companies wanting to start a partnership

Contact Parinda at parinda at everyblock.com.