The surge of new residents to our area has inspired one local real estate group to create a handy phone app aimed at bringing together new transplants and seasoned natives. Megan Brenn-White, agent and head of The Upstate Real Estate Team of KW Hudson Valley North, helped put together a team to create “Upstate Curious,” a free phone app targeting everyone living and working in our region.

“Upstate Curious was born out our team hearing the same questions over and over again, from new and potential residents of the area,” said Brenn-White. “But beyond the usual ‘how do I…?’ queries, we also realized there is a strong desire to connect with people in the same boat, in local communities. We thought that now, particularly during the lingering pandemic and this strange new world order, it would be a perfect time to revitalize social lives across upstate New York, through a specific online chat and social group that was indeed based on geographic locations and common interests.”

Upstate Curious has a chat feature where local folks can share photos or give recommendations, a “hotline” for questions about which painters or contractors are best,” and other tools for people to find new local connections, whether professional or personal.

“Yes, everyone wants the name of a reliable plumber,” laughed Brenn-White. “What most people also want is the ease and ability to meet their neighbors, especially while we are living our lives online. Other social media platforms are great for letting your pals and family know what you’ve been up to, but with Upstate Curious, we’re offering a way for anyone to start conversations with likeminded, location-centric people.”

According to Brenn-White, the app currently has users who hail from Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware, Columbia, Greene and Dutchess counties, but some have also joined from Orange and Putnam counties, particularly the Beacon and Newburgh areas.

When asked how this differs from other community-based apps, like NextDoor, Brenn-White said the biggest difference is that NextDoor covers very small neighborhoods and has little coverage in a lot of our local areas. Similarly, while her real estate group had amassed over 31K followers on Instagram, many of which were also “curious” about update living, Brenn-White wanted to give the area a new platform for people to share and communicate with each other.

“We realized that most people were totally willing to travel much further for great restaurants, events, hikes, to see friends, etc., and even recommendations for contractors and other vendors could come from a bigger geographic region,” Brenn-White explained.

“Instagram is terrific for making connections but with the app, people can make connections themselves and keep the conversation going in a different and meaningful way,” she added.

Upstate Curious has a dedicated moderator to make sure people are abiding by the app’s terms of service, and that no spammers bombard the chat groups with business listing. Potential users can get the app through their phone’s app store, such as Google Play, by search for “Upstate Curious”. Once it’s downloaded, then enter an email address and set up a profile to start chatting with your neighbors.