Confused about the new signs that have popped up in Bluff Park touting "Your Neighborhood Web Site"?  Hopefully we can help clear up that confusion on this page.

Background:  During the week of February 25, 2008 signs began to appear in people's yards and in store fronts that had written on them "Bluff Park come visit your neighborhood web site www.bluffparklife.com "

We took a look at the site and found out the following information:

The site is registered to :

Otlewski, Joe  
      Real Estate on the Web
      3130 Old Farm Road, Suite 1
      Walled Lake, Michigan 48390
      United States
      2489269401      Fax -- 

This company, Connecting Neighbors, sells web sites to real estate agents under the guise of being an "exclusive neighborhood web site"(http://www.connectingneighbors.com/) .  They then design a site from a template and insert RSS feeds (computer generated news feeds that deal with particular key words) into the site to make it look "local".  Based upon the "sponsor" information at the bottom of bluffparklife.com, three people purchased the site:  Julie Saunders, Robin Howell (both are RE/MAX real estate agents) and Valerie Springer (a mortgage broker).  The only one of the three with any affiliation to Bluff Park is Mrs. Saunders, who lives in Bluff Park.  The others don't live in Bluff Park and all three work outside of Hoover.

Connecting Neighbors is designed to generate business for people, mainly real estate agents, by giving the impression that the site is "local" and with local information.

The bluffparklife.com site consists of 16 sections, including the home page.  It does have a "newsletter", which as of yet has not been sent.  The business sponsoring the newsletter prize is...not in Bluff Park (Outback Steakhouse).  The sections are as follows (current as of 3/7/08):

• Today's Life Solutions - Nothing to do with Bluff Park

• Neighborhood Pictures - 18 pictures of Bluff Park

• Neighborhood Contests - Bluff Park contest with outside of Bluff Park prizes

• Local Merchants - Of the six listed, two are in Bluff Park, four are not.

• Dining and Drinks - Of the eight listed, six are in Bluff Park, two are not.

• Recipe Exchange - RSS Feed

• Free Classified Ads - 16 ads listed, 1 Bluff Park, 15 not Bluff Park

• Hoover News (my favorite) - RSS Feed - 9 Stories.  0 Bluff Park Stories.  0 Hoover Stories. 

• Hoover Area Jobs - RSS Feed - General Jefferson/Shelby County job listing.

• Hoover Schools - 9 schools listed, 4 that relate to Bluff Park.

• Favorite Links - RSS Feed.  0 Bluff Park links.

• Local Phone Numbers - Very good page.  Lots of helpful numbers, mostly outside of Bluff Park.  Still helpful, though.

• Hoover Real Estate - Well, what do you know?  Listings for the three sponsors of the site.  With offices located...in Shelby County.

• Community Calendar - Very nice page dealing with Bluff Park Methodist Church's functions.  Also has listings for things outside of Bluff Park.

• Rave Movies - Did we get a Rave Movie Theater in Bluff Park?
   

Now, do you want to see something funny?  Point your browser to: http://www.greenvalleyneighbors.com/ Look familiar? 

Don't be mislead by a commercial venture disguising itself as a "neighborhood web site" when its real purpose is to make money for the folks that bought the right to use the name.

Our site, BluffParkAl.org is Bluff Park's Neighborhood Web Site (our slogan since inception, August 2006) and has always been "For, About and By Bluff Park, Alabama".  

BluffParkAl.org site E-Mail Contact: info@bluffparkal.org

BluffParkAl.org Media E-Mail Contact: info@bluffparkal.org

BluffParkAl.org Stories Contact:  heather@bluffparkal.org