Photo by Kyle Walton

Need a recommendation for a doctor? Want to warn your neighbors of a potential scam artist wandering the streets? Have something you just have to get off of your chest about on-street parking policy or gentrification? Your friendly local listserv is there for you.

For over a decade listservs have been popping up for everything from neighborhoods to police service areas and local interest groups, offering residents both a resource and an outlet for D.C. living.

There are good ones and bad ones, and they’ve all inevitably played host to epic flame wars between neighbors who might otherwise speak in more diplomatic tones. (Ward 5 may distinguish itself by the sheer animosity of some of its listserv discussions.) Some are unmoderated, others depend on someone to keep things (mildly) civil; many regulate membership, others are open to all comers.

And while many a neighborhood listserv boast of healthy and active readers and writers, the mother of them all belongs to Cleveland Park. With 12,657 subscribers as of today, the listserv started in 1999 by Bill Adler and Peggy Robin isn’t only the largest in D.C., but it’s also thought to be the biggest of its kind in the entire country. Its subscribers offer thoughts on everything from traffic cameras to troubled companions—yes, it even has a relationship column, “Real Talk with Rachel”—producing over 82,000 messages to date, or roughly 19 per day.

In observation of the listserv’s 13th birthday, which was celebrated last Friday, we posed a few questions to Adler about his role in motivating—and moderating—discussion on issues big and small in Cleveland Park.

Why did you decide to start the listserv?

Bill Adler: I wish I could say that it was something exciting or even controversial that inspired the idea of having our neighborhood listserv. But I woke up one morning in a sweat wondering how I would find a good plumber if I suddenly needed one. I think it had something to do with the fact that I had little kids at the time and was doing laundry 24/7.

What’s the best thing about running a neighborhood listserv?

BA: The best thing is knowing that we’ve helped people with the important and little things, such as reuniting pets with their owners, helping people find places to host weddings (I love wedding-related posts), and figuring out the best way to drive to our various airports during rush hour. Second best is discussing important issues, such as zoning, development, crime and politics.

How about the worst?

BA: It’s obvious that not everyone agrees on important issues. I have always been hopeful that the Cleveland Park Listserv would bring people together, but it sometimes leads to acrimony. Sometimes feuds become not only bitter, but long-lasting. It’s not always easy to kiss and make up in a public forum.

You’ve chosen to moderate the listserv, something that other neighborhoods have opted against. Why?

BA: We have a moderated email list. The Cleveland Park Listserv wasn’t always that way, but this helps us keep spam and scam messages to zero. We delete fake recommendations, for example. We edit messages for grammar, typos, and formatting problems, double check links, and stuff like that. Running the listserv more like a letter to the editor column than an anarchic free for all adds to our workload, but the payoff comes in the way of useful and readable messages.

What role do you think listservs play in city living?

BA: I’d like to see listservs replace meetings. I hate meetings. Really, really, really hate them, even when they don’t conflict with Dr. Who. It would be great if city officials participated in listserv discussions more often, rather than mostly using listservs as a one-way communications tool to announce things like holiday parking schedules. I think that listservs can be a great way to inform and discuss.

Any advice for budding listserv creators and moderators?

BA: Become an expert on your hosting platform, be it YahooGroups, Google Groups, Bigtent, or some other service or software. Set up a test group, create technical problems, and then solve those problems. Test messages, group options and settings, email versus web-based uses, using mobile devices. As your group groups, you’ll also become the IT person for a many people. List members will both appreciate and need your technical expertise.