Building Neighborly: A Real-time Community Platform Case Study

Project Overview: Neighborly

Neighborly is a hyperlocal community platform that enables neighbors to share offers, requests, and announcements with real-time updates and location-based filtering. This case study explores the technical decisions, challenges, and solutions encountered during development.

Technical Architecture

The application is built using a modern tech stack optimized for real-time functionality and scalability:

• Frontend: Next.js 15 with React 19 and TypeScript
• Backend: Firebase (Firestore, Authentication, Hosting)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS for responsive design
• Deployment: Multi-platform (Vercel, Azure, Firebase)

Key Features Implementation

Real-time Community Feed

The core feature of Neighborly is the real-time community feed. Here's how we implemented it:

// hooks/usePosts.js
import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { collection, onSnapshot, query, orderBy } from 'firebase/firestore';
import { db } from '../lib/firebase';

export function usePosts() {
  const [posts, setPosts] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    const q = query(
      collection(db, 'posts'),
      orderBy('timestamp', 'desc')
    );

    const unsubscribe = onSnapshot(q, (snapshot) => {
      const postsData = snapshot.docs.map(doc => ({
        id: doc.id,
        ...doc.data()
      }));
      setPosts(postsData);
      setLoading(false);
    });

    return unsubscribe;
  }, []);

  return { posts, loading };
}

Location-based Filtering

Users can filter posts by location to see hyperlocal content:

// components/LocationFilter.jsx
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

export default function LocationFilter({ onLocationChange }) {
  const [userLocation, setUserLocation] = useState(null);
  const [radius, setRadius] = useState(5); // km

  useEffect(() => {
    if (navigator.geolocation) {
      navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(
        (position) => {
          setUserLocation({
            lat: position.coords.latitude,
            lng: position.coords.longitude
          });
        },
        (error) => console.error('Location error:', error)
      );
    }
  }, []);

  const handleRadiusChange = (newRadius) => {
    setRadius(newRadius);
    onLocationChange({ location: userLocation, radius: newRadius });
  };

  return (
    <div className="location-filter">
      <label>Show posts within:</label>
      <select value={radius} onChange={(e) => handleRadiusChange(e.target.value)}>
        <option value={1}>1 km</option>
        <option value={5}>5 km</option>
        <option value={10}>10 km</option>
      </select>
    </div>
  );
}

Challenges and Solutions

Challenge 1: Real-time Performance

Problem: Managing real-time updates without overwhelming the client with too many re-renders.

Solution: Implemented debounced updates and optimistic UI patterns:

// utils/debounce.js
export function debounce(func, wait) {
  let timeout;
  return function executedFunction(...args) {
    const later = () => {
      clearTimeout(timeout);
      func(...args);
    };
    clearTimeout(timeout);
    timeout = setTimeout(later, wait);
  };
}

Challenge 2: Security and Privacy

Problem: Ensuring user data privacy while enabling location-based features.

Solution: Implemented Firestore security rules and data anonymization:

// firestore.rules
rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    match /posts/{postId} {
      allow read: if request.auth != null;
      allow write: if request.auth != null 
        && request.auth.uid == resource.data.userId;
    }
  }
}

Performance Optimizations

• Lazy Loading: Implemented infinite scroll for post loading
• Image Optimization: Used Next.js Image component with proper sizing
• Caching: Implemented service worker for offline functionality
• Bundle Splitting: Code splitting for different user roles

Deployment Strategy

Neighborly supports multiple deployment platforms:

• Vercel: Primary deployment for optimal Next.js performance
• Firebase Hosting: Alternative deployment with Firebase integration
• Azure: Enterprise deployment option with custom server configuration

Lessons Learned

1. Real-time Features: Careful consideration of update frequency is crucial for performance
2. Location Services: Always provide fallbacks for users who don't share location
3. Security First: Implement security rules early in development
4. User Experience: Optimistic updates improve perceived performance

Future Enhancements

Planned improvements for Neighborly include:

• Push notifications for relevant posts
• Advanced moderation tools
• Integration with local business directories
• Mobile app development

Conclusion

Building Neighborly provided valuable insights into real-time application development, community platform design, and modern web technologies. The project demonstrates the power of combining Next.js with Firebase to create engaging, scalable applications that bring communities together.

The complete source code and deployment instructions are available on GitHub, showcasing best practices for modern web development.