Wellesley Hills now a “Nabe”

Wellesley has been targeted by yet another Internet startup, this newcomer designed to help people figure out the best neighborhoods to live in or visit.

NabeWise got its start in January when it launched its neighborhood ranking and discovery website in San Francisco and New York City, and Boston Metro is its latest expansion (Chicago, Seattle and LA are on the way). The site targets true Boston neighborhoods like Beacon Hill, as well as the burbs.

We’re not sure whether the site is making a distinction between Wellesley Hills and Wellesley overall, but for starters, the site specifies Wellesley Hills as one of its “nabes” —  the opposite off calling your neighborhood a “hood”.

Like  Foursquare and so many other location-oriented websites, NabeWise is counting on locals — out of the goodness of their hearts — to contribute knowledge of their favorite neighborhoods to the site. The first 5 people to review each nabe earn status for a year as a founder. I gave it a whirl and tossed a photo onto the site, so now I have a new claim to fame in Wellesley for whatever that’s worth. A few more founders are needed to “unlock” the full Wellesley Hill ranking info to the public.

But even if you don’t become a founder, you can still weigh in on different neighborhoods and NabeWise will use that crowd-sourced data to help provide richer information to other website visitors.  Using the site’s NabeFinder search tool you can look for neighborhoods based on more than two dozen attributes, including the beautifulness of the people and the trendiness of the community. Wellesley ranks high in categories like cleanliness and wealthiness, though the data input process has only begun.

NabeWise’s team and board includes a mix of startup, techie, real estate and travel veterans. “The money down the road will come from advertising, allowing real estate agents and local businesses to advertise, and data sales and licensing once we have all the data and input from locals, experts, and agents,” says Alan Corey, NabeWise’s marketing director.

Who knows, if NabeWise hits it big, some of its execs might even be able to afford living in Wellesley Hills…