Ever felt alone in a big city? Ever wished your neighbors weren't such unknowns? Now Paris is using the Internet to inject small-town intimacy back into urban anonymity.
Just two months old, Peuplade ( peuplade.fr ) enables users to find like-minded Parisians in their own neighborhood, or even their own building, to schedule a range of activities , including after-work drinks, jogging groups and block parties. Already some 40,000 people have signed up and participated in more than 1,100 events around town. A rollout in other French cities is planned soon.
Beyond recreation and socializing, the site...