by Gaia Pianigiani

When Laurell Boyers, 34, and her husband, Federico Bastiani, 37, moved in together in Bologna in 2012, they did not know any of their neighbors. It was a lonely feeling. "All my friends back home had babies, play dates, people to talk to, and I felt so left out," Ms. Boyers, who moved from South Africa, said on a recent afternoon.

"We didn't have family or friends connections here. We knew people occasionally, but none in our same situation." So Mr. Bastiani took a chance and posted a flier along his street, Via Fondazza, explaining that he had created a closed group on Facebook just for the people who lived there.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/