Craigslist Adds Salem Section

(SALEM) - Entries started appearing Sunday in the new Salem Oregon section of the internationally popular online classified ads service, craigslist.org. Prior to the addition of salem.craigslist.org, Salem residents had to place ads under the section for the nearest listed city, Portland, and then put 'Salem' in the specific location field of the ad.

Due to the newness of the Salem section, there are still more Salem entries in the portland.craigslist.org section, so checking both sections yields the best results.

Craigslist started in San Francisco in 1995 and grew to 10 cities by 2000, when Portland was added.

The service is now in 250 cities and ranks higher than cnn.com according to alexa.com, which calls the craigslist the 7th most popular web site in the US. Salem and Bend are among the 100 cities added to the service in the last week.

Major categories of the mostly free ads include Community, Housing, Jobs, Personals, For Sale, and Services. Ads generally run 1 week, can include pictures, and include an anonymous email address that forwards to your real address for the duration of the ad.

Craigslist does not filter or get involved with transactions, so the usual 'buyer beware' cautions apply. Less that a month ago, several women were arrested in Salem for prostitution after advertising their services on Craigslist.