A hoodblog is born…
Ross (of Haduken and RVA blogs fame) and I have taken the challenge that was put out there by John (who runs a couple of great sites ) and are in the works to roll out a hoodblog for the Carytown and Museum District area. We are very excited about this project, and would love to see some more Richmond area bloggers take it upon upon themselves, specially since it seems the RTD is about to roll out their own neighborhood style blogs. As John pointed out, there are some serious problems with that scenario.
So… If you have any interest, please contact one of us. It’s not as overwhelming as it sounds, and it will be a *huge* benefit to our communities.
Also, we would like to receive some input from Museum/Carytown people… or your help! If you want to be part of this, drop me a line at thismudilife@gmail.com.
Technorati Tags:
Leave a comment
yay!
john m
January 25, 2007
Their is no love for us Southside Folks.. Would a BrandermillHood Blog work — I guess not!!
Eric
January 25, 2007
I’m not trying to start trouble, and I’m all for neighborhood pride, but why do we need several local neighborhood blogs? Aren’t there several Richmond-area issue blogs anyway that cover those things? How would we not be replicating what’s already out there in the form of neighborhood association websites and rva blogs? Wouldn’t we just be creating competition and spreading the readers thin?
Though Barticles’ layout is pretty boring, I do like his writing so far.
Generation Next
January 25, 2007
G.N… that’s a good point, but why go to 5 or 6 different websites to find out what is going on in the community. If I go to the Museum District Assc. site, the info is not updated on a regular basis. The Carytown.org is better, but where are all the events that are happening? I’m sure the merchants would love an avenue to post their individual events. Also, I’m hoping it creates a sense of community and sharing ideas on a local level. I want to know what is happening with my neighbors. Not that I don’t care about what else is going on, but we have some issues that are particular to our community, and all these other sites don’t allow for that kind of interaction… OK.. hope that answers some of your thoughts.
J in Ric
January 25, 2007
Richmond-area issue blogs aren’t small enough, in opinion. At least half of what I cover on chpn is not being covered anywhere else, and at least one of our posts made the main stream media. Also, having a forum for immediate nighborhood concerns has been very comforting and useful. chpn doesn;t replicate what anyone else is doing, and there isn;t that type of coverage for most of the city.
As far spreading readers thin, I think that more and better sites create new readers and connections. I link out to anything relevant, including local news and other blogs.
Neighborhood association blogs are generally stale, though Bellevue has a lot of content for a basically static site.
And eric – you joke, but Southside is booming. You could do something really great out there.
john m
January 25, 2007
GN –
What john m said. Also, there are some solid indications (see Chris Anderson’s description of the “Long Tail”, for instance) that the next wave of consumerism — be it iPods, cars, jeans or news — is all about “niches.”
One reason most people don’t read the TD is because it is so “macro,” it covers the big picture of Richmond (and not super-well) and rarely lets me, as a resident of North Side, know when my leaves will be picked up, or what crimes have happened down the street, or when Kitchen 64 is scheduled to open, or what Sammy’s Bakery is baking this morning, or when Fin & Feather will have rescued dogs for adoption again.
That’s what a good community site can do. But it takes focus and dedication to do it well — and maybe a creative nudge.
John
January 26, 2007
John, Well – Maybe so — I do own the brandermill.net domain…
Eric
January 26, 2007
As someone who doesn’t live in Richmond (not yet!) and is seriously considering moving within the next year, I am totally excited about the existence of the neighborhoods blogs(well,to be fair, I am excited about the existence of grass-roots blogs in general, the more the better…).
Perhaps my post could sound a bit “predatory” to some, but reading you guys might possibly be the only way-short of leaving in R. and/or visiting/making friends there-of getting to know what life is like there so please, go for it!
PS:I would also love to hear some female voices-or have I missed them?
Ator
February 7, 2007
Ator: thanks for the encouragement! There are so many good reasons for doing this, and I feel that it really brings the neighborhood in much closer than any other media that is out there…
And there are some great lady bloggers out there. Check out Maxpower’s post about the lady blogger of richmond…
http://haduken.com/2006/12/the-ladies-of-rvablogs/
J in Ric
February 7, 2007