Walker Evans and I had a conversation about neighborhoods earlier in the year. We chatted about what’s going well with Columbus neighborhoods and what could be better. We talked about neighborhood involvement. How to get discussion started and how to keep people talking. Walker suggested neighborhood blogs rather than or in addition to neighborhood web sites.
While web sites are often somewhat static and mostly “one way” media, a blog is more dynamic, allowing access to more people, more thoughts and more dialogue, and that’s precisely what any neighborhood should desire.
Tonight while attending Kyle Ezell’s discussion on transforming the University District into the a national model for urban redevelopment, various presenters discussed ways of creating greater dialogue, bringing more ideas and concepts to the table, and of course, one of those was via neighborhood blogs.
Having rolled around Walker’s idea for several months, I’ve now launched a blog site for Merion Village. It’s where I live. It’s a place I care about. I love it here, and when I think about living in another part of the city, well, I always return home thinking about how good I’ve got it.
I don’t necessarily share the same sentiments about the neighborhood as do some of my neighbors. I’ve never attended a neighborhood meeting. I “joined” the “association” one year, and the benefit was a bi-monthly newsletter. I found it to be more of a gossip column than anything informative. It too, is one-way media.
Rather than become complacent and “let things be”, it was time to re-energize things around here and bring forth the ideas and discussions that will allow the place I call home to grow and prosper with increased dialogue and greater innovation. There’s space and time for more than one vision of any place, and now it begins in Merion Village.
[...] Launch of New Merion Village Blog Posted in Urban Life, Blogging on October 30th, 2007 The Launch of Merion Village Oct 29th, 2007 by [...]
Nice! Glad to see this launch!
Are you planning on having multiple neighborhood contributors on this blog? I know there’s a handful of people on Columbus Underground from Merion Village who may be interested in helping to contribute to a new neighborhood resource.
Looks nice. The tricky part, how do you get the traffic of your neighbors and any other interested parties?
Kudos to you, Jeff. Awesome! This really embodies the creative spirit of Columbus. People see a need and fill it as part of their own creative self expression.
I swear, I’m blown away by how awesome Columbus folks are.
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Columbus: Indie Art Capital of the World
In less than 24 hours, over 140 hits to the Merion Village site. Seems that word got out FAST! Absolutely looking forward to multiple Merion Village bloggers. It’s a lot easier when others get in and beat a drum, as well.
Excellent launch, good luck!
Jeff,
I’m pleased to hear about the launch of your new neighborhood blog. However, I’m very interested in how to get one started myself. I’ve lived on Town Street, in Columbus, for quite a few years and we have our own particular situations that I would like to discuss with my neighbors. Town Street, east of Parson’s Avenue is part of the Discovery District, which includes the main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus College of Art & Design and Columbus State Community College, of which I am currently enrolled. I have several friends who live in Merion Village, so I do intend on following the Merion Village blog, but any information on how to start my own, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Jimbo
Two blogs? How is that working out for you? It sounds like something I’d like to do for Town Franklin which is just sitting there under the radar. I’ll probably just expand my page on Town Franklin and see how that goes.
Oh, and what about a map of the neighborhood with some points of interest, especially since many of us are not very familiar with the neighborhood.
[...] 29th: Jeff Johnson launches a community blog for his neighborhood, Merion [...]