Hello My Green Lake readers,
May 2012 marks our three-year anniversary here on mygreenlake.com. Since the beginning, this site has been built using your contributions. Thank you for your story ideas, event information, neighborhood news, photographs and thoughtful discussion.
We have some big news: Starting today, mygreenlake.com is closed. The conversation is moving to EveryBlock Seattle, a website that allows you to follow neighborhood news down to the block level and connect with your neighbors.
Many of the stories you have seen on mygreenlake.com over the past three years have included information culled from EveryBlock. The site provides location-based data: crime reports, building permits, emergency dispatches, real estate listings, business reviews, event information, neighborhood photos and more. You will also see a digest of Green Lake news from local blogs, other media and posts from your neighbors.
EveryBlock doesn’t just compile neighborhood information; it really comes alive when users start discussions with each other, ask questions, and share event information. Submissions are reviewed by a Seattle-based community manager who also joins in discussions.
In the past, when you wanted to share news with or ask questions of your neighbors through mygreelake.com, you submitted information through our tips form, over email, or via Twitter or Facebook. Now, that process will be simplified. On EveryBlock, you’ll communicate directly with your neighbors.
On a personal note, although the time has come for me to move on to other projects, I will truly miss running this site.
I have thought for several months about the best way to transition away from publishing My Green Lake and was anxious about the possibility that, if the site simply shut down, the neighborhood could be left in an online vacuum. So I approached EveryBlock and suggested that we could work together to introduce Green Lake to EveryBlock Seattle.
I couldn’t be happier that the virtual community we have created here together will be able to continue. I am really looking forward to being a part of our neighborhood conversation and answering your questions about Green Lake on EveryBlock.
Before signing off of mygreenlake.com, I want to extend a special thanks to the site’s writers, many of whom have contributed their work free of charge. In particular, gardening columnist Erica Browne Grivas and health and wellness reporter Shelly Najjar have provided fantastic content, as have several students from the University of Washington Department of Communication News Lab. Their work, as well as My Green Lake’s entire archive, will remain accessible here on mygreenlake.com.
I also want to acknowledge the staff of My Green Lake’s news partners, seattlepi.com and Next Door Media. These two news outlets have been a pleasure to work with, as have several others that provided informal help along the way: KING, KIRO, Wallyhood, CHS Capitol Hill Seattle, West Seattle Blog, Ravenna Blog and Roosiehood.
Finally, a big thank you to the local businesses that have supported My Green Lake through paid advertising. A special acknowledgment needs to be extended to those who have been with the site for two years or more: Turnpike Pizza, Lakeside Dental Center, Seattle Public Theater, Lifestyle Chiropractic, Scarecrow Video, Greenlake Guest House and JJ House Cleaning. Please remember to show your appreciation to these businesses; without them, this site would not have been possible.
But this is not goodbye. I will see you all soon, both on EveryBlock and around the neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Amy Duncan
Publisher and Editor, My Green Lake, 2009-2012