Open Letter to Streetsbloggers

Friends,

Just a couple of weeks ago, I believed that I would be writing my last post at L.A. Streetsblog next Friday.  As it turns out, having listened to all of you and talked to OpenPlans, it now seems likely that L.A. Streetsblog will continue publishing instead of migrating our efforts to a new website.  Nothing is official yet, and the the fiscal issues still remain.  But if I had to bet, I would bet that this fall I’ll be back writing full-time at L.A. Streetsblog.

However, I haven’t been happy with the product I’ve been able to put out here while working to create the non-profit that will raise the funds for L.A. Streetsblog and actually do the fundraising.  For example, on Wednesday I wrote a story about coming bus cuts at Metro that was very similar to one Dana wrote last month.  To make matters worse, Dana’s article was better than mine.

So, while we’re working things out, setting things up, and raising funds; L.A. Streetsblog will continue to publish news and views on transportation and Los Angeles.  But we won’t be publishing on a daily basis.  During this lull we also won’t be regularly syndicating stories from the other Streetsblogs.  In the late summer or early fall we’ll be back better than ever, but in the meantime there’s a lot of other work to do.

And now for some good news, our early efforts to bring in some new funds, have met with success.  The Bohnett Foundation has graciously pledged $2,500 to either reboot L.A. Streetsblog or start up another site.  While reader donations have been generous this year, let’s see if we can match their support with donations of our own by the end of the month.  Also, mark you calendars, because on August 25th, we’re going to throw a party to celebrate our “re-launch” at St. Andrew’s West L.A.  Look for details on that fundraiser next week.

Thanks for sticking with us in this challenging time.  We promise that things will be back to normal soon.

Damien