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Happy Birthday, Wallyhood

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I almost let this one slip by me: today is the 5th birthday of this little blog: the first article, Welcome to Wallyhood, was published on January 11th, 2009.

It’s been a nice ride: we’ve published 3,956 articles and presently, we’re averaging:

  • 110,000 pageviews / month
  • 45,000 unique visits / month
  • 18,000 unique visitors / month

Not bad, considering Wallingford is about 20,000 households.

The blog is evolving, and honestly, I’m struggling a bit with the direction to take it. It takes some of the pleasure out of it to be unkindly picked apart whenever I post an opinion that someone disagrees with. But I’m still dedicated to the belief that this resource, with its large, dedicated neighborhood readership can be a force for building community and communication between neighbors.

To that end, I would welcome more participation from the community. If there’s anyone who would like to contribute articles, please contact me. It can be a fun way to stretch your creative legs and a benefit to the community. I’d love to see more voices expressed, not just in the comments and discussions, but on the front page.

And if there is someone else you’d like to see here, changes made or additions, please post in the comments below. Just be prepared to help make it happen!

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Jordan

I started Wallyhood back in 2008, right when my son was born, because I realized I had lived in the neighborhood since 1993 and didn't really know my neighbors. I figured writing a blog about what was going on around me would be a good way to meet people and help other people do the same. As the years progressed, those neighbors have picked up the torch and it is now a group effort, which I adore. I moved out of Wallingford for a few years (2020 - 2025), but I'm back, now living with my wife, son and dog (Dillinger) up in Tangletown.

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Heidi January 12, 2014

    Happy BIrthday! We like you just the way you are.

    1. Pacific moderate January 12, 2014

      Ditto!

  2. wildnwonderful January 12, 2014

    You put in a lot of work. thank you. One might consider having the Wallingford community Council post agandas.. or the Senior Center to post classes and events. Same with Solid Ground and Om Culture- these are community based groups who offer much which benefits our community. If they get a regulr email asking for news or are offered a spot as columnist, I bet they woul dgive more info.

    1. Wallyhood January 12, 2014

      I have offered

  3. Cameron January 12, 2014

    Thanks for your hard work, Jordan. I really appreciate how Wallyhood helps build community in Wallingford!

  4. Eileen January 12, 2014

    I think you’re doing a great job! Wallyhood has really helped me feel like a part of the community when I first moved. Even if people disagree with your opinion(s), it brings about good discussion and different viewpoints to consider, so I actually really appreciate it! Happy birthday!

  5. jude January 12, 2014

    Thanks for all the local coverage. You are a great asset to the neighborhood.

  6. edwins January 12, 2014

    If readers didn’t take needless offense to half the posts then this wouldn’t be Seattle, now would it?

  7. Bob January 12, 2014

    Thanks for all the effort you put into the blog! Keep it up, we appreciate it. Ignore the critics.

  8. Supertramp January 12, 2014

    I’m just excited to keep reading the latest Susan Wills drama on the forums.

  9. Mary Lindquist January 12, 2014

    I am a daily reader and appreciate this little blog. Love the updates on businesses (particularly restaurants) coming and going. Like to know what’s going on in the neighborhood. Enjoy the different perspectives of the dialogues. And part of a lively dialogue will be disagreements, but even those discussions should be civil in tone.

  10. Family Ride January 12, 2014

    Happy birthday!! -madi

  11. Vipul January 13, 2014

    Congratulations for fine and timely newsworthy contributions to this great neighborhood and we look forward to your news for many more years.

  12. familyworksseattle January 13, 2014

    Congrats! Thanks for all the support, Jordan, we love Wallyhood!

  13. SeattleAlan January 13, 2014

    Hey, Jordan! Happy Anniversary! I appreciate all of your and your contributors hard work over the years.

  14. efbrazil January 14, 2014

    I worked with the Chamber and the Senior Center a bit and tried to pitch them on posting to Wallyhood. The difficulty is that these sorts of community groups seem focused on talking to their membership rather than the community at large. It even took some work to get my own group, the community council, to post agendas here. The way they see it, Wallyhood is just another news outlet like the Puget Sound Business Journal or the Seattle Times. They don’t want to have their identity subsumed by the Wallyhood brand.

    One thought is reaching out to people to write weekly columns for you. People don’t write without deadlines I don’t think, so a weekly cadence would work well. Maybe Doug could write a weekly politics column? Maybe the Chamber could be persuaded to write a weekly column featuring a local business? Maybe you have some limited way to motivate them, like 10% of revenue from the site (whatever paltry sum that is).

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