DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Checking in on my morning feeds I saw Don's post that the Downtown News has posted their Best of Downtown edition. The paper gives out 107 awards (to 108 winners, they note... sushi was a tie) to notables across Downtown. This site was honored with Best Downtown Blog, and Jon Regardie wrote up a very flattering paragraph:

For an indication of how well respected blogdowntown is, consider that some of the other nominees in this category posted comments on their sites stating that blogdowntown should win. Which is not surprising, considering that since its January 2005 launch, founder and publisher Eric Richardson has quickly and smartly detailed the comings, goings, triumphs and failures of the community. But along with raising hell over issues like the slow pace of the automated toilets, Richardson has built a blog that often serves as a de facto conversation salon for Downtown, with readers dropping in to offer advice and well thought-out arguments. Unlike many blogs, it's not an ego pulpit, but instead a true repository of Downtown information. At blogdowntown.com.

It's been an amazing year for the site. Comparing January - June of 2007 against the same period a year ago, visits are up a touch over 150%. Much more importantly, though, across that same period comments are up 247%.

At the end of May we launched blogdowntown 2.0, bringing Dave and Ed on board and really setting a focus on conversation. Community discussion is what makes this site work, and you all have posted 1,884 comments so far in 2007. To me, that number is absolutely amazing.