It’s hard to believe that LoganSquarist was established a very short, and long, five years ago—depending on how you look at it. Since 2011, LoganSquarist.com has served as a popular neighborhood website that covers neighborhood news, food + drink, business, arts + entertainment, politics, crime, living + lifestyle topics, family + youth, historical information and events. With a calendar of events highlighting fun things to do around the ‘hood, a neighborhood directory featuring businesses and organizations right here in Logan, hosted events and a popular newsletter, we aim to serve the area through article coverage and fun things to. We also hope to support the numerous businesses, organizations and community groups that make this area great.
Today we celebrate five years in Logan Square. FIVE YEARS. Wow!
In the past five years, we’ve published 787 articles, hosted 40 Neighbor Meetups plus seven special events and served 275k users. And we did this through the support, energy, passion, skill and dedication of 114 staff volunteers. The website has evolved to accommodate the neighborhood’s and our readers’ needs to be the iteration it is today.
To say I am humbled by how far we’ve come would only partially represent how I feel. LoganSquarist has been a project, a passion and a personal blessing. Because of the number of contributors, business owners, supporters and staff members, LoganSquarist has become something far beyond my initial concept and imagination, to truly be an entity that the community needs.
A Year of Popular Stories
Every year, we like to write something inspiring, something useful, something that hits home for readers. This year, our most popular posts include a variety of stories, from openings to unique spots and snapshots in history. The inaugural Best of Logan Square Awards celebrated all that the community views as our crème de la crème. When Son of a Butcher, Best Intentions, and Johnny’s Grill opened its doors, neighbors were excited to try these establishments. Everyone knows Chicago is a little obsessed with brunch, so we took a look at Logan Square’s best of, and we also love al fresco dining in the summer. For the past few years, the neighborhood’s growth hasn’t slowed, so the upcoming Logan Square developments are a hot topic. When the 606 trail opened June 6, neighbors came out to walk, run and ride the historic path. If anything brings a neighborhood together, it’s food and restaurant news. Probably our funniest crime story featured a robber shooting himself while eating stolen pizza. And lastly, it doesn’t hurt to look back on history, especially to review Logan Square’s unique graffiti culture.
A Look Back
Over the years, we’ve celebrated our growth, as well as the Logan Square’s, in a number of ways. In 2011, we were impressed by the area’s growth before the neighborhood became an up-and-coming spot in Chicago. With a site launch and the addition of volunteers, we held a humble party at the Logan Theatre. The year 2013 saw an immense infusion of businesses, restaurants and activities in the neighborhood. Last year, as Logan continued to grow, we saw our article coverage broaden, more events and features to meet readers’ needs.
Celebrating 5 Years
In 2016, we want to give you more of what you want: more articles, more unique events, more information. We’ll do this by publishing once a day/seven days a week starting next month. We’ll be bringing back our popular Taco Crawl, the Best of Logan Square Awards and our annual festival coverage. You’ll continue to receive emails in your inbox (choose from daily, weekly, to do list or events updates) and receive invitations to our unique and free monthly Neighbor Meetups.
This year, we want to celebrate our five years all year long: not just to commemorate our continued growth, but the neighborhood’s uniqueness as well. Don’t miss our signature event this May, our “Logan Square 5 Best …” series and other unique spotlights in the form of articles, profiles and events.
As with every year, I want to personally thank you for letting us be a part of this wonderful community, for reading LoganSquarist and joining us on this humbling journey. Without the passion of our neighbors, LoganSquarist wouldn’t be what it is today. I look forward to seeing what this year, and the years to come, bring for both our organization and the community.
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