CORRECTION, PLEASE. We get *******zero******* donations, and we do not request or solicit them. No donations, no grants, nothing at all is given to us. No subscriptions, no merchandise, no events, no paid consulting, no free anything (for Christ’s sake, we don’t even take free food and drink when we are out covering fundraisers and restaurant openings). Every cent we have comes from advertising. The last time we had a donation was the first time we had a donation - before taking out our business license in fall 2007, we had a one-day pledge drive that netted about $2,000. One day, one time, end of story. We still have the donation button on the bottom of the sidebar but never mention it and nobody clicks it.

Last year was our second year of six-figure revenue and this will be our third. You’re right, we’re not making money hand over fist - but that’s because instead of being stingy about it, we choose to plow it back into the site - paying for reporting, photography, administrative, developer help, upgrading our servers, getting redundant service so we have the smallest chance possible of ever finding ourselves unconnected, etc. etc. etc.

All that said - yes, I agree with your premise, as I said in one of the comment threads earlier today. Community news DOES NOT “SCALE” AS A COMMODITIZED, TEMPLATIZED PRODUCT. And that’s a DAMNED good thing. It shouldn’t be. And the people who are thinking it will be - like AOL and D*tasphere - should stop wasting their money.

Did you watch the livestream of Paid Content 2011? One of the panels was on hyperlocal journalism, with the founders of Patch, Mainstreet Connect, Bay Citizen and JRC all weighing in. All seemed optimistic about the future of hyperlocal, but not necessarily about the economic vitality of it. I think that hyperlocal news is here to stay, but from where? If there is a way to get and sustain good, engaging professional reporting, then maybe orgs like Patch will retain their foothold. But-and this is a big but-right now, I’d much rather read about what’s going on in my hometown from the unedited perspective of a resident.

Thanks for the comment. I was going off of a statement that was a few years old from your website and I see that you have changed that page. I’m very glad to hear about your guys’ success. Keep up the good work.

Whoa Tac! Now we really need to hook up and talk about stuff!

“I think besides the problem of scale most people don’t really care about their neighbors anymore. I don’t.”

That is the most gnarliest statement I’ve ever heard you say. I don’t think that’s fair or accurate. Most people do. In fact, I would say most homeowners do. To go further, most homeowners who don’t live on the Eastside. And further, most homeowners who don’t live in the Issaquah Highlands.

That’s just it. Hyperlocal news is very important to people who live in neighborhoods in progressive big cities. Period. So, it makes sense for you not to be interested in it given your geo-location.

That said, that’s the only thing I am in disagreement about. I too believe there is no money in hyperlocal journalism – and there likely never will be. It’s a grassroots thing, it always will be. Look at the Bergmans and Next Door Media. Cory works at MSN, has a day job and just does Next Door Media on the side. They don’t need much help with what they’re doing because it’s not really scalable. A while back I even met with him and his wife and professed my admiration for what they were doing and offered to help for free. There just wasn’t anything to help with though. That’s because it’s a grassroots, non-scalable business.

So, while I believe you are correct in the overall theme of this post, I think you should take back what you said about not caring about your neighbors anymore. If you don’t I’m going to go egg your house.

I’m obviously overstating to be provocative but I really don’t think I’m that far off. I’ve lived in cities before, I’ve owned homes in cities before and I actually know more of my neighbors in the Highlands than I ever have.

How many of the people on your street do you know? How many of them do you talk to regularly. I’m happy to be wrong but I’m not alone in my assertions. Check out: Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam http://amzn.to/eUMeCm

Man, when my wife and I moved into our house, our neighbor across the street dropped off orange juice and french toast on our first morning there. It’s that kind of a neighborhood. Everyone has kids running around, we have block parties and we let each other know when we’re going out of town for long periods of time so we can keep a look out.

That’s the way it should be. Maybe I’m just an old schooler? I hope not. That’s the kind of neighborhood I grew up.

How can you say “I actually know more of my neighbors in the Highlands than I ever have,” while at the same time you say that “most people don’t really care about their neighbors anymore.”?