Clinton Hill Blog was one of NYC's first hyperlocal blog sites. The site posted regularly (usually daily) between 2006 and 2010. Always written by and for local residents, the blog profiled local businesses, architecture and culture, solved local mysteries and documented change. While the blog may publish posts now and then, regular posting ended on July 19, 2010. The site remains live as an archive and love letter to this amazing neighborhood.
From Founder and Editor Robin Lester Kenton (aka Lesterhead):
I moved to Clinton Hill, Brooklyn in April 2004. I was instantly thrilled with the amount of things to do and things to see, but became frustrated with the lack of updated information and resources available to find out what was going on in the area.
Rather than wait for someone else to do the work, I decided to do it myself. Clinton Hill Blog was officially launched in July 2006.
In the four years that I ran this site, I focused on musings, photos and writing about the local things that fascinated me -- the site was never meant to be a comprehensive news source, but more of an online narrative of day-to-day life in the neighborhood. I always considered myself as a non-fiction writer and never a journalist.
My time writing CHB introduced me to many different aspects of the neighborhood, as well as countless neighbors and business owners. I spent a wonderful six years in Clinton Hill, before getting married and moving farther east into Brooklyn. I still get homesick.
During my time writing, many local blogs came and went. Every voice made for a richer, more vibrant online local community. While online news coverage has become much more comprehensive in the last few years, I also think it has become less interesting. I really miss those early days when people were doing it themselves and writing from the heart.