Community Amid Chaos

My hometown of Reno, NV has about 250,000 people. It may seem like a fairly large number for one town, but the thing is...the closest real town is an hour away. So those 250,000 people are a community. They are held together in a bowl, surrounded by mountains and foothills and there is one (count them: one) central downtown. This is not Los Angeles.

So coming from a place like Reno, I found Los Angeles a little overwhelming. However, Los Angeles is fascinating and the exploration opportunities are endless.

But how do you learn about all the great places in Los Angeles when there are so many people and so many places, that even Angelinos don't know where to go?

Time to turn to a cyber-community

LAist and Losanjealous are two great blogs to use if you want to get to know a little bit about Los Angeles beyond the LA Times.

WHAT'S SO GREAT?

Well, first of all, the blogs serve as a sort of community anchor when one feels especially lost in the ebb and flow of such an expansive, diverse city. Log on and there are discussions about current events, advice on the best nightclubs, and a quick blurb on that new coffee shop you just drove by the other day.

You may not know the other people who are writing, but everyone is immediately bonded by the common thread of all trying to get the most out of living in Los Angeles.

As opposed to news websites like the Los Angeles Times or even Metrolink, the content is sometimes amusingly diverse:

Hey, do you like free food? Specifically Swedish food served in the cafeteria of an international assemble-it-yourself furniture store? Then print out this coupon passed on by the Bargain Hunter for a free IKEA breakfast this weekend. Smaklig måltid!

The news is written by people it affects directly...meaning it may not be terribly unbiased...but it is extremely interesting. And even if it is biased, there will definitely be a blog commenter who expresses the opposite view.

WHAT BLOG ELEMENTS DO THEY USE?

1. Well, obviously there are a lot of great photos taken from people around Los Angeles, whether it's a still photo that relates to a story, or whether it's just a slideshow of what a guy saw at a cool Los Angeles concert.

2. Also, there are great articles that vary in content anywhere from news on the latest developments on Prop 8 to an article about a new coffee shop that's having a special deal.

3. In most cases, the whole article isn't featured, so the page isn't overwhelmingly long. There is a picture and a few paragraphs and then a link to the full story.

4. The stories are more informal and humorous than newspaper articles, while still being informative.

5. The pages abound with links to more articles, more videos, more stories, and more events. If you can't figure out something to do in Los Angeles after ten minutes on either page...then you're just not trying.

6. Comments, comments, comments are so important...that's where the whole idea of community comes in.