In all the sinkhole madness this week, we nearly forgot to wish ourselves a Happy 4th Birthday! The blog officially launched on May 5, 2009. At the time, we felt like we were broadcasting the first words from a radio station, wondering, “Is anyone out there listening?”
Turns out the answer is yes. Over those 4 years, we’ve had nearly half a million unique visitors, generating 1.8M pageviews. And let’s not overlook our many commenters, who have kept the conversation alive around a myriad of neighborhood topics. You’ve left us over 11,000 comments since we started (and special thanks to the spammers who have left 300k comments…grrr). We love how much you have to say and (most of the time) love the way you say it.
Who says people aren’t interested in the Richmond District? 😉
Hard to believe 4 years have passed, filled with mini doors, underground tunnels, police blotters, business openings and closings, and so much more. Among the stories that attracted the most attention in the last 4 years:
Mysterious Mini Door found in Golden Gate Park
Photos: Coyote pups in Golden Gate Park
A Giant in our midst: Tim Lincecum parties in the Richmond
KGO interviews ADA litigator; Pot de Pho is latest casualty among dozens being sued as recently as this week. Where is Eric Mar?
“Big Heart” Video Cafe at Geary & 21st closes after 25 years
Video: Funnel cloud touches down at Ocean Beach this morning
Thanks to all our readers for making this a worthwhile project. We love getting your tips and comments – keep ’em coming!
Sarah B.
P.S. – We have no idea who Haley is but we liked her 4th birthday cake 😉
Congrats on turning 4! The blog is awesome and is a great tool for learning about our ‘hood and city, especially when you first start living in The Richmond. BTW, I cannot believe that there have only been 11,000 valid comments on here.
Congratulations Sarah, for the amazing job you’ve done these last 4 years. I have lived in the Richmond for 69 years and have studied its history and events, but I never felt more connected to the past and present than I have since you reached out to join us all together with the history and the current happenings in our wonderful neighborhood. You have provided a unique form to inform and allow all to react to the postings online. The Richmond blog is special to me because of your good judgment to make the not just another commercial come-on that masquerades as news, but a true community forum, where news and opinions are shared, and stories are easily retrieved. It is also very evident that you are not an outsider, but live in the neighborhood and have a passion for OUR neighborhood and have found a wonderful way to join us all together.
Happy fourth Birthday – I look forward to many years of the enjoying reading the wonderful community forum you have developed.
Congrats! Thanks so much for keeping us informed about everything going on in our fantastic neighborhood. It is always my ‘go to’ place for neighborhood news!
well done – keep up the good work!
Congratulations and thanks for all you do for the neighborhood!
Thanks, Sarah! You’ve built an amazing place for our community! I stop by every day!
Congratulations and all the best for many more years of this wonderful blog.
I love that the focus of the site is local. I grew up in a small town (Martinez, CA) and not really a city person, but San Francisco is made of up of a lot of neighborhoods, some of which, like the Richmond, have their own sense of community and a small town feel to them. Reading the Blog reminds me of reading the Martinez News Gazette with its human interest stories, Police Log of petty infractions and some actual good news.
congratulations! i enjoy the blog very much and i get so much good info here. another wonderful thing to love about the richmond and sf.
Happy b-day, sarah! thanks for this great community forum. i remember the first couple of years, when it was more of a well-kept secret. seems like it’s really taken off in the last couple of years. here’s to one of the most beautiful parts of this beautiful city–cheers!
Congrats and Happy B-day!!
4 years old…Hope this means you’re potty trained ;^}
Is there enough cake for everybody?
I was going to ask where do we get a piece of cake? till I read to the end. Congrats! You make Richmond look good!
wow.. 4 years! Happy Birthday!!!
times flies. came across your blog when you were browsing flickr and asked to use one of my photos. been a fan ever since 🙂 and geesh.. been ages since i posted regularly to flickr… like almost 4 year ago.
Wow, four years! Congratulations from your neighbors at the Ocean Beach Bulletin. Keep up the good work, keep having fun.
Great job!
Discovered the website few months ago and has been reading the postings ever since.
Happy 4th!
Congrats Sarah! Thanks for gathering us around the internet campfire and encouraging us to be good neighbors and take care of our beloved Richmond.
Your’e the best Sarah! Congratulations. You keep me more deeply connected to the neighborhood.
Happy happy birthday! I love receiving and contributing to the blog.
Keep up the good work! 🙂
Congratulations and Happy Birthday! Thank you for this wonderful blog. 🙂
Congrats! You and the blog are awesome members of the community – thanks for your work and keeping us all informed!
Happy Birthday and Congratulations Sarah. Thank you for providing valuable service for our community and for allowing us to participate. Here’s some virtual Joe’s Ice Cream to go with Haley’s cake.
Thanks to everyone for your nice comments, much appreciated. And another thanks to @4thGenRichmond – it’s delicious! 🙂
Happy Birthday!
Great job Sarah B. I visit every day and every post is interesting because its in our backyards!
When’s the party/meetup?!?! Would love to see some sort of in-person neighborhood gathering, seeing that you have seemed to have done great work in gathering us all here!
Thank you, Sarah, for your ongoing effort! Your reporting and the comments and contributions from us residents keeps me informed, and makes me feel truly part of a community. I like Mark T,’s idea – Richmond party! We need to start a Richmond Street Fair.. every other ‘hood does it, why can’t we?!
I moved out of the Richmond and into the Sunset just 2 months ago. I’d lived in the Richmond 5 years before that. Still check this blog every couple days and love it. You helped add so much community to my life there, and I miss it already!
So…how do we start one of these in the Sunset??
Hey Cass ^ Have you heard of the Ocean Beach Bulletin? Check it out!
Thank you Sarah for all your hard work to build community!
Your blog is such a terrific resource for the neighborhood, thank you for doing what you do!
Four years of devoted work deserves many kudos. Thank you for your superb work in keeping the citizens of Richmond District informed. Incidentally, the historical photos from the past are amongst my favorite items.