International Metropolis was created several years ago by photographer Andrew Foot to help preserve the architectural and the historical integrity of Windsor and its surrounding area. This blog is more pictorial than editorial and often includes areas other than Windsor and Detroit. It seems the destruction of historically significant buildings is not specific to the Windsor area. The archives are primarily photos with captions.
The blog itself is appealing. It is very clean, easy to maneuver and the sepia tones add to the feeling of “old”. The Search the Archives engine works well. While many old photos exist, not all are yet published; it’s just a matter of time, as the popularity of the blog grows, so will the photo archives. The comments are easily accessed as well, plus the links are well set up and divided into categories. A unique feature is the Bookstore / Shop link; this site has its own store where items that have been produced locally, highlighting historical buildings or sites, can be purchased.
This blog has great potential and is still relatively young. It has been well recognized in the blogging world and is the recipient of a 2nd place award in the 2008 Canadian Blog Awards. If there is a possibility that words and pictures can change attitudes towards an issue, this blog will be beneficial to aid in preserving that which has not yet been destroyed.
Here Be Dragons is a Windsor blog run by bar owner and Windsorite Tom Lucier. The foundation of this blog is a means for Lucier to reflect on things that interest him throughout Windsor including: Technology, Talk Radio (CBC, NPR, KCRW, APM), Running a bar, News, Magazines and the list goes on. Lucier manages to address a diverse variety of stories regarding culture, arts, music and politics as he connects these issues to the citizens of Windsor. Taking a laid-back conversational tone with his viewers, Lucier is able to successfully educate his following of the current issues that either plague or advance the development of Windsor. Mainly through his promotion of Canadian Indie music and “Green” solutions, Lucier engages his fellow Windsorites to help Windsor become a self-sufficient, dynamic environment. As a social networking tool, Here be Dragons has the capabilities to unite the community of the creative class by using online communication as a way to strengthen the community, add vitality, and bring the Windsor population closer together.
Windsor Eats Blog is an assessment of Windsor’s cuisine and the potential of Windsor’s cuisine experience. What readers are left with is a holistic approach to the development and exploration of a strong and unifying food culture. The blog’s main page often serves as an online menu -- but it is more than a simple listing of the city’s most prominent choices. Rather, the menus are posted as the result of an initiation to further mainstream development of local trends or tendencies; or, even more, to initiate local trends or fads and a gravitation toward them to heighten people’s awareness and experience of Windsor’s culinary market. The main page also showcases the blog’s newly reviewed restaurants. It isn’t quite clear through the medium of the blog itself by what criteria newly established or growing eateries are assessed and critiqued. The blog is not mutually exclusive and therefore does not singly promote as a trump against other competing or local food cultures those businesses which already have the benefit of clout, or the name of quality, among Windsorites. It also attempts to informatively incorporate new restaurants and create opportunities for its readers to go out and explore Windsor’s culinary gallery. Culturally specific tastes are explored as well and the blog calls attention to them and the pleasure that can be extracted from their unorthodox originality. Overall, a worthwhile insight into the possibilities of Windsor’s culinary market, and the future establishment of a distinct, local food culture on which the city can pride itself.
Established in 2006, Sound Off with Chris Schnurr provides commentary on Windsor news and politics. Schnurr provides constant, updated information to Windsorites including issues about money spent by the City of Windsor, City of Windsor Contracts, new infrastructure throughout Windsor, and basically all concerns of Windsor’s citizens regarding economic issues. It is clear throughout the blog that Schnurr is fully educated about the topics he covers and he ensures his readers that he has done his research by the abundance of links and supporting quotations set in his blog. Sound off with Chris Schnurr is a means for Windsorites to gather important information about their city without being hindered by the opinions of a biased middleman or the media. Schnurr’s online articles that provide the public with an advanced understanding of social justice and political issues might just be the local content the Windsor Star has been lacking from its publishing.
W.E. Speak (Windsor Essex Speak) is another blog dedicated to the voice of the citizen. Created in 2006, this blog has “the goal of giving the citizens of Windsor and EssexCounty an alternative voice - their own.” It provides residents of the area another opportunity to express themselves with various issues that are often hidden under the carpet by mainstream media. There is also an area for Community Events which advertises upcoming local events; charities and non-profit organizations are invited to appear (site rotation) for one month at no charge. This is an excellent way for them to get exposure and promote themselves without reducing their budget. They have an extensive blogroll and other blogs are invited to join to increase their following. There is a Video Centre that allows individuals to watch, post comments and rate the video. The home page is a compilation of stories with links to the individual site where the story first appeared. W.E. Speak is a direct, easy to use blog.No muss, no fuss – straight to the point – your point of view.
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