This Blog In 2012

Started at 12,000 end at 20,000

To tell the truth, I don't really look too much about traffic counts and the like when it comes to this blog. Someone said I should have better stats than Blogger so I am using Google Analytics starting this year. I guess the only thing I don't do is count my own page views in terms of what Blogger tracked.

The big thing about my blog is that I know some people use it just to find other city blogs. That's okay. I have been somewhat remiss in updating my blog list. I am doing that as we speak so that people can can link up and find things. Over the years, we have gained a few great blogs, lost a few.

The Internet Pundits radio program on UMFM has been good at introducing the city to new bloggers. City Circus and The Great Canadian Talk Show also have been instrumental in drawing attention to civic issues.

It is funny that we have far less coverage of city hall by full time reporters and yet this has been a "feet to the fire" year for elected and civil servants there. I have no idea what accounts for this. To be honest, there has been a renewed interest all across Canada in how we live, what we do, how we are governed locally. However, one thing is certain: More is being written about local concerns than ever before.

In terms of what were the biggest posts of this past year, I'd say nothing got more views locally than Polo Park and the stores there as well as Seasons of Tuxedo and Ikea. However, the top post of 2012 is when I wrote about The Orbit Tower in London and how it would be great to do something like that for Winnipeg. I suspect that people were more interested in the pictures than the story but it is challenging Swiss Chalet for top post viewed on the site.

We love Swiss Chalet

The top referring sites are defunct ones that were great blogs locally. Some current blogs are great places that sends traffic my way. Thanks for that.

Some city blogs are best traffic sources

My blog was a mix of entertainment, politics, business and my opinion on things. I am not a news reporter. I try to be informative but I do things according to my likes and dislikes. I try to be fair but do take a position on certain subjects.

In 2013 I will probably do as I have done in the past and post on things of interest. Some bloggers like West End Dumplings are great historians. Anybody Want a Peanut was excellent on analyzing certain issues or just goofing off. The View From Seven jumped into subjects that made you go hmm. And Slurpies made sure satire was always at the forefront of issues that he wanted to talk about. A few blogs that are no longer around that I miss terribly. There are few others I will mention in a later blog post about blogs in general.

What does the future hold for the city? Well, I think we can look forward to what happens with the mayor's court case, the opening of the new stadium, Target in the city, rapid and active transportation, Kapyong barracks and the unexpected.

And by unexpected, I mean...will we get a huge blizzard this year that shuts things down, will we flood, will will be dry, will a crime story make us question everything?

I enjoy the writing, especially on a day like this when I am feeling a bit sick.

Hope people have enjoyed and please send any feedback. Happy New Year everyone.