Studio City Patch Celebrates Being a Year Old Today

Our family made a cake with gummy worms, chocolate sprinkles, mints and multicolored frosting, and although it looked pretty messy on the outside, it was sweet and powerful going down—especially with a nonfat cappuccino.

That’s like my Patch. It may seem like there’s no rhyme or reason for what’s in it or what we cover, but I believe I have a very systematic and deliberate way of covering our very colorful and vibrant community—and I continue to be honored to do so.

My biggest compliment continues to be when I have someone who has lived in the community (sometimes longer than I have been alive) telling me, “I didn’t know that about my neighborhood until I read it in Patch.” 

All of the politicians who have represented the area, past and present, have told me at some point over the past year what a fascinating, informed and activist community Studio City is, and I continue to be amazed and in awe of the people, businesses and groups that I cover.

Studio City was the first Patch to open within the boundaries of the city of Los Angeles. Sure, Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach and other places had their Patches long before, but this one was the first to crack into the big bureaucracies of City Hall downtown, the Los Angeles Police Department, the school district and other big agencies that didn’t take us seriously at first—but they all soon learned we were a force to be reckoned with. And now they know who we are.

We launched the site on the r, Sept. 13, and just before one of the biggest community events, the amazing where Studio City was born, put together by the .

I launched the site with an amazing team of columnists and I’m proud to say that most of them have stuck it out with me. On the first day we had , making people laugh and cry and think. Karen Young follows businesses and restaurants in like no one else can. Don Helverson covers his with humor and detail. Linda Rubin delves into organizations and religious institutions with . Nicole Kristal seeks out items for the column. AnneMarie Baranik covers the, and Fred Topel helps me find who is. Ed Begley Jr. lets me pick his brain for the and, of course, my celebrity-hunting doppelganger which remains my own guilty pleasure. Many more have come along and see everyone in the separate story and how they play out during the week.

I got reacquainted with old friends including , and and I got to meet amazing new people such as , and

I’m not supposed to give our monthly hits in specific numbers, but suffice it to say we reach more than the population of Studio City (and when our local homeboy does something like a whole lot more people stop in to see what’s going on.)

I love Studio City! I love the food, the bridges, the people, the meetings. I love the street names, the architecture, the rules, the lack of rules, the businesses, the clubs. I love that community meetings take place at a  

One person I will call out for undying thanks is my brother-in-Patch, , who has kept me sane and has watched my back along the way more than anyone else. He has his own amazing unique site and great video and journalistic talents—and I truly enjoy the rare times we get to . We share some stories, bloggers and reporters because of our fluid borders, but we still both thrive with our own distinct Patches and voices, and I think our neighboring communities and readership appreciate our diverse sites.

I’m not going to go through the best and worst of the year, but I will point out some funny, unique and fascinating highlights and stories and characters in a separate story, and I will talk about my columnists and line-up and the bloggers in the Local Voices. I hope you’ll click on the stories and reflect on them (and write about them in the COMMENTs area below.)

Most of all, I want to thank you, the readers, and the people of Studio City, to those I’ve written about, those I’ve yet to write about, and those I’ve yet to meet. Thank you for checking in, tipping me off, correcting me when needed, and thanking me when it’s deserved. Keep on Patching, and don’t mind the gummy worms.

Click on the video in the gallery above for my opening that some of you may not have seen. Also, see the I got from John Walker of the Neighborhood Council.