Happy weekend. Wow – it’s happened so fast. 200 posts strong – and pretty much on-goal for 2008. There have been some lulls, some work-related slow periods, and some just plain I don’t want to write anything periods – which have caused me to re-think and allowed Landscape+Urbanism to do well nonetheless. Some would argue a more sporadic posting with more writing and/or theory would be good… I agree. I also have a job, a bunch of community activities, a life, and many, many other projects. So me plugging something out in half an hour is good – with an occasional longer and more thoughtful post.

:: SFMOMA Rooftop Garden – image via World Architecture News

I took this opportunity to take a look at some of the posts over the last 8 months, as well as looking at the initial Seeds and the 100th Post – and see what ideas and trends have emerged. It may be obvious to regular readers, but a quick summary…

:: Veg.itecture (of course, plus more theory about the concept)

:: Urban Agriculture (particularly new methods for expansive

:: Eco-Planning (does it exist… how to strive towards it)

:: Innovative Landscape Architecture (projects from around the world)

:: Representation Techniques (it matters – it really does)

:: Landscape Urbanism (more application and theory)

:: Readings (books reviews and such)

So a quick accounting. Since the counter was implemented in February, there have been around 36,000 visitors and almost 90,000 page views. A google search of Landscape Urbanism get’s high marks, as well as a number of hits for content. Technorati is steadily increasing and sitting at 68 currently – which is good. People are reading, looking and linking. Whatever metrics are used to determine success, I feel like what I set out to accomplish has been met. There are 100 or so blogs that we are linked to – which is great. Comments have been sporadic but interesting – ranging from kudos to clarifications – all with an eye towards refining and expanding the overall understanding of issues. The comments of ‘I love your blog’ are nice too 🙂

So, in going forward, I’m not really looking to change anything dramatically… just continue to evolve the content as my interest and thinking evolves. I thought about reconfiguring the categories to better fit the content, but think I’ll just leave things as-is. A search is probably best anyway.

I feel like there are a wealth of items in Portland and surrounding areas that could be covered. The slow-down of the Sustainable Stormwater Blog means I will cover more of this topic, as Portland (arguably) is leading the charge with innovative implementation. Also, I’d like to do more book reviews and articles with expanded content, as well as keeping the format of simple posts or aggregations of projects on a consistent theme.

Always, if anyone has suggestions on improvements, I would appreciate them. As a designer, I’m predisposed to accept any criticism constructively, so there’s no fear in offending me. If however, there is something that you disagree with or take offense – shoot an email or post a comment. And keep reading. It’s inspiring to see all of the new blogs and great inspiration, and I hope I contribute a bit to that in some way.