Instead of reading the 800+ posts I’ve fallen behind on in my feed reader, I’m spending Sunday evening surfing for community blogs to share with MCB’ers.

Paul Brian has started News About Jackson, TN which I hope will take off. He’s got some scary tornado pictures from early February that make me realize how lucky most of us were.

This is Smyrna updated its look this weekend. I like it a lot, but can’t help but think that Gunner and his gang of writers (disclosure! I’m one.) will be able to do really shine if he ever changes over to WordPress.

I recently updated This is LaVergne to a three-column format and discovered VodPods. After finding It Comes in Pints which features a Friday F* Off Thread, I decided an open thread could work for LaVergne readers. After two Fridays, this theme seems to be quite popular. We’ve learned about the best types of grass (fescue v. bermuda) for our rocky county and how the mayor’s office helped a resident. We’ve also heard complaints about loud car stereos, the high prices of playing soccer, code violations, and much more.

The common thread I see in all these hyper-local sites is that we make every effort to provide not just information and news for our neighborhoods and communities, but these sites provide a forum for our residents to talk to each other. Isn’t that what hyper-local is about? I love hearing about what new retail space is coming or about a gentle dentist.

What these commenters and subsequent blog posts have also accomplished is we’re now a strong source for newspapers and other media. I firmly believe we will eventually see a lot of investigative news stories in the mainstream media originating from tips reporters gain from blogs and social media sites like Twitter. I say this because I’ve already seen the blip on that radar. I’ve been contacted a handful of times by area newspapers about “tips” they’ve seen on our community site.

What other accomplishments can be made through community blogs? My friend Gunner has chastised his town officials for allowing a dangerous intersection to go without a light for almost a year after a light was approved. I expect the light to finally go live this week, but maybe through Gunner’s words the city will next time be responsive in a more timely manner. In LaVergne, our town is looking into setting up a police substation in the state’s biggest subdivision - an idea that came from a commenter on our site. The fact that someone in the city paid attention was a true marvel for our little blog because we’d heard many times from an anonymous commenter that if we had any suggestions to make to city officials, we should call them. Instead of listening to the naysayer, this modern-day grassroots medium has blossomed.

I think the next few years will be really interesting for community blogs and I’d love to be around for another 30 or 40 to see what happens. But in the here and now, if you come across any community or neighborhood blogs in Middle Tennessee, I’d love it if you’d leave the link in the comments.