by Maggie Kaiser & Louis Epstein
In a bustling city like Somerville, there’s never a shortage of fun things to do. The challenge lies in determining what’s out there so you can make an informed choice. We often learn about events while strolling around, stopping to read posters on telephone polls or in store windows. But our strolls (and dog-walking excursions) are sometimes limited to a relatively small geographical area which can limit our awareness of city life. That’s why we rely on virtual strolls through Somerville’s online streets to keep abreast of all the excitement that abounds in our 4.2 square miles of goodness.
Our first stop is - you guessed it - Somerville Local First! By following SLF’s updates on Facebook, we were some of the first people to capitalize on the Sherman Market Shift & Save coupon offered a few weeks ago. And the post on this very blog about the Ice Cream Showdown was instrumental in bringing us to GRAND & poor little rich girl on Saturday to try 8 different vendors’ sweet, frozen treats.
When we want to know what’s going on in our favorite squares, we mosey on over to the Davis Square LiveJournal and Union Square Main Streets. We also benefit from a constant drip of tweets and facebook updates from some of our favorite local businesses and organizations, including Sherman Cafe & Market, Taza Chocolate, The Center for Arts at the Armory, the Somerville Public Library and the Somerville Arts Council.
Our Facebook friends alerted us to the totally fun Rock-n-Roll Yard Sale in Union Square
To always stay in the know, we check out the Somerville Scout, the Somerville Journal, and the City of Somerville’s own website where we’ve signed up for email alerts about snow emergencies and community meetings. And we are always on the lookout for new sites and feeds to stoke our Somerville obsession. If you have a favorite, we hope you’ll let us know! And if you’re new to online Somerville, welcome to the community and happy exploring!
Great article! I’ve added a few items to my Google Reader.
I’m biased, but I think the ResiStat blog is a good place to find info. We are giving it a makeover soon, so it’s worth watching: http://somervilleresistat.blogspot.com/
Also, the City’s new Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Somerville-MA/City-of-Somerville-Official/106715832714644?ref=ts
”Comment by Daniel @ ResiStat — August 26, 2010 @6:07 pm
Very good list of places to check out.
Like Daniel, I’m a little biased, as well. I help with Boston.com’s Your Town sites — including the Somerville one at http://www.boston.com/yourtown/somerville. We aggregate several news sources to try and give you the best rundown of what’s going on in Somerville that we can.
Would love suggestions on ways to improve.
”Comment by Joe Allen-Black — August 27, 2010 @8:31 am