Coastsider -- Barry Parr

Barry Parr, the former San Francisco daily editor and news industry analyst, says traffic at his "CoastSider" local online news community has quadrupled since a major road closure last week.

Parr wrote:

" . . . [W]e had a huge story here last week when one of two roads that connect us to the outside world (Devil''s Slide) was closed, probably for 3 months. I beat the HMB Review senseless and my traffic is now about 4x what it was before the closure. I''ve hit an inflection point. I''ve been telling people that I''ve been working toward this moment for two years and didn''t even know it."

From the Coastsider website:

What is Coastsider?

Coastsider is a community Web site for coastal San Mateo County.

We encourage readers to post stories that they have a personal interest in, whether they think they can add something new to the conversation, or want to ask question. Other readers can comment or answer questions.

You need to be registered member to post stories or comments. There is no charge or any other requirements for membership, except for a valid email address.

Who''s behind Coastsider?

Coastsider was created by Barry Parr, who lives and works at home in Montara.

Barry was one of the architects of the San Jose Mercury News and News.com websites. Barry also writes the media weblog MediaSavvy. His goal was to apply what he has learned about building news sites to the coastside community.

See also: "With Pluck and Legwork, Getting The Stories First", by Nathan Alderman, J-Lab Online Editor