MetroSpokane blog administrator quits popular 4-year-old site

After four years critiquing local development and observing urban life in Spokane, the administrator of a popular local blog signed off earlier this week.

With daily posts on topics including transportation, architecture and neighborhood businesses, MetroSpokane caught the eye of city officials and journalists. But its facilitator, Brian Jennings, was spending a couple hours a day on the site, metrospokane.typepad.com. Jennings said he will no longer make new posts to the site.

“It kind of became a life-balance sort of thing,” said Jennings, 39.

The blog began as a collaborative effort among students at Eastern Washington University. As posts and readership increased, so did the scope of MetroSpokane, from conversations about street furniture (think Expo ’74 trash cans) to front-yard gardens. Some posts received dozens of responses from readers.

“Anything could really become a story and people would comment,” Jennings said.

A former economic development project manager for the city, Jennings will continue to influence planning, but not in Spokane. He recently became director of Cheney’s Community Development Department.

“Public dialogue is always healthy, especially things regarding the public space and architecture,” he said.