This weekend was the 8 year anniversary of writing this daily blog. It’s hard to imagine that it has been this long. Perhaps because COVID has accelerated the last little while and made it difficult to remember what day or year it is sometimes.
I am often asked what the end game is for this blog. What am I hoping to get out of it? The truth is there is no real end game. I like reading and writing. I like being constantly curious about the world. I like discipline. I like meeting and connecting with new people. And I like having my own little place on the internet, however small it may be.
I get dozens of emails each week from people and companies wanting to pay for sponsored posts on this blog. I’m not sure how legitimate these inbounds are, but I ignore all of them. That’s not what this blog is for or about.
In the early days of writing this blog it was called Architect This City and the focus was a bit narrower: real estate, design, planning and all things cities. That is still more or less the case, but I do often stray from these topics. Sometimes into personal topics. Sometimes into my photography. And more recently into the world of crypto and blockchains. This is one of the reasons why I decided to move to just blogging under my own name. There’s more flexibility.
Sidebar: I recently bought my first NFT — a CryptoBabyPunk. I’m not at all suggesting that you should do the same. It could be worthless in the future. But I continue to be fascinated by what’s happening in this space and I’ve committed myself to experimenting and learning a lot more.
Writing something each day is extremely difficult. Some days it only takes 15-20 minutes. And other days, when I’m not in the mood or I’m exhausted from doing too many other things, it can take over an hour. It’s a big time commitment and on more than one occasion I’ve questioned whether my time was better spent elsewhere. But then I think about all of the benefits that I derive from this daily practice.
They say that the definition of a habit is that you don’t feel normal until you’ve done it. And this blog has certainly become a habit of mine. It forces me to wake up every morning and consider at least one interesting thing that may be happening in our cities and our world. I don’t intend to stop anytime soon. So thank you all for reading over the years.
BRANDON DONNELLY 
Thank you for your diligence, Brandon. I have benefitted from your blog.
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That means a lot to me. Thanks Phil.
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Excelent blog. I look forward to read it every day.
Congratulations and thank you!
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Bran Always look forward to your insight and I continue to learn through your eyes and experience
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to future insights
Cheers
Manny
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Thanks Manny! Look forward to seeing you soon.
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I read your blog every day and am grateful to you for your diligence and interesting take and the wide range of topics.
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Thanks Ivan! Much appreciated.
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Thank you! It makes my life a little better, even if I don’t know much about architecture or city building and tend to be skeptical about early-adopting stuff just for the heck of it. But you bring up a lot of interesting viewpoints, facts and things I wouldn’t generally hear about and present it in a format that feels like just the right level of reading commitment. I find your blog genuinely awesome, on a different level than Stratechery or Slate Star Codex / Astral Codex Ten or Nate Graham’s weekly KDE updates, but awesome all the same. Best of luck for the next 8 years!
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Jakob, wow, really appreciate the kind words. Thank you thank you.
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Thank you so much Brandon. It is a treat reading you every morning. Thank you!
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Thank you Anna! 🙂
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I very much enjoy reading these every day/week!
We send your blogs to each other within our small company (Miken Development in Nashville, TN) and discuss often.
Been following for the last year or so.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and interests with us!! Excited to hear it will continue on!
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That’s amazing Heather. Thank you. Would love to learn more about your company.
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Brandon. The time you take to write everyday is multiplied many times as your readers enjoy and learn from your sharing. Living in Vancouver, your comparisons to Toronto and other cities raise thoughts about shared challenges and solutions. Thank you for your blog and for allowing my mind to travel while sheltering in place. Keep on blogging. Cheers Ann
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I’ve been following for quite some time now and I enjoy that you stray from strictly real estate/developing/architectural topics. It keeps things interesting. I actually took a chance on one of the cryptocurrencies you wrote about here a couple years back, and it’s looking like it may help me buy my first home/condo. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for your discipline in continuing to write every day. I plan to stay tuned in for as long as you are. Cheers.
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Wow. Joshua, this is an incredible story. Thanks for sharing. I guess I should have followed my own advice 🙂
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Hi Brandon, I’ve read every blog for around the last 7 years and really enjoy the variety of topics, the pictures and the interesting charts and diagrams. It’s just the right length and I love the way you keep it to the point and give references for those that want more. I’ve followed your lane way battles (amazing how far that’s come over the years); the outrageous cease and desist episode I’ve enjoyed travelling around the worlds cities and quirky households with you; your holiday snaps; and your balanced and insightful outlook. Thank you for sharing.
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