by Ryan Gilday – The Lowell Citizen

Do you like counting City Council motions? Then Citizens, have I got a treat for you!

In late 2021, I found myself thinking of the glory-days of the Lowell blogosphere – a place where you could find interesting, homegrown Lowell content almost daily. However, most of the blogs had long since closed shop and social media wasn’t quite hitting the spot in the same way. I kept hoping someone would start posting long-form content about the comings and goings of the Lowell City Council (Dick Howe had yet to launch his weekly newsletter).

As such, I tried to create the thing that I wished existed. TheLowellCitizen.com launched in January of 2022 with an eye toward keeping the old-school-blog-candle burning. Almost every Wednesday morning since, I’ve been providing a recap of the previous night’s council meeting mixed with some half-assed analysis and opinion.

Traffic counts for my site varied, but over time, it began to feel like I was posting into a void. My wife would sometimes ask if I was “still doing that blog thing.” My plan was to finish up the year, thank the loyal readers who came for the ride, and join the list of defunct Lowell blogs.

Enter a breath of fresh air from Inside Lowell. I admit, I groaned a bit when I saw that Teddy Panos was the man behind the curtain. Would this new venture be a megaphone for his WCAP positions? Positions that made my blood boil and liberal tears flow? Maybe? It’s still early after all. But so far, I see evidence to the contrary.

I see the potential for Inside Lowell to fill the void in local news. I see a return to the daily doses of homegrown, Lowell-centric content that I can’t get enough of. I see some contributors on the roster that I know and/or respect. I see a need for more contributors who actually, you know, live in Lowell (zing!). In light of the above, I am honored to have been invited to contribute and am looking forward sharing my posts on this platform.

Finally, some biography may be in order – I am not a journalist, nor am I an “Insider” as I understand the term. I’m just some nut with a website who feels compelled to post content. I was born and raised in Centralville (or perhaps more accurately, the foot of Christian Hill – it’s open to debate). I’ve lived in Downtown, the Highlands, and currently Belvidere with my wife and two sons. Both of my kids proudly attend Lowell Public Schools. When I’m not engaged with this blogging nonsense, I find some time to be a lawyer. If you see me in public, I will not be prepared to defend anything that I’ve written.