Publisher’s & Editor’s Note

Looking ahead to 2022, while taking stock of 2021

Our focus may be small, but our ambitions are large. Fifteen years ago this month, founding publisher Steve Levene wrote those words in the first issues of the Sandy Springs and Buckhead Reporter newspapers. As we mark this significant anniversary, it’s a good time to reflect on how much has changed since 2007. Back then, Sandy Springs was just a year into cityhood, filled with promise. Today, it’s Georgia’s seventh-largest city and home to massive corporations including UPS and Mercedes-Benz USA. BY KEITH PEPPER Its livable, walkable downtown is alive with sidewalk eateries and world-class jazz concerts. The housing market, as noted on pages 16-17, is one of the metro areas most robust. Buckhead, once known for sprawling malls and a raucous bar scene, has turned surface parking lots into luxury apartments and boutique hotels. It’s building a trail network that will connect to the Atlanta BeltLine, and restaurateurs from Todd Ginsburg to Nobu Matsuhisa seek out Buckhead as a destination dining location. But, a spike in crime has led to a movement to break off from Atlanta that seems like it will dominate 2022 headlines. BY AMY WENK What hasn’t changed in that time is our dedication to covering the hyperlocal happenings in these communities. Since the Reporter launched in Buckhead and Sandy Springs, we have added papers in Dunwoody and Brookhaven. In a time when the media (and newspapers in particular) are under tremendous economic pressure, our publications are more important than ever.

Springs Publishing, parent of the Reporter, while not immune to these pressures, had a year of change and growth.

With a new owner (Keith) and a new editor (Amy), we gave the papers a bit of a refresh with a more modern design both in print and with a new website. Although print continues to be an important medium for us, a lot of content appears first online or in our email newsletters. We have adapted by embracing content partnerships with local media organizations such as the Saporta Report, Hypepotamus, The Atlanta JournalConstitution, and WABE.

By leaning into the things that we can control, we are able to deliver on our mission of providing responsible, non-sensational journalism to the communities we serve. It’s all an attempt to better reach our audience of today and continue to build a generation of readers for tomorrow.

To build on Steve’s words in the January 2007 Reporter paper, we aim to be meaningful, not massive, and we welcome your continued feedback. Feel free to write to us at hello@springspublishing.com.

Happy New Year!

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