Boulevards

For the type of road, see Boulevard.

Boulevards is a network of city guides on the Internet established in 1994 by Boulevards New Media Inc., an early digital media pioneer. It preceded other city guide networks such as Citysearch and Microsoft's now-defunct Sidewalk.com product, which launched under a similarly metaphorical brand and may have been influenced by Boulevards.

The network includes city guides operated at the dotcom version of city names in Top 20 U.S. cities. Among Boulevards' properties are LosAngeles.com, SanFrancisco.com, Seattle.com, Dallas.com, SanAntonio.com, Denver.com, SaltLakeCity.com, StPetersburg.com and Memphis.com.

History

The company was founded in 1994 by Dan Pulcrano, Boulevards’ longtime CEO. At first, the sites emphasized directories of arts and entertainment, dining and community information in the style of the alternative press, along with original content. An early editor was Larry Smith, of Six-Word Memoirs fame. Its first interface was designed by Dutch typographer Erik van Blokland.

A year later, Boulevards acquired a portfolio of city names that included LosAngeles.com, SanJose.com and other major city domains. Other acquisitions followed.[1]

In 2002, the sites began to emphasize travel and dining content and provided booking links to travel-related commerce services. [2] In 2005, Boulevards acquired the popular San Francisco city guide SF Station and further expanded its content offerings. The company also that year acquired a controlling interest in the service now known as MovieTimes.com. In 2007, Boulevards' large city sites added business directories and calendars of events that allowed community-contributed events and listings to be added. In 2015, SF Station was spun off and returned to independent ownership.

Boulevards also operates community news and opinion websites such as San Jose Inside in San Jose, California.

Boulevards is based in San Jose, California.

References

  1. ↑ Jackson, Ron (February 2008). "Changing of the Guard: How Dan Pulcrano Became The Point Man in the Historic March From Old Media to the New World Online". Domain Name Journal. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Company Overview of Boulevards New Media, Inc.". Bloomberg. Bloomerg. December 29, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
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