User:Chicagopedia60657/Gapers Block

Gapers Block (Gapers Block Media, LLC) is a Chicago-centric web publication focused on covering Chicago culture under the tag line: “Slow down and check out Chicago.” While listing local events and aggregating to other Chicago blogs and news of local interest, Gapers Block features local topical blogs: A/C (arts and culture); Drive-Thru (food related); Transmission (local music); Mechanics (state and local politics); Tailgate (sports coverage); Book Club (book club and literary scene coverage).

Conceived in 2003 by Andrew Huff and Naz Hamid, the stuck-in-traffic themed style names, such as Merge (blog, links aggregation); Slowdown (calendar event listings); and Rearview (noteworthy local photos); etc. are inspired by the Chicago-coined term, "gapers block," a traffic jam caused by motorists slowing down to check out an on-the-road accident.

The site is comprised of volunteer local and imported residents of Chicago from various backgrounds and professions.


 * Web design site, Typesites credits Gapers Block’s aesthetics, “well-crafted layout” and noteworthy typography.


 * Chicago Community Trust awarded Gapers Block $35,000 in an effort to boost new sources of local news and information and “increase the amount of neighborhood-based, original local coverage ... with priority given to stories about underserved communities and issues that affect them.”


 * The Chicago Sun-Times in 2009 named the Gapers Block Book Club the #2 best way to find romance in Chicago.


 * Gapers Block Editor and publisher, Andrew Huff was listed in Crain’s Chicago Business’s “40 Under 40” in 2009.