Welcome to Cedar Falls Patch!

Cedar Falls Patch is an online hub for local news, local features, local events, local businesses and local blogs. In other words, all Cedar Falls, all the time.

Want to know what happened at the latest city council meeting? Want to see a photo gallery of local kids digging Harry Potter at the library? Patch is your place. Want to see what’s going on around the community this weekend? Our events calendar will have updates.

Patch is more than just a source of news. It’s also a place for you, the user, to share information you think others need to know.

Watch my Patch welcome video in the photo well to the right of this column.

You can upload events to the calendar. If you’ve got something to say or want to share your hobby with others, you can sign up to be a Local Voices blogger. Have some photos of your own to share? Put them on our Eyes and Ears Tumblr stream. If you’re a business owner, go to our Places directory to claim your business listing and interact with customers and community members.

Don’t see your business? Send me an email so I can fix that. You can also email me or give me a call at (319) 850-3474 if you think there’s something I should cover, if you have suggestions for the site, or if you just want to say hello. Cedar Falls Patch is also on Facebook and Twitter.

As we start out, I have a question: What defines life in Cedar Falls to you? This is meant to be your hometown Patch, so I want to know what shapes your ideas of our town.

What defines life in Cedar Falls for me has changed a lot in the last few years. I was born here and attended Southdale Elementary,  and . After high school, I got my journalism degree from the University of Iowa. After interning at the Cedar Rapids Gazette, I spent some time in Minneapolis, editing a student newspaper and scanning groceries, before taking off for the Peace Corps.

I spent the last two years as a community health education volunteer in Swaziland, a tiny country in Southern Africa.

Things I used to take for granted, like clean, running water, reliable electricity, access to quality health care, public libraries and nearby, well-stocked grocery stores were suddenly a luxury. They now help shape my personal ideas of what defines life in Cedar Falls.

My ideas of life in Cedar Falls also include things like plenty of green space and bike trails, friendly neighbors and families all around, quality local businesses, strong schools and a sense of community.

But those are just my ideas. I want to shape Cedar Falls Patch around what matters to you. So, what do you think? What defines life in Cedar Falls? What issues are important? Send me an email with your answers, or better yet, answer in the comments below.

I can’t wait to start the conversation.