You might find this hard to believe but it was three years ago this week that two starry eyed lovers, slightly inebriated and wholly idealistic, set off into the wilds of Baltimore City to seek out all of the goodness that the world had yet to discover and share it digitally across the globe.

Soon, others who felt the same way joined us and helped to tell the stories of the great people who call Baltimore home. Before we knew it, What Weekly turned into something that started to look a lot like a respectable publication. At some point, people even started to take it seriously.

This growing band of merry collaborators quickly became friends and have grown into what feels like a family. Together, 150 issues of What Weekly have been seen in over 170 countries, each one consistently letting the world know that Baltimore is more than just vacant row homes, drug corners, and crime stats.

We’re here to testify that Baltimore is intensely creative, fiercely independent, and innovative in the most unexpected fashion. Baltimore is serious about community in a way that’s almost primal. And sure, Baltimore has had more than its fair share of heartache, but this is a town that doesn’t quit just because life doesn’t always go the we want it to. And after spending three years getting to know all of you a lot better, the one thing that sticks in my mind is that Baltimore is full of people who care about one another, folks who want to get know their neighbors and work together to build something better. I’m not sure that you can say the same for every city. Maybe it’s in the tragedy of the city’s decline that we have found truth in the notion that we need one another, especially if we plan to rebuild. And it seems to me, that’s where community begins: there at the moment when we stop and decide to build something together.

For these reasons and so many more, it is our privilege to continue publishing What Weekly. 2013 promises a lot of remarkable changes, including great things at our sister company, which is growing and undergoing a significant transformation that will be announced in the near future. For those of you that were unaware, the founders of this publication also run a creative agency where you can hire the talents and imagination of those responsible for bringing you What Weekly. Believe it or not, we’re launching a few entirely new ventures in 2013, the most notable of which being Cas Walker Allen. A little bundle of joy set to arrive any minute now. I’ll sign off here before I say too much, I wouldn’t want to spoil any surprises. Hell, I may have said too much already. @jmathewallen