I announced a blog roll for this blog back in February.  At the time the stated purpose was:

I think my readers are interested in one of (or hopefully both of) two things; Pittsburgh and startups.  I think I provide valuable insight on both of these and especially their confluence (to borrow a term).  I have decided to keep a very limited blogroll (no more then 9 blogs at a time).  I want these blogs to be the top 3 blogs on Pittsburgh, the top 3 on Startups in general and the top 3 on Pittsburgh Startups.  I will not add a blog to the blogroll unless I find it absolutely indispensable (consequently, there are only 2 blogs presently under Pittsburgh Startups).  I will make posts any time they are updated.

With that spirit in mind, I have decided to make a change in the Pittsburgh category.  Mike Madison is a great asset to the city of Pittsburgh and Pitt’s Law School but he has only posted three times this quarter and every single one of them has been about how little he’s posting.

In Pittsblog’s place, I’ve decided to put another forefather of the Burghosphere, That’s Church.  That’s Church is the blog of Virginia Montanez (formerly known as PittGirl).  The reason I hesitated to put Virginia’s blog on the blogroll when I first created it was because of its light-hearted nature.  Not that I’m never funny, but that I figured that most people who came to my blog weren’t looking for the content in hers (and likely vice-versa).  Recently though, I’ve begun to change my mind about that.  Specifically, her posts around Big Ben and her work with Make Room for Kids (a play room for kids at Children’s Hospital) have made me realize how much a part of the city she has become.  She leverages the base that she has built to improve the city and raise the level of discourse.  Sure, she tells us how her husband plays poker in the shower, but she also induces real change for Pittsburgh and it is that goal that we share.

In addition to That’s Church, I considered two other options for the blog roll:

• Null Space – Bram Reichbaum’s blog is back and it provides excellent coverage and opinion on Pittsburgh politics as well as the occasional great tune.  While I highly recommend you follow his blog, I don’t think it’s the right fit for my limited blogroll.  It’s political coverage is great, but something I generally try to stay away from on the blog.
• Leave the spot vacant.  There are a TON of great Pittsburgh blogs.  The reason I considered leaving it empty was not because there weren’t any great Pittsburgh blogs to put in the spot, but because none of them were a particularly good fit for this blog and my readers.  Ultimately, though I was able to pick one.