At the beginning of the year, I like to assess where Pittsburgh Magazine has been and, more importantly, where it’s going. While I’ve never faced such challenges in my journalism career as I did in 2020, I’ve also never been prouder of the work we’ve done. We adapted to the changes in our community and created a magazine that reflected our struggles and our triumphs. We also dedicated ourselves to telling the stories of Pittsburgh minority communities; a commitment that will continue into this year.

What else do we have in store for you?

After this combined issue, Pittsburgh Magazine is returning to its regular production schedule as we and the community edge back to normalcy. As part of that, we are reintroducing our monthly Spotlight feature, which tells the stories of Pittsburgh’s arts and culture sector. We are anticipating the return of our region’s vibrant arts sector and we welcome those stories back.

A new monthly feature is Stories of Our Neighbors by Lori Jakiela, the author of the memoir “Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe” and several other books. Based on the tradition of oral histories, these glimpses into the lives of our fellow Pittsburghers will touch and inspire you.

In another nod to the creativity of our neighbors, each issue of Pittsburgh Magazine will close with On Location, a look at Pittsburgh’s starring role in the movies. With the cooperation of the Pittsburgh Film Office, which markets the 10-county region to attract film production projects, we will showcase a location that is featured prominently in a project filmed in the area. Maybe it will motivate you to visit one of these places or even catch up on Pittsburgh’s filmography.

Finally, HOME welcomes Hot Property, a quarterly look at the Pittsburgh real estate market’s hottest neighborhoods and noteworthy sales. It will supplement our new weekly online spotlight of the premier homes on the market by Rosa Colucci, who has made a name for herself with her coverage of Pittsburgh real estate.

On a personal note, I am grateful Pittsburgh Magazine continues to have dedicated readers who have supported us through the challenges of 2020 and encourage us as we move ahead. Both online and in print, we will continue to bring you stories of our community and the people who make it special as we all transition into 2021. My hope isn’t that we return to the way things were before, but that we take what we have learned from the challenges we faced and make our community and ourselves better than we were.

Brian can be reached at bhyslop@pittsburghmagazine.com