EVERY TOWN NEEDS THAT ONE ACCOUNT
The one everyone checks before making weekend plans.
You know you’d follow it.
So why not become it?
City Living Network is a collection of city guides, each run by a local who actually lives, loves, and plays there.
WE MAKE IT EASY TO START.
We hand you the website, playbook, and network —
then YOU become your town's go-to source.
You know the type.
They know about the new bakery before the bakery has a sign.
They settle the group chat's "Where should we eat?" debate like a supreme court.
They walk into the farmers market like it’s their actual birthday party.
They’re already the unofficial town mayor.
BUT THE PLOT TWIST? Nobody appoints the go-to account.
Someone just starts.
And in 25+ towns across the US, that journey started with us.
But first,
let’s clear something up.
This is NOT a job we’re hiring for. It’s NOT a franchise. It’s NOT an ambassador program. And nobody's asking you to dance on Reels.
A city guide is a local platform you OWN — a website, a social presence, a seat at the best tables in town. We build the foundation: the website, the branding, the content engine, and the playbook we've refined across 25+ launches.
Then YOU do the part we can't: you live there, you love there, and (most importantly) you show up All. Over. The. Damn. Place.
Your role is community. Ours is infrastructure.
And because there’s only ONE of your city. There’s also only ONE publisher per city. So once your town's taken, it's like, taken taken.
(AND YES, we know this creates urgency. And NO, we didn't invent it for marketing. There's literally ONE Laguna Beach… unfortunately.)
SO, WHO'S BEHIND THIS NIFTY LIL IDEA?Hi, I’m Lindsay & I ACCIDENTALLY invented this.
In 2019, I started Laguna Beach Living — just a journalist with a laptop, a deep love for my tiny town of 23,000 peeps, and no grand plan beyond "someone should be writing about this stuff."
Sure, we all know MTV (and LC) made Laguna famous first, but the early 00’s were quite some time ago! [CRINGE FACE.]
BUT ANYWAY, BACK TO THE STORY:
Soon, my little blog started gaining traction.
The restaurants started saving me seats. The gallery openings sent invites.
During the pandemic, local kitchens like Summer's Table and Grazing Kitchen stayed in front of customers partly because my little-guide-who-could kept showing up for them.
Somewhere in there I stopped being "just a blogger" and became the person Laguna checks for WTF to do.
And then something unexpected happened.
Women in other towns started asking how I did it.
After explaining it enough times, I did the next most logical thing: turned it into a playbook, built the infrastructure, and started handing other women the (digital) keys to their cities.
That's City Living Network in a nutshell — founded in 2022, now 25+ towns strong.
And guess what? I still run Laguna Beach Living myself, and it’s still my absolute DREAM job. (If you can call it that.)
WE’VE BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK… quite literally.
25+
city guides
launched
Laguna Beach, Maui, Boulder, Naples, Las Vegas, Destin, Dana Point, Denver, Prescott, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, La Mesa, etc.
400+
local businesses
featured
Real ones, with doors and owners and stories — like Tutu's Pantry on Maui and Crepe Therapy Café in Boulder. (Keep browsin’ our guides. You’ll def find your new faves.)
85,000+
locals following our city guides
Actual humans that support small business, not bots from outer Internet realms.
Now, let’s talk about the actual city guides & the total powerhouses behind them.
BECAUSE WOW.
JAMIE FROM DESTIN, FLORIDA
Destin Snapshots
Photographer, military wife, mom of littles — Jamie sees Destin through a lens the tourism board can't fake.
Destin Snapshots is her visual love letter to the coast: the small businesses, the beach mornings, and the spots locals actually go when the visitors head home.
Est. 2024, and already the account Destin checks.
KAMA FROM MAUI, HAWAII
Maui Makai
When Kama features a local shop, Maui listens. Her love letters to Tutu's Pantry — the family-run local goods store — became some of Maui Makai's most-read stories.
When storms hit South Kīhei's small businesses, she rallied the island to go show up for them.
And her community markets? Local vendors line up for a table and they sell out.
Proof it works: local businesses she features report tourists at the door from all over the country who saw her features online and wanted to check it out firsthand.
AMY & GEMMA FROM NAPLES, FLORIDA
Naples Days
Two publishing-world friends turned Naples' most stylish mini media empire.
Naples Days spotted Books on Third before the ribbon was cut, told the founding story of The Azalea Golf Club (women's golf, revolutionized), and hosts its own holiday cocktail workshops with local businesses.
Polished? Extremely. Boring? Never.
And yes, they DO cruise around town in their branded Naples Days VW bus.
KIM FROM BOULDER, COLORADO
Locally Boulder
Kim introduced Boulder to Crepe Therapy Café — the new spot from James Beard-nominated chef Mawa McQueen — before it became the neighborhood obsession.
From telling Wabi-Sabi Pilates' one-year story to mapping every farmers market in the county, Locally Boulder is the love letter Boulder didn't know it needed.
FUN FACT: She had her launch party at a local farm and over 200+ people showed up, complete with alpacas and loads of other farm animals.
GETTIN’ CURIOUS?
Explore the steps from "I love my town" to "I'm THEE account."
1. Raise your hand. Apply for your city. Only one publisher per town, so get here, stat!
2. We hand over the digital keys. Aka: a fully built guide — website, branding, content, foundation. You skip two years of trial-and-error and trying to figure-it-all-out, blindly.
3. Show up majorly all around town. Coffee shops, grand openings, farmers markets. The fun part. Also the important part.
4. Compound trust. Event invites. Business partnerships. Press trips. A town that recognizes your name. A town that trusts your recs.
5. Monetize. Turn this into something that pays through sponsored features, partnerships, collaborations. Trust first, revenue second. We show you how, when you're ready.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?Snoop around first.
(We would too.)
Our free playbook answers what you're actually wondering:
Is my town a fit? Am I? Do I have to be a legit journalist? What would this involve, week to week? And finally, how do city guides actually make money?
Also, how cute was our Publisher’s Retreat last year?
WANT MORE? Browse even more of our cities.
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![A woman in a pink dress and black knee-high boots standing next to a white limousine, holding the door handle and smiling, with tall palm trees in the background.]()
Angela Christine from Las Vegas Parents Club
Vegas for people with car seats. Angela connects thousands of families to kid-friendly everything — and puts local parent-owned businesses like The Salted Sage and Kids Dream Land in front of the exact families looking for them.
Her anniversary parties draw vendors, creators, and half the moms in Summerlin.
In her words: "I've built something in my city that people actually trust."
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![Two women smiling on a boat, one wearing a straw hat and sunglasses, the other holding a glass of wine, with a cityscape and water in the background.]()
Kristin Augustine from Dana Point Days
Graphic designer Kristin gave Dana Point the guide it deserved — 50-item bucket lists, coverage of the Festival of the Whales' 55th year, and love letters to spots like Craft House and HŌM boutique.
Her anniversary giveaways pull in seven local businesses at a time, because in DP, everyone wants in on what Kristin's doing.
Highlighting the best of DP — one business at a time.
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![Smiling woman on the beach wearing a light blue cap and a grey t-shirt with 'DESTIN Florida' written on it.]()
Marissa McLaughlin of Carlsbad Days
Classy, coastal, Carlsbad — Marissa's guide went from launch to local fixture fast.
She threw the buzziest Mahjong night at Khara Collective, told the story of the Carlsbad Theatre's revival before anyone else, and ran an Endless Summer Giveaway that pulled some of Carlsbad’s favorite businesses into one beach day.
Est. 2025, and already the tab Carlsbad keeps open.
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![A woman with red hair wearing sunglasses, a coordinated patterned crop top and skirt, standing barefoot on a small platform near the ocean, smiling at the camera.]()
Lindsay DeLong from Laguna Beach Living
The original. Since 2019: restaurant openings, festival coverage, press trips, and a pandemic spent keeping local kitchens in front of their customers.
Every guide in the network is built on what this one figured out first.
Seven years in, still the account Laguna checks.
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Meghan Dorsey from San Clemente Insider
Drawn to San Clemente’s easygoing rhythm and coastal charm, Meghan shares the town through its people, local favorites, and everyday moments that make it feel like home.
Someone’s Going to Become Your Town’s
GO-TO GUIDE
Should it be YOU?
FUTURE PUBLISHER resources
FEEL LIKE A FIT? City Living Network is built on a clear framework and a shared support system. We’re a network all doing the same thing in our own towns. So there’s no competition, just collaboration!
If you’re curious what it looks like to build a city guide within the network, browse the links and book a free call with Lindsay.
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