Forget the express…. it’s all about LOCAL baby!

I am not sure if I can go to a conference today without hearing the word "local". It is hot. Why? Because it's a great way to get into a niche that isn't yet swamped with other sites. When Steve Rubel asked Jeff Jarvis how to get into blogging, Jeff replied that they should consider local. With sites like Yelp, Upcoming, Meetup, etc. growing in popularity, people want to know what's happening and shaking in the local scene. down2night launched last week to show people what's going down at a local event or party.

Whether it's checking out a local barber, finding out which pizza place makes the best pie, or where to party, local is the hot thing for new bloggers. And if my 2007 prediction comes true, people will spend more time offline this year. And they will need local web sites to tell them where to go and what to do!

I think the key to mastering the local scene is not just to say focus on New York, Berlin, Tokyo or any other city. But find a niche within that city market. Own that niche. Then you could potentially copy the same model in other cities. Savory has done a good job at this in the high-end food space.

And, here is a picture I snapped in Manhattan. Bet you can't guess where I snapped it. Let this picture serve as a reminder that you can really get down to local's local when you target available women and men on one avenue in NYC. Of course the site does not appear to be as targeted.

Update: Dan at Wikia IM'd me that they launched a local product last week.