Space City is getting a new print magazine this spring with the arrival of Houstonia, a subscription-based title that already has picked up the likes of Houston Chronicle opinion editor John Wilburn, award-winning food critic Robb Walsh and Houston Press alums John Nova Lomax and Cathy Matusow.
The new magazine has already had something of a name stumble though.
The Houstonian Hotel took issue with what the magazine originally planned to call itself — Houstonian Magazine — and the switch was made to Houstonia. The magazine's owners now argue that the new alternate name better captures the city's sprawling geography and cultural diversity. (A hotel representative insists to CultureMap that the Houstonian took no official legal action to force a name change.)
Created by siblings Scott and Nicole Vogel — Bayou City natives and co-owners of the magazine's parent company SagaCity Media, which they founded in 2003 — the monthly publication is expected appear on more than 700 newsstands across the region starting in late March.
"We're scrambling to get ready for the first issue, of course, but the process is exciting."
"We've had great success with our city magazines in Portland and Seattle, and can't wait to bring all we've learned to our hometown," Scott Vogel, a former Washington Post editor, tells CultureMap.
"We're scrambling to get ready for the first issue, of course, but the process is exciting. We just purchased a house on Heights Boulevard near 5th Street to serve as our new offices.
"Houston's such a different place that it was when we were growing up, so much bigger and more diverse. For being the nation's fourth largest city, it's surprising there's never been a paid monthly title to examine the region with a broad perspective. You see them in New York, Chicago and LA, but not so much in Houston."
Area media blogger Mike McGuff has already offered his two cents:
Houstonia magazine will appear on area newsstand in late March.
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Photo by Leonid Furmansky