Reflecting on the past is necessary in order to move forward and make positive changes. With that idea in mind, we’ve kicked off the new year with lofty goals for the site and new ideas for future series and events. And keeping in tradition with the start of each new month, we’ve taken a look back at our top posts for the January edition of the Monthly Mashup. Scroll on down for a few of LifeStyler’s most popular articles this month and our Editor’s favorite January postings and other newsworthy articles from the depths of the blogging realm.

In the first of a series of neighborhood profiles that we call Neighborhood Watch, we focus on Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of the largest communities in New York City. Known as an African-American cultural center, the area has played a prominent role in several Spike Lee movies (Do the Right Thing, Clockers, Crooklyn, Summer of Sam), and is the garden from which a number of recording artists have grown (Aaliyah, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, and numerous others). Recently, Bed-Stuy has been embroiled in the center of the gentrification debate with an influx of hipsters into the neighborhood.