L.A. Observed is one of the Los Angeles-based blogs named in Forbes.com's Best of the Web. The other locals are The Elegant Variation for literary blogs, Metroblogging in the city category and art.blogging.la in art, Little Green Footballs and Kausfiles in politics, BoingBoing in technology, and The Huffington Post in media. I like the L.A. Observed citation in the media blog category because it gets that the understated style of blogging here is an intended feature, not a bug:

Kevin Roderick is quickly becoming the West Coast's answer to Jim Romenesko, media-watcher extraordinaire. The former Los Angeles Times writer and editor keeps tabs on his former employer along with local politics, new books and the occasional L.A. history lesson. The tone is straight journalism, without the sarcasm or indignation found on other sites. But that doesn't mean that it lacks opinion. When Roderick shares a rumor about a possible "big announcement" from the L.A. Times, he includes advice to media reporters on how to cover it. It might not be the most hip and glamorous news coming out of Hollywood's home town, but Roderick has the journalism beat covered, along with who's in and out at City Hall, Mayor Villaraigosa's job performance, and hot dog shortages at the Home Depot Center.

BEST: Finally, a Los Angeles rag that doesn't lead with Brad and Angelina. After two decades of reporting, Roderick has access to serious contacts all over the city.

WORST: You might be clueless if you aren't in the City of Angels.

Gothamist, the New York mother site to LAist, won the Forbes Favorite pick among city blogs. The magazine also lists Best of the Web faves in ten non-blog categories. If it includes any L.A. websites that I don't know about, let me know and I'll mention them. * Found one: Robert Niles' Theme Park Insider is a Forbes Favorite under Travel.