Looking back at 2013

In 2013, Greater Greater Washington had 962 articles, 2,205 breakfast links, and 49,690 comments. How well do you remember what was happening last January or in the spring? Here are some of the articles in 2013 that got the most traffic or comments, had a significant influence, or which our contributors identified as their favorites.

January

We started out 2013 with a deal in Congress to maintain transit tax benefits at a level equal to parking benefits. (Sadly, we’re losing that this year as there was no long-term deal to keep it).

WMATA unveiled an early look at its Metro Momentum plan. Matt Johnson helped explain why Metro needs to fix the bottleneck at Rosslyn, and looked at solutions. Metro also released more diagrammatic bus maps.

Virginia governor Bob McDonnell unveiled a crazy plan to completely eliminate the state gas tax. Dan Malouff warned about promises to build “gold standard” Bus Rapid Transit, as there are no “gold standard” systems in the US.

In DC, we were just finishing up a series of public meetings on the zoning update. Some who oppose letting a homeowner rent out a basement or carriage house posted a photo of one of the scary “accessory dwelling units,” but to many of us, the cute and clean house looked like an argument for, not against, the policy.

February

Mayor Gray drove a big stake in the ground with an ambitious sustainability plan that, among other things, calls for 50% of trips to use transit and 25% by walking or biking by 2032. But to fulfill the plan requires strong action by agencies which haven’t shown a lot of fortitude recently.

Gas tax debates raged in Virginia and Maryland. Virginia passed a transportation bill that had some pros and cons, while the Maryland legislature considered requiring helmets, a measure cycling groups successfully fought. Matt Johnson kept explaining Metro long-range visions and found a great video of the old streetcar to Branchville.

Speaking of streetcars, opponents of the Columbia Pike streetcar put up a quite misleading website that showed Bus Rapid Transit in a boulevard median, implying it’s an alternative to streetcar even though Columbia Pike has no median and no ability to dedicate lanes to transit. In the District, the streetcar project finished a significant piece of work: a website.

March

Aimee Custis gave a firsthand account of a driver hitting her (fortunately, it was minor and she’s okay) and leaving the scene. Mayor Gray released a budget that funded streetcars, parks, and libraries and kept traffic camera fines. WMATA started floating ideas for how to depict Orange, Blue, and Silver lines together on the map.

The DC Examiner decided to end its local coverage. Maryland actually raised the gas tax. It turned out the Silver Spring Transit Center is unsafe, and officials pointed fingers.

April

DC held a special election for at-large council. Candidates said they want affordable housing but ignored the issue of inadequate supply. Anita Bonds ultimately beat out 2nd place finisher Elissa Silverman.

In our April Fool coverage, we lampooned Arlington streetcar opposition, helmet laws, hipsters who never go to Maryland, and the South Capitol “racetrack” design. Later in the month, Brian McEntee penned a popular satire lampooning the way non-cyclists say cyclists should behave: “The Ideal Cyclist.”

And AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs, John Townsend, called David some names in an on-the-record interview with the City Paper’s Aaron Wiener. 39 contributors spoke up with some dismay.

May

Conflicts between cyclists and drivers, a perennial topic of great discussion and lots of traffic, dominated the site in May. Jay Corbalis documented people parking in the L Street bike lane. Ryan Sigworth was in a hit-and-run. And David Cranor wrote a provocative (and much-commented-upon) piece, “Cyclists are special and do have their own rules.”

In the realm of constructive bike suggestions, Ryan looked at how “zebras” could combat U-turns on Pennsylvania Avenue, and Tony Goodman reviewed proposals for contraflow lanes on streets parallel to H Street NE. In a preview of what is to come, David Cranor summarized angry church objections to the M Street lane.

June

The bicycle debates continued with our post which got the most traffic and most comments of 2013: “It must have been your fault. C’mon. You are a biker.” Zach T. gave a firsthand account of how a driver crashed into him while bicycling down 14th Street, and the police gave him a ticket, assuming he ran the light. But surveillance footage proved that Zach was in the right.

Meanwhile, Jim Titus reported how two federal agencies had agreed to stop repeating controversial claims about bike helmets. Malcolm Kenton argued that we do need development at the McMillan Sand Filtration Site, despite fierce opposition from some in surrounding neighborhoods.

Dan Reed wrote a blockbuster series about de facto segregation in Montgomery County public schools, failed attempts at school choice, efforts to fix the problem, and possible solutions. The series got a lot of attention from elected officials and key decision-makers in the county.

We also broke the news that the developer of a “town center” at Vienna Metro was scaling back ambitions and aiming for something much less walkable and less transformative. Fairfax Supervisor Linda Smyth first heard about the issue from reading Dan Malouff’s article, and made it clear that she wants to still see a version of the original vision.

July

This was a development-oriented month. Ben Harris lamented the negatives of gentrification in Logan Circle and long 14th Street, where he used to live and still works. Payton Chung looked at how DC fit 800,000 people using a 1951 sci-fi flick to illustrate life at that time.

Harriet Tregoning backed down on parking minimums in the zoning update. DC officials reached a deal with Akridge to swap the Reeves Center for land for a soccer stadium. We looked at plans for the Uline Arena in NoMA, while some preservation board members expressed dismay at the roof decks appearing on people’s houses.

August

Entrepreneur Elon Musk got a lot of press for his proposal for a “hyperloop,” which he claimed would be better than conventional high-speed rail between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Matt Johnson effectively demolished many of Musk’s claims and arguments in the year’s 3rd highest traffic post.

In response to all the church anger about the M Street bike lane, DDOT backed down and decided to have only a painted bike lane, not a cycle track, for the block past the church. We talked to DDOT planner Sam Zimbabwe about why he made that call.

WMATA pondered closing the entire Red Line for 6 weeks, while in DC, debates raged about taxi regulations which prohibited hybrids like the Prius, perhaps in an effort to stop Uber’s low-cost UberX service.

September

WMATA finalized the new Metro map and Dan Malouff looked at what it would be like if it were to scale. Meanwhile, new data told us riders are stopping using Metro on weekends because of all the disruptions.

Bikeshare finally arrived in Montgomery County, but without any infrastructure to support it. The Shaw Advisory Neighborhood Commission said that a proposed residential building on public land at the Shaw Metro needed more parking, but Martin Moulton argued that there was actually plenty of parking already in nearby developments.

Elizabeth Falcon pondered how and whether the poor fit in to visions for DC’s future. One effort in this area, Inclusionary Zoning, is slowly bearing fruit after facing a lot of regulatory hurdles.

October

The federal government shut down for half of October, including trails in national parks (but not roads!) A lot of you are clearly federal employees, because we had fewer articles, less traffic, and lower numbers of comments in October.

DDOT put in some “zebras” on Pennsylvania Avenue, but spaced perhaps too far apart to actually work. In Cleveland Park, some residents pushed to restore a wide sidewalk which was cut up to add parking 50 years ago.

November

In contrast to October, November was a barnburner. The 2nd highest traffic post of the year was, again, one about bicycle conflict. A lot of people watched a video where cyclist Rob reported a van parked in the L Street bike lane, only to get an earful from Fred and Fran Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who apparently believed the bike lane was a parking lane and the actual bike lane was the striped buffer with the poles. Alexandra Waters, sadly, experienced firsthand the Pennsylvania Avenue zebras not working, as a U-turning driver hit her.

But much of the biggest news of November was two huge planning controversies in DC. The DC Zoning Commission held hearings on the zoning update, including proposals like parking minimums, and talked about how we need more housing to keep rising prices in check. A lot of you responded to my call for stories about how you can’t afford to live in a safe and walkable area.

Even more attention went to the National Capital Planning Commission and DC Office of Planning efforts to study the height limit. Dan Malouff offered 9 suggestions for changing the height limit, while Payton Chung challenged the assertion that keeping the limit would make DC like Paris.

NCPC seemed poised to open the door to taller buildings, though through a slow and very participatory process, but after DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and 11 colleagues told Congress they didn’t want a say in the city’s own building heights, the NCPC board rejected the staff’s more flexible proposal.

December

After studying a lot of options for future lines and connections, Metro and DC decided to push for a new loop line around downtown. Matt Johnson wrote about how a loop and an express line in Arlington might work (complete with a set of awesome diagrams), compared it to other loops in other cities, and made some suggestions to improve the plans. Alex Barclay suggested a way to increase capacity without a loop.

We talked about ways to preserve some green space while developing near Brookland Metro, solutions to congestion on I-95 in Virginia (since more roads won’t do it), the lack of parking at Tysons Metro stations, and the potential for transit across the American Legion Bridge.

Metro had some sexist ads, Dan Malouff made a pick for the best corner in DC, and new Census estimates showed a lot of growth in the District.

On to 2014! What are you looking forward to this year?