Greatest Greatest Hits: Your favorite posts of 2016
2016 has been quite a year in many ways, from Metro crises to national affairs. On Greater Greater Washington, before switching to our new site earlier in December, we brought you 1,151 posts and 2,033 Breakfast Links; you wrote 37,771 comments. Let's look at the most popular posts of this year.
What you read
It's little surprise that Metro stories (highlighted in blue above) make up five of the top 20. Metro has had a roller coaster year, from shutting down the entire system for a day in March to SafeTrack, late night cuts, budget woes, and more. Bicycle infrastructure and density are also perennial top subjects.
Our political endorsements (tan above) also reached many people. We endorsed Robert White in a 3-way race, and he beat Vincent Orange by just under 1,800 votes, while third candidate (who we also liked) David Garber netted 14,000. It's likely that the efforts of several endorsing organizations, including GGWash, helped White consolidate enough of the anti-Orange vote to win. Likewise, we mounted a large-scale effort to survey, select, and endorse Advisory Neighborhood Commission candidates all across the city; our first post, Ward 1, which also revealed the full set of endorsements, racked up high traffic.
Finally, our readers also seem to really be interested in articles delving into our region's racial and income inequalities (orange above). This is an area where we've been working to increase our stock of articles, and the traffic we've seen reinforces the value of continuing this. (We know a few commenters disagree, though.) Look for more on this in the coming year
What you commented on
Rank | Title | Comments |
---|---|---|
1 | Buying a house is incredibly difficult for me. Here’s why. | 315 |
2 | I-66 widening will happen soon whether it makes sense or not | 299 |
3 | “Ludicrous” ruling could delay or scuttle the Purple Line | 177 |
3 | More housing is now banned from Lanier Heights. Organizing is what won the day. | 162 |
5 | Upper Northwest hits peak NIMBY about a homeless shelter | 155 |
6 | WMATA is up against a budget deficit. Today, it floated ideas for some very big, very difficult changes. | 154 |
7 | For I-66, outside-the-beltway lawmakers say “toss the facts, widen baby widen” | 138 |
8 | Not building enough housing is morally equivalent to tearing down people’s homes | 136 |
9 | Today [our open thread for contributors to discuss the election of Donald Trump as president] | 129 |
10 | What’s so great about the Purple Line, anyway? | 121 |
This year, the top ten commented posts were almost all about housing, the Purple Line, or I-66 widening. We've been increasing our coverage of housing issues, especially housing affordability, and you have a lot to say about that! We're looking forward to continuing the conversation about these and other topics. This week, we'll be reposting a few top posts and favorites from 2016 alongside some new content. Have a happy New Year!