Readers’ Picks: Top News Stories of 2011 on Borderstan

What made news in Borderstan in 2011? Reader favorites included the following stories:

• closing of the community Temple Garden
• formation of a new community group, Urban Neighborhood Alliance
• snowball fight in Dupont Circle (featured image from photo set on Flickr)
• opposition to a new apartment building, 17th and O Streets NW
• protest over a paved embassy front yard (Embassy of Congo)
• lost dog (found!)
• annual LGBT parade through the neighborhood

Those were the subjects of 6 of the year’s 12 most-read stories in the News section at Borderstan. Other hot topics for the year (see the list of reader favorites by month) included:

• more parades (UHOP Memorial Day Parade, kids’ Halloween Parade)
• local public schools (Garrison, Ross)
• changing neighborhoods (gay to straight, poor to rich)
• journalists who live in the neighborhood (Mason, DeBonis, Jaffe, Mathis)
• local parks (French Street, Shaw Skate Park)
• festivals (17th Street)
• how much you pay in rent

Top Dozen News Stories of 2011 on Borderstan

1. Temple Garden to Close After 2011 Harvest (Tom Hay)
2. Meet Julie Mason, White House Correspondent, Neighbor (Michelle Lancaster)
3. Photos: Season’s First Snowball Fight in Dupont Circle (Luis Gomez)
4. New Kid on the Block: Urban Neighborhood Alliance (Tom Hay)
5. Best of D.C. 2011: Borderstan Area Winners
6. Change We Can Believe In: Not on 17th Street (Guest post from Stephen Rutgers)
7. SYMHM: Happy Hump Day March 30 (Michelle Lancaster)
8. Poll: Where’s the D.C. Gay Neighborhood in 2011? (Matty Rhoades)
9. Embassies, Trees, B&Bs: Be Careful What You Protest? (Michelle Lancaster)
10. Rally in Dupont Circle For Wisconsin Workers (Luis Gomez)
11. OWNERS FOUND! Beagle-Mix Found at 9th & V NW (Matty Rhoades)
12. June 1-12: Capital Pride Events in Borderstan Area (Matty Rhoades)

January

1. Meet Julie Mason, White House Correspondent, Neighbor (Michelle Lancaster)
2. New Kid on the Block: Urban Neighborhood Alliance (Tom Hay)
3. Photos: Season’s First Snowball Fight in Dupont Circle (Luis Gomez)

February

1. Garrison Elementary Partners With ANC 2F, LCCA (Tom Hay)
2. Rally in Dupont Circle For Wisconsin Workers (Luis Gomez)
3. OWNERS FOUND! Beagle-Mix Found at 9th & V NW (Matty Rhoades)

March

1. Best of D.C. 2011: Borderstan Area Winners (Borderstan)
2. SYMHM: Happy Hump Day March 30 (Michelle Lancaster)
3. One for the Dudes: Shaw Skate Park Reopens (Luis Gomez)

April

1. Temple Garden to Close After 2011 Harvest (Tom Hay)
2. Garrison Elementary Wins Library Makeover (Tom Hay)
3. Saturday: Ross School Auction (Lunch with Chuck Todd, Michelle Rhee?) (Jana Petersen)

May

1. Photos: Saturday’s United House of Prayer Annual Parade (Luis Gomez)
2. Monarch Butterflies Welcome at French Street Park (Tom Hay)
3. SYMHM: May 20 TGIF Edition (Michelle Lancaster)

June

1. Poll: Where’s the D.C. Gay Neighborhood in 2011? (Matty Rhoades)
2. June 1-12: Capital Pride Events in Borderstan Area (Matty Rhoades)
3. Harry Jaffe Unfiltered (Isn’t He Usually?) (Michelle Lancaster)

July

1. SYMHM: July 13 Hump Day Edition (Michelle Lancaster)
2. SYMHM: Offices-Not-Condos Edition (Tom Hay)
3. SYMHM: TGIF July 15 Edition (Michelle Lancaster)

August

1. SYMHM: Parking App, Fully Loaded, Booze, Wonder Bread, MLK (Michelle Lancaster)
2. SYMHM: August 31 Hump Day Edition (Michelle Lancaster)
3. Mike DeBonis on Life at The Post and His Must-Read List (Michelle Lancaster)

September

1. Change We Can Believe In: Not on 17th Street (Guest post from Stephen Rutgers)
2. 17th Street Festival Announces Lineup of Bands, Performers, DJs (Matty Rhoades)
3. 2011 17th Street Festival Photos: Did We See You There? (Luis Gomez)

October

1. Rent: What’s Your Pain? (Matty Rhoades)
2. Sommer Mathis: Telling DC’s Story (Michelle Lancaster)
3. Kids Halloween Parade Draws Several Hundred for First-Time Event (Luis Gomez)

November

1. Embassies, Trees, B&Bs: Be Careful What You Protest? (Michelle Lancaster)
2. Central Union Mission Prepares for Last Thanksgiving on 14th Street (Maggie Barron)
3. Reader Poll: 17th Street Safeway Bag Check (Matty Rhoades)

December

1. No More Concrete at The Embassy of Congo (Luis Gomez)
2. Heritage India: PR 101 Course, Perhaps? (Michelle Lancaster)
3. The Other Side on the B&B that Became a Cement Embassy (Michelle Lancaster)