In early January 2013, Elevation DC launched. Now, nearly a year later, we've published over 560 stories in 44 weekly issues.

We're going on break for the rest of the year, but we wanted to look back at all that's happened in the city over the past year. 

The Height Act
Over the past year, at the request of Congressman Darrell Issa, the District and the National Capitol Planning Commission studied the impact of raising the height limit, which governs how tall buildings can grow in the District. The NCPC has recommended the centrury-old law remain unchanged, while the District Office of Planning has warned that keeping building heights capped would result in a skyrocketing of already-high real estate prices. The matter now goes to Issa's Congressional committee, and D.C. waits with bated breath.

In April, writer Jordan Fraade interviewed two experts on the issue. That story was one of our top read pieces of the year, and you can see it here.

Affordable housing
D.C. is getting more expensive. The median rent for a two-bedroom is $2,100, and home sales prices seem to have no upper limit.

The good news: D.C.'s inclusionary zoning program, which requires developers to set aside 8 to 10 percent of new units as affordable, is slowly taking off, and some city councilmembers are attempting to improve the program--by improving transparency, for example, and by increasing the number of units that must be set aside when the development uses public land. The city has set aside money to preserve and develop even more affordable dwellings. We'll be looking closely to see how much of an impact these programs have.

One of our top-read stories on housing was about a little-known city program that provides maintenance for homeowners in the District who otherwise can't afford it. The Single-Family Residential Rehabilitation Program keeps properties from becoming blighted and abandoned, allowing District residents to enjoy life in their homes, rather than worrying about a leaky roof.

The Anacostia River
The nation's "forgotten river" is improving, though river advocates would be the first to tell you that more work is needed.

One of our top stories this year covered the 5-cent bag charge, introduced in 2009 and since emulated by nearby jurisdictions. In D.C., the law that requires shoppers to pay 5 cents per plastic bag has funded numerous nonprofits, jumpstarted industry, and reduced the number of bags in the river. In recent river-trash news, Mayor Vincent Gray introduced legislation that would ban foam food containers.

#DCTech
You don't need me to tell you that the DC tech scene is alive and well. Meetups are standing room only. A new coworking space, incubators, pitchfest or makerspace is launching nearly every week.  In each of our weekly issues, Innovation & Jobs editor Allyson Jacob introduces readers to new startups or local success stories. 

If somehow you're not convinced of the viability of our startup scene, read The Rise of the Rest, one of our top-read stories for the year. If you'd like to start your own company but don't know where, look into our coworking guide--another top read. And finally, Allyson Jacob also covered coding classes specifically for women, which are going some of the way to bridging the gender divide in tech.

The arts
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the city's strong (and growing) arts scene, especially in the context of placemaking. D.C. has a number of exciting arts projects going on right now, like the effort to rebrand Southwest as an arts hub and the city's project studying "creative play." 

Retail/economic development
We're seeing a new batch of consumer brands launching in the District, with new spaces for them to sell. The city's Vibrant Streets Toolkit, which writer Beth Marlowe reported on in July, has the potential to help any neighborhood group turn a block from blah to...blawesome. Which is now a word, or should be, anyway.

We also held an event with Smart Growth America and Think Local First that brought 20 local producers, 3 great panelists, and 300 shoppers to the Ideaspace makerspace in southeast D.C.

Which brings me to our #inthecity series. With Smart Growth America, we put on three other events throughout the year. We started by looking at tech companies in the city and how their presence informs neighborhoods, then food and restaurants, then transportation and startups, and finally production.

We also helped Think Local First with their Cash Mob Crawl in Petworth. By doing so, we helped nine local businesses reach new audiences and--hopefully--sell a bunch of stuff. Not familiar with a cash mob? It's like a flash mob, with less synchronized dancing and more supporting local businesses. Look for another cash mob in the first quarter of 2014. 

The new year will bring new challenges for the District and its residents, but also new opportunities. Thanks for your support in 2013 and we're looking forward to continuing to explore what's next for DC in 2014. —Rachel