Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Today marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. I must admit that when I started Track Twenty-Nine, I was very much a fish out of water. Having freshly gotten off of the Amtrak Crescent from Atlanta, I was new to Washington and was entering a new phase of my life.

And it has been quite a year for this little blog. 130 posts and over 8000 page loads later, and Track Twenty-Nine is still chugging along with a full head of steam.

I had no idea where I was going to take Track Twenty-Nine when I started typing last August. I'm not sure I know where I'm going to take it now, but I do have some rough ideas. You can look forward to a continuation of several of the series I've started and there are some more transit maps in the works. Trust me, those are the most popular things on the site, by far. Indeed, my Streetcar plan, has drawn more visitors than ever to the site! Yesterday, there were 705 page loads, more than double the second highest date since I started keeping track on October 1.

I am impressed with the support and compliments I have gotten from my readers. I check the URLs referring to Track Twenty-Nine a couple of times a week and I'm happy to see a growing number of blogs linking here. I'm also quite happy to note that I'm sometimes referred to in other bloggers' posts.

I have intended all along to inspire a discussion. And it is wonderful to note that I'm finally succeeding. I value the input of others and input is precisely what I've been getting with my Streetcar plan. I hope the comments continue there as well as in my future posts.

But, I pontificate enough as a blogger. Now it's your turn. Where would you like to see this blog go over the next year?

3 comments:

FourthandEye said...

After you've fully articulated your ideal vision, I'd like to read your views for prioritization with the rationales behind them. It will probably take 20-25 years to get a separated blue line nevermind any new below grade metro lines. I also don't think more than 3 street cars lines could possibly be in place by 2015. Even those streetcar lines we can implement in the medium term may not be initially created with the full length in the vision maps. At some point we've got to be realistic about funding and bureacracy. Maybe it's not nearly as fun but it's a part of making change happen.

Unknown said...

Matt-

I just found this blog a week or two ago and have been absolutely in love with ever since.

You provide an excellent analysis and great ideas. As someone who just graduated with a major in geography and would love to go into Urban Planning or Transportation Planning - I really enjoy your insight.

You ask where you should go from here - I think keep it up, doing exactly what you are doing. The only way for effective change is to have people out there encouraging it.

Great job!

Peter Leung said...

Matt,

I had class with you in Jim's course last Spring. I found your blog when I research for my thesis about Metro architecture. I am really inspired by your insights.