In years past I've waited until my Jan. 19 anniversary date, but this year I decided to shift my sixth annual survey of what's happened and what's going to happen to the same approximate time when everyone else on the planet does theirs, right at New Year's. (Except I waited until people are actually back from the holidays.) So here is my 2012 State of the Hood, with its characteristic torrent of words describing Near Southeast's progress over the past 12 months and also what's on the boards for the next 12 months (hint: Food, Glorious Food!).

If you've been religiously following JDLand content, there probably won't be anything new, but if you're a recent arrival or if you only check in so often, this is a good way to get caught up on developments big and small.

In a similar vein, it's become quite a trend for blogs to list their Top 10 Posts of the Year, so I figured I'd hop on the bandwagon (though technically mine is Top 10 Most Visited Posts and Non-Project Pages of 2011). If you look at this, you may not have even need to plow through all the SOTH verbiage, but I hope you do anyway:

1. Photo Gallery from Nats Park Shake Shack's Media Preview

2. Forest City Announces Harris Teeter, Yards Restaurants

3. First Details on William C. Smith's 880 New Jersey Apartment Building

4. The Do-It-Yourself Ward 6 ANC/SMD Redistricting Map

5. Florida Rock Gets an Equity Partner, Decides to Start with Residential

6. My Father's Memories of Living on Capitol Hill, 1959-1969

7. 2011 State of the Hood

8. Historic Landmark Nomination Application Submitted for Market Deli

9. Marion Barry Says Near Southeast Should Move to Ward 8

10. Foundry Lofts Progress Photos, Nov. 1

After a number of years spent treading water, it's been fun to have some actual news to report during the past 12 months. And it appears there will be no shortage of milestones coming in 2012. Enjoy....

UPDATE: As always, as soon as I post it, I realize there's something I should have included. So if you're wondering about crime in Near Southeast in 2011 compared to other years, here's my 2011 Crime Incidents page, with all the stats broken out for you. There were 40 more crimes reported than in 2010, all of which can be attributed to a jump in Theft reports, which isn't a surprise when more people live in the neighborhood. Other crimes basically stayed the same.