What a difference a year makes.
That’s my takeaway as I peer back to our most popular stories from the past year.
In 2021, our top-10, most-read online stories nearly all had one thing in common: new business openings.
For 2022, there was some of that, but the top-10 featured a hodgepodge of topics. It even included an old story about a celebrity dog.
So, I present my annual rundown of TheBurg’s most popular stories for 2022, as voted by you, our readers, via your page views. As is typically the case, these tended to be online-only stories, since we still lack a way of tracking your reading habits as you sit at home, curled up on the sofa, with our print magazine—and I consider that a good thing.
No. 10. Bougie Bites. Recently, a friend asked me, “So, how’s that new Trader Joe’s doing?” He remarked that he had heard nothing about the popular national grocery chain since it opened its doors on the west shore in late March. He found this interesting given the yearlong hype surrounding the store after it announced its first central PA location. In any case, our readers flocked to our single Trader Joe’s story of 2022, making it the 10th most-read story of 2022. Despite its popularity, the story, about the store’s opening, still lagged our lone Trader Joe’s story of 2021, when the project was first announced, which clocked in at No. 6 last year.
No. 9. State of Confusion. As the weather warmed up, construction crews resumed work on several long-planned road projects in Harrisburg. The 2nd Street redesign moved towards completion, but that wasn’t the case with another major project—State Street in Allison Hill. Once construction started, some residents objected that the redesigned road would force them to move their parked cars every day. Over several months, we ran numerous stories about their concerns, about the bicycling community’s response and about the city’s stance. One of these stories snuck into our top-10, landing at No. 9, as the city stopped and began to rethink the project.
No. 8. Getting Thrifty. 2022 seemed to be a year of thrift stores, as we ran several stories about new shops selling old goods. One of these landed among our most-read stories–a business feature on Boho Hoarder, on Jonestown Road outside of the city. In the story, owner Rebecca Babish explained how her new store was the culmination of a lifetime spent hunting for high-quality secondhand and vintage goods. Check it out if you’re searching for a silky robe, a woven basket or a picture of Elvis—or any of Babish’s many other eclectic finds.
No. 7. A Dog’s Life. Most news items are fleeting things—they come, they go. Even very popular stories tend to peak quickly then fade fast. But that’s not the case with one particular Burg story, featuring an adorable, golden-coated mutt named Levi Fetterman. Back in July 2021, writer Karen Hendricks penned a charming magazine piece about the “Official Dog of Pennsylvania” and his very popular Twitter account. We expected the story to lie right there, like a good boy. Instead, it had legs—maybe even more than four. Periodically, for over a year, the story would begin trending again, slowly racking up more and more page views. Then—boom—it took off like a terrier chasing a squirrel after Levi’s dad, a big dude named John, became a household name as he ran for U.S. Senate. This may be TheBurg story with the longest lifespan, and it now sits, patiently awaiting a treat, at No. 15 on our list of most-read stories of all time.
No. 6. Fun on a Bun. Our next story also involved dogs—but, this time, the food variety. In April, our reporter Maddie had one of her tough city assignments, to try out a new eatery called the Original Hot Dog Factory on Market Street. So, she ventured downtown to sample the many original, quirky takes on this most American of foodstuffs. The new restaurant opened in the long-time home of the Flamingo Grill, which closed a couple of years ago, an early victim of the pandemic. It was encouraging to see this new business replace the old, especially as many downtown businesses remain troubled by a lack of foot traffic wrought by stay-at-home office workers.
No. 5. House on a Hill. In past years, development stories have usually been good for a few places on our annual top-10 list. This year, just one made the cut—the restoration of the Donaldson Mansion on the 2000-block of N. 3rd Street. By Harrisburg standards, it wasn’t a large project, just six apartment units tucked inside a Victorian masterpiece. However, developer Justin Heinly brought this 135-year-old property back from the dead, restoring much of its original detail. It was actually the second grand house that Heinly and his team at Midtown Property Management have renovated along the once very desirable row known as “Cottage Ridge.”
No. 4. Park Plans. About seven years ago, Harrisburg developed a master plan for Reservoir Park, imagining a spray park, handball courts and many other amenities, including extensive renovations and upgrades to existing features. In April, the first major part of that plan broke ground, a new “Chutes and Ladders” playground, which became one of our top stories of the year. The project was just one piece of positive park news throughout the year. Other developments included the completion of the long-awaited 4th and Dauphin park project and million of dollars in grants to update and enhance numerous other city parks, playgrounds and fields.
No. 3. Reel It In. In November, our city reporter was back on the downtown food beat, this time checking out a new spot with the cheeky name of Hooker’s Seafood Joint. Owners Robert Bryant and Kendale Harris of York brought their culinary skills to Walnut Street in Harrisburg to fry up some fish, preferably served alongside their specialty cheesy grits. Their philosophy: life should be made up of equal parts good food and good fun. Going into the new year, I’ll sign up for that.
No. 2. Pizza Problem. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all happy times on the Harrisburg food front in 2022. The city lost a number of eateries, as some veteran restaurateurs retired and others threw in the towel after a rough couple of years. Arguably, the greatest foodie news came from a very unlikely place—a corner pizza shop. In August, a Philadelphia-based union stated that a majority of Knead Pizza’s dozen or so workers had voted to unionize. The business abruptly closed its two locations: a slice shop on 3rd Street and a wood-fired pie mecca inside the Broad Street Market. To no one’s surprise (certainly not yours truly), the news lit up social media, with locals (and many non-locals) battling it out via several Facebook pages. My take was that, in the end, there were no winners in this sad saga, as the workers lost their jobs, the city lost a growing business, and customers lost some of the best pizza in central PA.
1. Buy an Isle. Sometimes, popular stories come from unexpected places, such as the middle of the Susquehanna River. Such was the case with our most-read online story of the year, as, in August, we broke the news that two islands, Independence Island and Bailey’s Island, had hit the sales market. The story originated when our reporter (that would be me) noticed a weird property listing floating in the middle of the river on a real estate map. To my surprise, the islands pictured actually were for sale. I then tracked down one of the owners, who told me a great story about how his family had owned the properties seemingly forever. With their clicks, our readers seemed to agree that this was a wonderful, quirky slice of Harrisburg history. This article now holds the honor of not only the most-read story of 2022, but our most-read online story of all time, clocking in at over 38,000 page views as of this writing.
For a different take on 2022, I will have my annual list of top local news stories in the January magazine, which drops on Dec. 29. Does my list differ from that of our readers, who voted with their clicks? Return on Thursday to find out!
Lawrance Binda is publisher/editor of TheBurg.
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