Week 3

I listened to All Things Considered today on NPR. I especially liked a report on the housing market in Manassas, Virginia. There was a great presentation of hard facts that really told much of the story. Robert Siegel first started off his story with the city's chief assessor telling how many foreclosures there have been in recent years. In 2005, there were just two foreclosures. In 2007, there were 313. Last year, there were 922. Just astonishing increases and to have the assessor stating this matter-of-factly was a little surprising. Another impressive change is that some town homes that would have sold for $200,000 or more a few years ago are now selling for around $43,000.

Siegel also followed a real estate broker around Manassas. This was a great element to the story as he got out into the neighborhood where the story is taking place. He had plenty of nats sound running throughout this piece that made you feel as if you were entering the homes with the broker. She was the one who was telling Siegel about how town homes are selling for so much less today. As she was talking about those differences in price, she was pointing out the town homes that were foreclosed, which really heightens the reality of the story. She pointed out some that were side by side, showing just how big the problem is in Manassas.

During my reporting this week, I went to a meeting for a proposed bike boulevard in Columbia. I thought this would be a good story because it would mean changes in the Stephens-Benton neighborhood in Columbia. The neighborhood would see a lot more bike traffic as Windsor and Ash streets would be primary routes for bikes through the city. Some residents also want to see less through traffic on those streets and push through traffic to Walnut Street. There would also be a pretty substantial change on College Avenue as the left turn lane would be marked off for bikers only to make the cross from Windsor to Ash streets on the bike boulevard. Left turns would no longer be allowed onto those two streets. There were some people who were skeptical about the plans and some who were ready to go ahead and get started. It made for a good story of residents in the same neighborhood with different views on a change to their roadways. It looks like there is still is going to be a lot of discussion on this bike boulevard before anything final is proposed to city council. I think I did a good job with nats sound to bring the viewer into the scene and the neighborhood. I think there were still some spots where I could have added more and I will keep trying to improve with that.