State Avenues

My paper finally ran an evergreen feature story I’ve had in the can for a little while about Utah Avenue in Washington. It’s a good, off-the-beaten path story for regional reporters who have a little extra time and are tired of policy and politics and want to chat with Real People.
You can read the story here: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9306801
(I’m not the first to do this: The AP wrote about New Jersey Ave before, and Suzanne tells me someone has done Texas and Florida Aves.)

Here’s a quick guide to the story if you want to duplicate for your state:

-- Visit the City Museum of DC, 800 Mount Vernon Pl NW, (by NPR). They have a lot of tools for researching your avenue, including old maps, books, historic building permits, etc.

-- Check out “George Washington Never Slept Here,” by Amy Alotta, which talks about every street in the city. The City Museum has a copy and so does the MLK Library.

-- Spent some time talking to neighbors. I used a neighborhood listserv to find a few people to start with and then wandered the avenue to talk to residents. Some people thought I was a tad crazy -- or that I was trying to convert them to Mormonism -- but most thought a story on their street was a neat idea.

(TB)