by Greg Roberts
I started this blog over four years ago as a means to show the rest of the world why I chose to move to a neighborhood off of Rhode Island Avenue. I saw the potential of a DC street that sees over 30,000 car trips daily in and out of the District, wide sidewalks along Main Street type of corridors, and wonderful people. Over the last year, the Insider grew to include more contributors who wanted to share their experiences and insight in this area. In addition, the readers of this blog used it as a means to connect and form a community group called Friends of RIA (FoRIA) to take our neighborhood to another level. None of us get paid for what we do…heck, we barely have time given our full time lives. So why do we do it?
The answer to that is in the email below that I received to a new RIA resident and neighbor:
Greg,
Hi- I have to thank you so much for your awesome blog. My friends (future roommates) and I have been in DC for a few years. I lived on H Street for two years and currently live on the Hill, the other two attended Catholic in undergrad and now live in NoVA (No! terrible! haha) but none of us ever considered Rhode Island Ave. We stumbled across the Rhode Island Row apartments, really loved the proximity to the metro and also the individual units, but we were concerned about the neighborhood. Honestly, after reading your blog we were completely sold on the area. It’s obvious that so many people care and are trying to make it better all the time. I really just wanted to compliment you on the high quality of the blog, it’s clearly a labor of love on the part of all your talented contributors and that’s unique. There are other good neighborhood blogs (PoP obviously) but more often than not they’re all posts clamoring for a LuLuLemon or something equally obnoxious. I like that you’re as focused on what the neighbors can do to improve their neighborhood as you are “when are we getting a Starbucks?” Anyway, keep up the good work- we’re really enjoying all the info!
We’ll be moving in during May.
Thanks to all of our readers, those who comment, and those that volunteer your time… the message is for all of you. We all make a difference.
rhodeislandavene.com 
Greg, This blog is certainly a valuable resource and asset to our neighborhood and community. My wife and I moved into the Langdon Park/Woodridge area in 2007 and have been concerned about the consistently vacated buildings and the lack of attention to the area. Your blog–in addition to efforts such as FoRIA–has renewed my hope and optimism that we can strengthen and empower our community in a way in which every resident of Ward 5 and of the area benefits. Many thanks to you and all of the contributors/commenters on this blog.
I just want to second the sentiment. I discovered this blog soon after getting to RI Ave and have learned a great deal. Good work!
Wow, I could have written the same email. Lived in Chinatown, then Brookland and will be moving to RIR in May. Found this blog while apartment hunting and it helped seal the deal. Many thanks to all your hard work and please keep it up!