In the last year, the D.C. region has experienced enough news events for half a century. From unprecedented levels of shared loss, to national activism against racial injustice in our backyard, to barriers and fences shrinking our neighborhoods indefinitely, and a presidential inauguration unlike any in D.C.’s recent memory. At the forefront of it all has been the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to tens of thousands of deaths across the region, hundreds of business closures, and countless lost jobs.
The stories below account for the many ways that the region has transformed in the last year, touching on the personal experiences of locals, trends in business closures and spending habits, and more.