I took over Flying Kite just after Thanksgiving last year, so this was my first full year at the helm -- and it was a great one. 

As we look forward to 2014, it's also a perfect time to look back. Below are our top ten features of the year. It’s a diverse bunch. That said, there are a couple of notable trends: stories about the physical space, be it corner stores, vacant homes or new developments, got a lot of attention. And, no big surprise, stories about specific neighborhoods that captured the character of residents and community leaders were popular. 

1. In one of those glorious situations where a story refuses to die, our feature from 2011 on the cost of living in Philadelphia was Flying Kite's most-read feature of the year. Look for a follow-up in early 2014.

Sometimes Philadelphia feels like a closely kept secret -- urban character, excellent food, cultural capital and low, low rents. Time to spill the beans. Tell your friends. Buy them a cheap local brew at happy hour. Give them a tour of your surprisingly-spacious pad, perfect for potlucks and bike storage. Take them to a BYOB. Get them a great coffee and a Wednesday-night ticket to the Ritz.

2. Our top story published in 2013 was a feature from Drew Lazor on the city’s BYOB ecosystem — it’s one of those things that makes this city so affordable (see above), both for restaurateurs and diners.

But these entrepreneurs were also lured to the alternative model by the culinary clarity it provides. At BYOs, "people strictly come for your food," says Ferrie, who co-chefs Chlöe with Grimes. "People in Philadelphia definitely like to drink, and they can easily become distracted by what's behind the bar."

3. A feature we ran on an ambitious development in Kensington said a lot about the Philadelphia real estate landscape in 2013 — adaptive reuse, live/work spaces and changing neighborhoods.

From Mahoney's perspective, it's foolish not to invest in the area. They see Kensington as the inevitable next hip neighborhood, complete with affordable rents, interesting architecture, potential artist live/work spaces and proximity to the vibrant nightlife in Fishtown. They can build and renovate affordably, and then wait for the next wave of urban pioneers to follow.

4. One of the most complicated topics we tackled this year was the changing landscape of Market East.

"The key areas that are connectors in greater Center City for us are Market East and North Broad, and I think there's a tremendous amount of momentum," says Anne Bovaird Nevins, senior vice president of marketing and business development for the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, which negotiates major commercial real estate transactions for the city. "It's only a matter of time."

5. Why are there so few corner stores in Graduate Hospital? That question launched one of my favorite features of the year — and one of the most read.

But retail has yet to penetrate the neighborhood's core. A part of town once rich with corner stores and mixed-use buildings has become a homogenous bedroom community. If retail truly does follow rooftops, why haven't corner stores and other commercial uses returned to Graduate Hospital? And can efforts along 22nd Street provide this bustling community with the commercial corridor it deserves?

6-8. Flying Kite ran a couple of great pieces on University City this year, focusing on Drexel’s ambitious plans, West Market Street’s development boom and an incredibly innovative rehab program for blighted properties.

In the past three years, [Project Rehab] has helped turn a dilapidated West Philly mansion -- with a tree growing up the middle and a bathtub hanging out the back -– into an apartment complex, and a hoarder's dwelling into marketable property. [They're] currently working with banks to restructure a $1.4 million mortgage loan for the release of twin buildings at 40th and Chestnut; the third and fourth floors have completely collapsed.

9. As I mentioned above, neighborhoods are king — this feature about the New Kensington Community Development Corporation got plenty of clicks.

If you want to understand the cultural renaissance happening in Fishtown—a neighborhood Salzman says was redlined by banks as recently as the late '90s—you can't find a better guide than the executive director of the NKCDC. This fourth generation Fishtowner remembers the neighborhood before it was cool.

10. Closing out our top ten was a story on the remarkable Hidden City Festival. Let’s hope those amazing spaces continue to find new life.

I grew up in Philadelphia, and these are all sites I had never visited growing up. Even as an adult, I had never been to these locations because they are off the map -- either closed to the public or generally not accessible to the larger community.

I think we often tell the story of colonial history in Philadelphia, but the story of industrial history is really not well-told. There is so much manufacturing space from the past -- and the present, frankly -- and its been really interesting to learn more about these spaces, figure out ways to get people into them, to report on them and see how they transform over time.

See you in 2014!