The composer Gustav Mahler once said that to write a symphony is "to construct a world." I propose a corollary; that to build a world is to create a symphony. Every year I reflect on the changes to our very local world, the small neighborhood we live in. The pleasures we take in its notes and melodies, the unexpected passages, the familiar refrains and the choruses we can all join.

This was the year that WiFi was offered in Dupont Circle, and later in Farragut Square. A canopy was built over the 19th Street Metro. The Phillips is preparing to unveil its major expansion.

On 17th Street, Tapeheadz closed, Peña's meatmarket closed, and rat-magnet Chef's Express closed. Empire Video was replaced with a new Video Rack. Below, a Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts is expected. Mercury Grill was rechristened Floriana. Pepper's new owners gave it a complete makeover. Elite re-opened as Pashta Bistro. Komi shut its doors for a short time and emerged with an updated interior. Cobalt's 30° lounge went smoke-free. The big news was the opening of Hank's Oyster Bar, in the old Trios pizza dive. Hank's perfected the ambiance of a neighborhood bistro, and with enough raves about the food to bring in outsiders. Stead Park was home to a series of campy outdoor films, sponsored by the folks trying to organize a gay community center. The city hired a firm to study improvements to Dupont's parks, and some great proposals were submitted. But for now, only the southern tip of Stead Park will be renovated, and it will be a modest update.

On 18th Street, north of S Street, Doggie Style opened a pet spa. Simply Home moved to U Street; it will be replaced with Loule Salon.

On Connecticut Avenue, Daddy & Son Camiceria Italiana, a shirt shop, replaced importer Hong Kong. Commerce Bank opened in the forever-vacant space by S Street. Toast and Strawberries closed. Riggs became PNC. Quiznos closed, to be replaced with a Johnny Rockets. Fab Lounge will open soon above the Royal Palace.

On P Street, the Radisson was gutted by new owner Kimpton, which will soon reopen it under its stylish Palomar brand. Cocoá was replaced with Mark & Orlando's. Burger King was shuttered and will be replaced with a liquor store.

South of the circle, Cloud replaced Savino's. Kosher deli Eli's replaced the Kozy Korner, at 20th & N. Next door, Giorgio's Pizza closed. The MPD's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit opened an office across from the circle, next to the Sun Trust Bank building.

Nearby, two grocery stores should open this year. First, Trader Joe's will finally open a DC store at 24th & L. Later, Harris Teeter is expected to come to 17th & Kalorama. In Penn Quarter, Balducci's is coming soon to 7th & D.

The network of bike lanes expanded, with progress made on Q Street, R Street, and 14th Street.

The call for DC's manifest destiny was "go east, young man," with Dupont's neighboring areas to the east offering the most opportunities, and some of the most exciting developments.

Along 14th Street, same sad news first, with one of the pioneering furniture stores, Maison 14, closing. It was replaced with a StatScript that moved from 17th & R. I was crushed to hear that Fusebox would be closing, due its owners moving to California. Fusebox truly ignited 14th Street and paved the way for newer art galleries like the cluster at 1515 14th Street, Transformer, and the newest entry, Plan B. Hamburger Mary's was given a makeover and emerged as Dakota Cowgirl. On the 1400 block of P Street, Merkado opened and brought life to the streetscape. Next door, Empire Video closed down, with Halo later expanding to take up the ground-level space. Continental's owner re- opened as P Street Bistro Cafe. Jamba Juice left Whole Foods Market. One block north, adorable little Church street got its first retail tenants, with Nimbus salon and eco- retailer Future Green. Dragonfly Design Decor will soon open as well, as will a psychiatrist's office. National retailer Storehouse joined the cluster of furniture shops. Restaurant Viridian upped the glamour quotient. North of S Street, CityPaws pet hospital will soon open. Cafe Saint-Ex's owner opened cozy and artistic Bar Pilar. "New 2 U" thrift shop opened. Paradise Liquor closed. At V Street, Busboys & Poets became an instant hit, offering a cafe as well as a bookstore and a performance space.

Along U Street, pool hall Cue Bar opened west of 11th Street. On the 1300 block, several restaurants opened to acclaim: Tabaq, Creme and Al Crostino. Club U, which was inexplicably operating in the Reeves Building, lost its liquor license and shut down. Simply Home took over Julia's Empanadas space and reopened as a stylish cafe and retail store. Destination U opened its retail space in the Ellington. On the 1500 block, Millennium moved downstairs and re-opened as Swivel. Nana moved to the upstairs space. Sisterspace bookstore closed. "G Books" became the city's second gay bookstore. Local 16's farm supplier started a weekend produce market on New Hampshire Avenue.

In Adams Morgan, new life is finally coming to the old Kilimanjaro building, with the imminent opening of Mint Health Club and Spa. Well-regarded national retailer Design Within Reach opened a shop in a sumptuously-renovated building on Columbia Road. Local entrepreneurs stayed active too, opening cool shops like The District Line, for Modern English clothing, Lucky Dog Laundromutt and Lounge, DaDa and Tora Mata. Local institution The Comet, a deli/liquor store, closed its doors. Chloe began hosting a Thursday night gay event called Hush. Duplex Diner went smoke-free.

Georgetown continues to debate whether to tear down the Whitehurst Freeway, and made little progress in building its waterfront park. The city began testing "smart" parking meters along M St. Cady's Alley came to life with the addition of Leopold’s Kafe Konditorei, selling some of the city's most tempting pastries. And tiny little crêperie Snap opened.

The big news downtown was the opening of Lucky Strike bowling alley on 7th Street. The hippest new retailer was L.A.-based t-shirt shop American Apparel. Woolly Mammoth opened their new downtown theatre. The Downtown BID, inspired by Europe's Weihnachtsmarkts, opened its own holiday market for Christmas shoppers on the site of the demolished convention center.

The city council passed a smoking ban, set to take effect next year.

Those are the major changes in our neighborhood and beyond. Clearly, this is an unfinished symphony.

250 years after Wolfgang Amadeus's birth, wouldn't it be nice if walking down the street could be like stepping into one of Mozart's operas?

Does the architecture tickle and delight? Do the shops sing the praises of love?

We want a streetscape that makes us break into song. That's why we celebrate the quaint and quirky, and why cookie-cutter chains threaten to make our neighborhood unexciting. W.H. Auden said "No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible." Hank's Oyster Bar reflects this spirit. The design, the ambiance, the food all tell a specific story, one that's unique to 17th Street, and not one dictated by a distant corporate headquarters.

Hank's shows that real progress is made one entrepreneur at a time. Dollar-for-dollar, mega- projects like the baseball stadium don't have the same impact as that perfect corner coffee shop, or bookstore, or bowling alley, or pool hall. There is of course, a place for neighborhood anchors and catalysts. The Music Center at Strathmore opened this year at a cost of $100 million for 1,976 seats, just over $50,000 per seat. I would suggest that any public revitalization effort be both truly public, and scalable. A truly public resource is available to everyone. A park is available to everyone, as are the streets and the sidewalks. But grants to specific businesses reward only the specific business. Earlier this year a $134,000 grant from the city was given to the new store Destination U. To argue that's a public benefit is a strained position. Nor is the solution scalable - if the policy is to help retail by handing out cash, then why not give a grant to every business? Obviously that doesn't work, and in fact every other business is paying more in taxes than receiving in benefits. And part of being public means sharing information. Transparency equals trust. Agencies should not have to be prodded by DC-Watch or a Freedom-of-Information Act request to share information; it should be part of how they do business. City agencies must expand what gets posted on the Internet.

Our greatest public resource, in terms of real estate, is our streets. Transportation holds the keys to revitalization. To once again paraphrase Winston Churchill, first we shape our streets, and afterwards our streets shape us. When the "car is king" mantra became unquestionable in the 60's, streets were widened at the expense of sidewalks. At intersections, the new standard was to have sweeping curves so cars could makes turns without slowing down. The goal was to create highways in our neighborhoods. We were no longer a destination, but a route. We must take every opportunity to reverse this mindset. When we reconstruct a street, let's design it for pedestrians. When we redesign an intersection, let's design for safety over speed. A golden opportunity was missed when the city rebuilt 17th & R, which came out looking like a vast superhighway exchange. Let's be vigilant and work more closely with the Department of Transportation to shape our streets.

Last April, a pedestrian was fatally struck by a truck in the crosswalk at 16th & U. Education and enforcement and not enough to tame the traffic at this and other dangerous intersections. We must rebuild the streets to making walking safer for everyone.

The advocacy group Project for Public Spaces suggested having four lanes of traffic around Dupont Circle separated the park from the corridors around it. They said that, given the Connecticut Avenue underpass, two lanes would suffice. I agree. Though Park Service rules prevent commercial activity within the park itself, we have a ripe opportunity with the old trolley station. Regardless of the fate of the vast underground space, those nine covered-up entrances would serve as useful footprints for kiosks, selling coffee, gelato, flowers, crêpes and more.

That giant gash where the underpass passes Kramerbooks could be turned into a park just by building a deck over it.

Metro is inching towards more expansions, with tangible steps towards extending rail to Dulles, and has begun consideration of extending the Green Line to Fort Meade, and later BWI Airport. Metro is now considering ways to improve frequency of service to Mid-City stations on the Green Line. We can expect to see streetcars return to DC, at least as an experiment. But we should not abandon hope of expanding the Metrorail's tunnels under DC. With the expected resurgence of the city, an underground route is the best option for connecting disparate town centers. That should include Adams Morgan and Georgetown. 30 years after the first Metro station opened, we should continue to plan for improved service.

Transportation determines which cities fail and which grow. In years past the key ingredient was a seaport, or a canal, or a railway, or a highway, or an airport. Now the key may be keeping residents connected to jobs, friends and recreation with a variety of options. A strong public transportation network should be one of those choices.

We want our neighborhood to be accessible, vibrant and attractive. We want walking down the street to be like flipping through a jukebox with both old classics and new hits.

We want newcomers to our neighborhood to sing its praises.

We must continue to work to make improvements, to make Dupont Circle the best it can be. A masterpiece.

Best wishes for the coming year. Party on, and be excellent to each other.