The Indy By The Numbers: Most Read In 2022

Below you will find listings of our most read articles in 2022 by category.

Since its inception on February 25, 2019, the Indy has published 3616 articles by 294 unique contributors supporting our aspiration of being a project of, by, and for the Amherst community.

The most read article in 2022, and indeed in the Indy’s history, was Jeff Lee’s Don’t Throw Away This Letter! , a story alerting readers that they should be expecting a check from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue with a payment mandated because the state had exceeded its revenue cap.
The article went viral picking up over 11,000 pages views. We haven’t figured out how or why that happened but we are thrilled that so many people took a look at the Indy over several weeks.

Indy readership averaged over 26,000 page views per month in 2022 with a low in 13,986 page views in July and a high in 39,118 page view in November, with a good chunk of that high resulting from Lee’s viral article. The numbers are slightly (and probably insignificantly) down from last year when we recorded a low of 14,216 page views in August and a high of 40,077 page view in October.

TOP FIFTEEN NEWS STORIES IN 2022
1. Don’t Throw Away This Letter! by Jeff Lee
2. Amherst Residents Demand End To Local Mask Mandates by Art Keene
3. AJ Hastings To Close After Over 100 Years In Downtown Amherst by Art Keene
4. Amherst Police Call To Hampshire College Draws Rebuke From Dean Of Students by Art Keene
5. Update On Amherst’s Family Of Bears by Amherst Indy
6. Trustee Denies Library Grant Application Wrongdoing by Jeff Lee
7. Board Of Health Hears Wild Claims From Anti-Vaxxers Amidst Omicron Surge by Maura Keene
8. Amherst Now Has Highest Incidence Of Covid-19 In The State by Maura Keene
9. “Why Is It That When Our Committees Of Color Come Before The Town Council They Are Poorly Treated?”  Council Meeting Ends Prematurely With Frustration And Outrage by Art Keene
10.Council Adopts Diluted Resolution On Synthetic Turf. Fails To Reach Agreement On Anti-racism Commitment by Maura Keene
11, Unpublished Jones Library Space Plan Proposes Alternatives To Costly Expansion by Jeff Lee
12.Public Input Sought For Rail Trail Expansion Project by Maura Keene
13. Grand Opening For Cisco’s Cafe,  A New Breakfast/Lunch Spot In North Amherst by Maura Keene
14. Earl Miller Appointed As Director Of Amherst’s Community Responder Program by Art Keene
15 . Amherst Mourns Death Of High School Junior by Maura Keene

TOP FIFTEEN OPINION PIECES IN 2022
1.Opinion:  Vote Yes On Question 1 In November To Make Amherst and Massachusetts More Livable by Ian Rhodewalt
2. Letter: Is There Really “No Room” For New Businesses In Downtown Amherst?  by Ira Bryck
3. Letter: UMass Must Address Its Contribution To Amherst’s Housing Struggles by Ira Bryck
4. Letter: Retired Teacher Questions The Integrity Of Hiring Processes In Amherst Public Schools by Martha Toro
5. Opinion: Burgeoning Cost Of Jones Library Demolition/Expansion Requires Serious Community Discussions by Art Keene
6. Opinion: Just Because You Say It Does Not Make It So by Maura Keene
7. Public Comment: Personal Testimony On Growing Up Black In Amherst by Alexis Reed
8.Opinion: A Fork in the Road – Whither Amherst? Jennifer Taub
9. Letter: Police Report On July 5 Interaction With BIPOC Youth Omits And Distorts Facts by William Stewart
10.Opinion: Watch – Emily Tells It Straight And Slant About Housing In Amherst. by Ira Bryck, Dina Stander and Kitty Axelson Berry
11. Opinion: Town Councilors Blatantly Misrepresent My Views While Rejecting My Application To Serve On ZBA by John Varner
12. Opinion: Why Is The Town Of Amherst Still Called Amherst? by John Gerber
13. Opinion: Community Safety Working Group Opposes New Young Adult Services Department At Jones Library by Brianna Owen
14. Letters From The Public About The Relative Virtues Of Artificial Turf And Grass by Kitty Axelson-Berry
15. Opinion: Local And Green – Climate Activists Pushing The Boundaries In Massachusetts by Darcy Dumont

TOP FIFTEEN FEATURES IN 2022
1. Almanac: Black Squirrels by Stephen Braun
2. A Better World Is Possible:  The Corsi-Rosenthal Box by Art Keene
3. Amherst History Month-by-Month: Nuttingville by Hetty Startup
4. Photo Of The Week: DPW Excavates A Fatberg by Amherst Indy
5. Photo Essay: Maintaining Continuity With The Past. Groundbreaking For The North Amherst Library Expansion And Renovation by Art Keene
6. A Better World Is Possible: Finland Ends Homelessness And Provides Shelter For All In Need by Kathrin Glosel (for Scoop…me).
7. Issues & Analyses: With Council Library Vote Amherst Forward Scores A Victory by Jeff Lee
8. Issues and Analyses: Councilors Double Down On Library Funding While School (And Taxpayers) Left Out In The Cold by Jeff Lee
9. A Few Questions For Sean Mangano And Kim Mew About Property Taxes And The Possibility Of A Reduction For Owner-occupied Residences by Kitty Axelson-Berry
10. Issues & Analyses: Public Libraries Are Shedding Books And Losing Visitors – So Why Do We Make Them Bigger? by Jeff Lee
11. Film Review:  Students To The Rescue (Of A College) by Alan Goodman
12. The Food Desert That Is Amherst by Kitty Axelson-Berry
13. Almanac: Falling Water by Stephen Braun
14 Amherst History Month-by-Month: Mrs. Musante by Hetty Startup
15. A Better World Is Possible: The Circular Economy by Art Keene