Silverman, 34, recently quit his day job to blog full time as the Prince of Petworth, the Northwest Washington neighborhood where he’s lived for six-plus years.
What is the technical definition of Petworth?
That’s a loaded question. It’s basically from the crossroad of Georgia Avenue and New Hampshire bordered by Georgia to the west, and bordered by North Capitol [Street] to the east and Kennedy [Street] to the north.
What do you do for a living?
As of yesterday, I was full time. But what I did before that was a homeland security analyst.
What do you love about it?
When I moved to Petworth there was so much development on the horizon. The neighbors were so nice. It was a new community experience that I had not really been a part of the previous six years. It was almost like moving to a new city.
What kind of Web traffic does Prince of Petworth get?
It’s about 6,000 to 7,000 hits a day. I would say it’s popular because it has one voice, it’s just one person. And I’m completely obsessed and dedicated to it. Whenever I get a tip I follow up.
How can you afford to blog full time?
I have a very dedicated following of readers that is crying for advertisers. They’re in the 20-40 age range and these are the people that are buying houses, buying condos, going to restaurants, using the services my advertisers provide. Believe me; I’m taking a serious pay cut. … But the potential is there.
But how long can you afford to do this?
My plan is to reassess in November 2010 time frame.
Any plans to expand the blog?
I plan to give as much attention to almost every neighborhood in the city. I’ve already started focusing on neighborhoods beyond Petworth. When I first started focusing on Columbia Heights there was a bit of an outrage. Now I’m more associated with Columbia Heights than Petworth.
