Welcome to the Curbed Cup, an annual award to Detroit's neighborhood of the year. The ultra-prestigious (and entirely fake) trophy is our way of asking readers which 'hood had the very best 2013. We have 8 competitors for this year's cup, with one matchup each day. Voting ends 24 hours after it begins.
In 2013, Corktown ramped up its dramatic improvements along Michigan Avenue. A vacant Chinese food joint was renovated into a take-out version of Bucharest, the old Express Bar became Motor City Wine, Two James Distillery opened up in an old taxi garage, and Ottava Via finally opened for business. Even the CPA Building, which spent almost the entire year crumbling, looks to have finally sold.
Lafayette Park started 2013 with huge news: The Lafayette Towers, two of Detroit's three Mies van der Rohe-designed high-rises, had been purchased by automotive rich person Gregory Jackson. A year later, we're still unsure if that was a positive step or if Jackson is simply painting over some major maintenance issues. Down on the ground, the Mies co-ops saw prices skyrocket as desirability increased. The year ended with residents wondering what might change if the highway that isolates the neighborhood from downtown disappears.
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