Curbed Cup Finals: (5) The Villages vs. (15) East English Village

Ed. Note - We noticed some voting irregularities in the finals poll. Those irregularities have since been corrected and will continue to be corrected as they occur.

Note: We are doing a revote. Results were skewed and we want to ensure accuracy. Updated post can be found here.

After weeks of voting and some odd match-ups between various Detroit neighborhoods, we’re now ready to decide which is the best neighborhood in Detroit. Here’s the Final Four recap.

It was extremely close between the Villages and Boston Edison. What makes a great neighborhood? Boston Edison has some of the most incredible, iconic houses in Detroit, while the Villages have a variety of housing types plus restaurants and retail. The Villages barely made it through to the finals, winning by 10 votes.

But the Cinderella story of the whole Curbed Cup is East English Village. They’ve had strong community support and we keep getting more and more testimonials from the residents. They’ve won against the mighty Corktown, Sherwood Forest, and the University District to make it to the finals. The last vote was the closest - with over 1,700 votes counted, EEV beat UD by 34 votes. Can they take the whole thing?

Here’s the final bracket, followed by descriptions and testimonials for the neighborhoods. Voting will remain open through end of day January 2. Tell your neighbors, tell your family, and vote! We’ll announce the winner January 3.

(5) The Villages

We’re grouping West Village and Indian Village together since they’re a big happy family (the Villages also often include Islandview, Joseph Berry Sub, East Village, and the Gold Coast). This year saw a few big sales in Indian Village, a new Biergarten in West Village, a bank building that’s reactivated, a book about a big renovation in West Village, the closing of Parker Street Market, the reopening of West Village Manor, and the hope of more businesses and restaurants coming in soon. There are a few renovations along Kercheval, closer to Grand Boulevard, that are in progress along with the Garland Building, which will add more businesses to the neighborhood. The Coe will have new living options right in the heart of West Village next year.

From a Villager:

1.) Walkable urbanity...one of the few walkable neighborhoods in Detroit. Affordable residential + awesome commercial

2.) Indian Village was home to the titans of industry and has been preserved for over a century

3.) Indian Village Tennis Club - one of the oldest clay court tennis clubs in America

4.) Best pie shop and vegan reataurant in America: Sister Pie and Vegan Soul

5.) Belle Isle is the nation's largest state owned island park and it's tremendous

6.) Two Hatch Detroit contest winners within a six iron of each other

7.) Outdoor Biergarten in the summer/fall - only one in detroit

8.) Waldorf school is the top private primary education in Detroit

9.) Fisheye Farms offers true farm to table experience, and you can get your shirt pressed at Kimbrough's next door

10.) Red Hook Coffee

(15) East English Village

Whenever we talk about affordable single-family homes in Detroit, East English Village always comes up as a good option. We had quite a few write-in votes for EEV this year. This eastside neighborhood is full of charming single family homes and duplexes, and we’ve seen many renovated and move-in ready this year. It has a strong neighborhood association, and it’s close to a lot of retail and services (it would be nice to have more of that throughout Detroit, FYI). It might not be as trendy as other neighborhoods, but it doesn’t need to be. Many love to call East English Village home.

“I have lived in East English Village for 17 years and absolutely love it. It is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city. Neighbors look out for each other on a daily basis. And our homes are absolutely gorgeous. You will NOT find the level of craftsmanship in the suburbs, or even in other Detroit neighborhoods.”

“We have an ultra strong association. Over 100 residents show up monthly to the association meeting. The 5th precinct officers come to all of our meetings and give us extra good service.

*The incredibly complete Harper Ave business district, arguably the best, most compact retail strip in the entire city. On our 6-short block strip are a full service Spartan grocer (Del Pointe Foods), one of Metro Detroit’s best seafood shops (Lobster Pot, which supplies the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club), a couple of fun bars (First Place Lounge, Firewater), a wide variety of fast food (McDonalds, Wendy’s, Popeye’s, White Castle, and Checkers), a great breakfast diner (the original Louie’s Ham and Corned Beef), an excellent auto body shop (Jim’s Collision), an inexpensive, honest brake shop (Harper Tire), a Rite Aid, and gas stations.

*The varied housing stock. We have beautiful, compact colonials, cape cods, and tudors from the 1920s to the 1950s.

*The incredible diversity, friendliness, and openness of residents. EEV has been consistently and completely integrated since the 1970s.

*Proximity to Grosse Pointe businesses and the river

*EEV is served by not only 5 DDOT lines, you can get a SMART express bus to downtown, a 23 minute trip!”

“Besides touting the strong turnout at our monthly meetings (100+), newsletter hand-delivered monthly to each home and business, strong partnership with the officers at the 5th Precinct, annual events such as our Garage Sale, Home & Garden Tour, Angels Night(s) Ride-Along & Pot Luck Dinner, Landscaping, Halloween & Christmas Decorating Contests and Annual Holiday Party, Garden Club, Lost Pets, Volunteer Security Patrol, Private Security & Snow Removal Services – "There’s more to a great neighborhood than shops and restaurants . . . although, admittedly, that would be a bonus to our EEV community. But here in EEV, we are a beautiful neighborhood that always comes together ~ puts quality of life at the top of the priorities ~ AND where everyone knows your name! We’re definitely the "CHEERS" of all Detroit communities! One thing for certain, EEV residents do love our little corner of the "D"!”

Note: We are doing a revote. Results were skewed and we want to ensure accuracy. Updated post can be found here.