Curbed Cup Finals: (7) East English Village vs. (8) New Center

The Curbed Cup is our annual award for the neighborhood of the year. We’re starting with 16 neighborhoods (with some close ones combined), and we’ll vote over the next few weeks until we’re down to one. Voting is open until 10 a.m. January 2. Let the eliminations commence!

Now we are down to two.

This week’s Final Four voting in the Curbed Cup saw a fairly easy win for New Center, plus a heated battle between two past winners. Who should win the coveted (sometimes fake, sometimes real) trophy this year?

New Center easily defeated Downtown to make it to the Finals. Should the center of the city win the Curbed Cup?

They’ll have to beat last year’s winner, who is once again all in. East English Village had quite the competitor in Grandmont Rosedale, who rallied past the University District and Boston-Edison to get to the Final Four. But after all was said and done, EEV once again made it to the Finals, narrowly defeating the 2012 champion.

Who should take the cup this year? Voting is open until 10 a.m. January 2.

East English Village

Photo by Michelle & Chris Gerard

Last year, East English Village came out of nowhere to rally and win the Curbed Cup. They even made their own trophy! It’s a tight-knit east side neighborhood with a strong neighborhood association. Here’s a testimonial from a resident:

“My husband and I have lived in this great EEV community for 25 years. Besides touting the strong turnout at our monthly meetings (100+), newsletter hand-delivered monthly to each home and business, our own EEV app & website, 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"!”

New Center

Photo by Michelle & Chris Gerard

Anchored by the Fisher Building, which has added much-needed retail to the neighborhood this year, development in New Center continues to take off. The Pistons training facility broke ground recently, Third & Grand is rising, and more residential is in the pipeline for the neighborhood at the end of the QLine. In the coming years, we’ll see more storefronts renovated along Woodward, plus residential at Baltimore Station. Single-family homes and condos are selling quickly in the neighborhood, and we’re starting to see more real estate selling in La Salle Gardens to the west and in the North End to the east. Will it spread further north down Woodward next?