The Curbed Boston Cup, our (first) annual award to the Hub neighborhood of the year, is kicking off with 16 'hoods vying for the prestigious fake trophy. This week we'll have two match-ups per day, and all the results and the full tourney bracket will be reviewed on Friday. Voting for each pairing ends in the wee hours the next morning. Let the eliminations commence!
Today it's the Battle of the Hills.
The high seed goes to Beacon Hill, the toniest of the Hub's tony neighborhoods (but probably not home to anyone actually named Tony). Like in years past, it has hosted some of the area's biggest apartment sales in 2011, including the fourth-biggest condo deal in November: $2.1 million for a duplex on Phillips Street.
The lower seed goes to Mission Hill, where a Globe story in October seemed to suggest gentrification was afoot because pizza options were changing (works for us). Plus, just this month we named it one of Boston's Top 5 Starter Neighborhoods for first-time homebuyers. So while it may not have the cachet of its rival, it's got accessibility.