'Tis time to vote in the second round of the Curbed Boston Cup, our (first) annual award for the Hub's neighborhood of the year! Last week's first-round voting saw our 16 seeds whittled to eight, with at least one major upset (No. 15 East Boston edging out No. 2 Back Bay in lightning-round voting). First up this second go, No. 1 Beacon Hill vs. No. 9 Somerville (which itself scored a bit of an upset by trouncing No. 8 Charlestown).
We begin with the highest seed of them all: 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.
Some of the boldest development not only in the Hub but in the entire U.S. of A. is happening in Somerville. Along the banks of the Mystic, where the Orange Line will someday trundle, hundreds of apartments and dozens of outlet stores (including Ikea!) are planned for what Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone called in November "the best brand-new neighborhood on the Eastern Seaboard." The town's also getting Hubway!
· Our Curbed Awards archive [Curbed Boston]