The second annual Curbed Boston Cup, our award for the Hub neighborhood of the year, is kicking off with 16 enclaves vying for the prestigious fake trophy. We'll have two match-ups per day this week, and all the results and the full tourney bracket will be reviewed on Friday. Voting for each pairing ends after 24 hours. Let the eliminations commence!
The tourney's first match-up pits last year's Curbed Boston Cup winner, the South End, vs. the Fenway.
The South End continued to see in 2012 the sort of new development that powered it to victory in 2011, not least in its northeastern edges. There, projects like the Ink Block and 275 Albany are adding hundreds of apartments and thousands of square feet of commercial space, including hotels.
The Fenway has been no slouch itself in the development department, so much so that there's been squawking about it becoming more 24-7, particularly the area around hapless beer garden Fenway Park. New and planned arrivals include the Marriott on Brookline Avenue, the first new hotel in the area in years; the evolving Fenway Triangle, which is bringing downtown Boston its first Target (!); a 142-tap Yard House bar-restaurant; and the epic (though embattled) five-building Fenway Center.
· O, Albany Street! Building the Perfect South End 'Buffer' [Curbed Boston]
· As Red Sox Open, Surrounding Fenway Takes a Bow [Curbed Boston]
· Fenway Triangle: Offices, Apartments, Target, Oh My! [Curbed Boston]
· Fenway Center, Always With the Hold-Ups [Curbed Boston]