After more than a week of buzzy, busy voting, the final in our annual contest to name the Hub's Neighborhood of the Year is set: No. 6 Jamaica Plain vs. No. 8 East Boston. This is the first time in the Curbed Boston Cup's three-year history that two mid-range seeds have met in the finals, so crystal-balling which might win is especially difficult (e.g., neither was handicapped to make it this far).
East Boston's 2013 might be summed up in three words: casino, casino, casino. Indeed, the heated debated over whether to build a gambling palace at Suffolk Downs swept the neighborhood, ending (or so it seemed) in a resounding No vote in early November amid the collapse of the plan put forth by would-be operator Caesars. There was also sizable new development in the neighborhood, too, including the big-time Portside at Pier One, part of the re-galvanizing of Eastie's waterfront.
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Jamaica Plain has had quite the 2013 development- and sales-wise. One nugget, courtesy of our David Bates in September: The neighborhood had only one sale in the $700K to $799K range in the first eight and a half months of 2012; through the same period in 2013, it had 13. Now, developments! There was the ribbon-cutting just recently for 225 Centre Street, the first piece in the 14-property Jackson Square puzzle. There was also the ruthlessly transit-friendly Commons at Forest Hills, which will add hundreds of apartments to an area already seeing a fair amount of residential development. And there was, of course, all the rigamarole on South Huntington Avenue, some of which carried over from 2012. Remember that year?
Polls will be open through New Year's Day. Go.
· Eastie's Portside at Pier One Coming Into Focus [Curbed Boston]
· Caesars Out at Suffolk Downs and Now Things Are a Mess [Curbed Boston]
· 2013 a Busy Year for Hub's High Price Points [Curbed Boston]
· Jackson Square Mega-Redo About So Much More Than Housing [Curbed Boston]
· Take the Orange Line to the Commons at Forest Hills [Curbed Boston]
· South Huntington Ave. Readies for Another Round [Curbed Boston]
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