Curbed Cup Final: (7) Dorchester vs. (13) the South End

There were once 16 seeds competing for the coveted status of the Boston area’s No. 1 neighborhood of 2017.

There are now just two: No. 13 the South End vs. No. 7 Dorchester. Who will claim the crown?

Polls open until January 2. Go.

(7) Dorchester

ArnoldReinhold/Wikipedia

Boston’s indispensable neighborhood had a typically variegated year.

There were big development proposals, including for the redevelopment of the 19.94-acre Bayside Expo Center site in Columbia Point into some kind of mixed-use competitor to Cambridge’s Harvard Squareand for a de-facto ground-up neighborhood at Port Norfolk that would include 150 condos and a 25-room hotel.

And let’s not forget major projects already underway, including the 11-acre one adjacent to South Bay plaza. That one’s due to have 475 condos and 130 hotel rooms.

There were the gorgeous houses for sale, too, and the speculation about further changes to come.

(13) the South End

Jorge Salcedo/Flickr

The South End remains a desirable patch of the region beset by change that only seems to enhance its rep.

In 2017, several new projects in the neighborhood either got underway or were publicly vetted for the first time.

Not least of these was the proposal for the conversion of the old Boston Flower Exchange. Developer the Abbey Group wants to build nearly 1.6 million square feet of commercial, technology, life science research, and retail space on the 5.6-acre site as well as new parkland.

There are also plans to redevelop the long-vacant Hotel Alexandra building on Washington Street—perhaps into another hotel or maybe residences—and the unfolding Ink Block complex in the neighborhood’s upper reaches wants to add a 14-story co-living building.

Also, one of the region’s more unique condo conversions, the 33-unit Lucas on Shawmut Avenue, wrapped construction in 2017.

Oh, and the South End got Boston’s newest park—under an Interstate overpass.

• Bayside Expo Center the next Harvard Square? That’s what UMass wants [Curbed Boston]
• Dorchester’s Port Norfolk would get 150 condos under new plan [Curbed Boston]
• Dorchester’s massive South Bay project gets officially underway [Curbed Boston]
• Ashmont Shingle with oodles of openness drops price $86,000 [Curbed Boston]
• Old Boston Globe site in Dorchester would become office complex under new plans [Curbed Boston]
• Exchange South End: Details on the South End mega-project [Curbed Boston]
• South End’s old Hotel Alexandra to see new life after years of vacancy [Curbed Boston]
• Boston co-living tower proposed for South End’s Ink Block [Curbed Boston]
• South End’s Lucas wraps construction: From Gothic church to 33 condos [Curbed Boston]
• Underground at Ink Block, Boston’s newest park, opening under I-93 overpass [Curbed Boston]