Curbed Cup 1st round: (6) Garden District vs. (11) Lakeview

The Curbed Cup, our annual award for the neighborhood of the year, is kicking off with 16 neighborhoods vying for the prestigious (fake) trophy. We’ll reveal each of the neighborhoods this week, and polls will be open for 24 hours so you can cast your vote as to which ones should advance. Let the eliminations commence!

Garden District

This rectangular neighborhood is often known for its gorgeous mansions, tree-lined streets, Magazine Street shops, and Mardi Gras vantage points on St. Charles Avenue.

If you’re looking for some of the best cemeteries to visit in New Orleans, this neighborhood holds the iconic Lafayette Cemetery. The Garden District also holds Buckner’s mansion—one of New Orleans’s many haunted buildings.

In early December, The Preservation Resource Center hosted its annual Holiday Home Tour, showcasing the neighborhood’s phenomenal abodes. In Curbed NOLA’s most recent analysis, the Garden District holds four of New Orleans’s most expensive homes.

Last year, the Garden District made it to the final four in the annual Curbed Cup, ultimately losing to the Curbed Cup-champion Algiers Point.

On transportation, the Garden District will hold two bike-share stations within the next year, and it ranks among the 5 most walkable neighborhoods in New Orleans.

Lakeview

Battling the Garden District, Lakeview is primarily a residential neighborhood, filled with many of New Orleans’s larger homes.

Adjacent to City Park, it has an extensive commercial zone on Harrison Avenue. If you’re looking for green space, this neighborhood also holds part of the New Basin Canal Trail, one of the best places to go for a run in New Orleans.

Lakeview has been a hotspot for home tours this year. In June, three Lakeview homeowners displayed their properties during the annual Parade of Homes, held by the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans. In early November, one Lakeview homeowner featured his unconventional dwelling in in New Orleans’s first annual Weird Homes Tour.

Now, the decision is in your hands: Which neighborhood should advance to the next round? Cast your vote in the poll below.