Curbed Cup 1st round: (3) Bywater vs. (14) Freret

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!

Bywater

After winning Curbed Cup back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, this hip and quirky neighborhood will try its luck for 2017.

For starters, many developers have planned for condominiums in the Bywater. While only one is under construction this year, developers estimate that units will sell for at least $300,000 each.

Earlier this summer, the City of New Orleans and Port of New Orleans closed a deal for a riverfront expansion. The Port will hand over the Esplanade and Governor Nicholls wharves, allowing the city to turn it into public park space. In total, the acquired area would add an additional 2.6 miles of riverfront access, continued from the 1.4-mile Crescent Park.

In November, the Bywater’s Green Project expanded its creative reuse facility under a new partnership with the Preservation Resource Center.

This past November, residents of New Orleans paraded though the Bywater into the Lower 9th Ward to honor the late Fats Domino. While the residents took the streets, the trek was fairly easy, considering the Bywater ranks among the 10 neighborhoods with the highest Bike and Walk Scores.

Freret

This vibrant subdistrict of Uptown holds the well-known Freret Street that has a series of local establishments—and is home to the monthly Freret Street Market.

The Alder Hotel, which opened near the Oschner Baptist Medical Center, ranks as the largest development that happened in Freret this year. It has 90 rooms and stands 10 stories tall.

This past July, Density BUMP, LLC, proposed plans to build nine two-bedroom townhouses at Freret and Cadiz streets, which is where the now-closed Publiq House stands.

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