The 2018 Charlotte Neighborhood Bracket: What is Charlotte’s best neighborhood?
Charlotte is passionate about its neighborhoods. And each one has its unique qualities that make it special to the people who live there, and who venture out to visit.
Do you get out of your bubble? Have you spent a perfect day in Elizabeth? A perfect day in Plaza Midwood? What about a morning at the Arboretum — which has the most excellent brunch and bagel options?
All of our neighborhood bubbles are great, we get it. But which is the best? Last year, CharlotteFive readers voted NoDa the best neighborhood in all the land — or at least in Charlotte.
In the spirit of March and brackets, let’s heat up this neighborhood debate. Presenting: The 2018 Charlotte Neighborhoods Bracket.
Here’s how it works
Over the next week, you will be voting round-by-round to determine the best neighborhood in Charlotte. The round of 32 is today, with the round of 16 Tuesday. Wednesday is a buy. The quarterfinals are Thursday (round of 8), the semifinals are Friday (round of 4) and the finals are Monday, March 19.
We’ll announce Charlotte’s best neighborhood Tuesday, March 20.
You get one vote per day (ballot is at the bottom of this post), and you should vote in every matchup each day.
The polls close each day at 6 p.m.
The seeding
To make this as fair as reasonably possible, a panel of six Charlotte Neighborhood Experts* convened to determine the 32 neighborhoods included.
*i.e. the C5 staff. We’ve all lived in Charlotte neighborhoods for at least a year, so that makes us experts. Right? Right.
The process:
We based the list on qualifications like restaurant/bar scene, shopping, location, potential and general coolness.
We whittled the possibilities down to 32 neighborhoods, and their seeding, which you can see below. (This means, of course, that several neighborhoods didn’t make the cut. Take some deep breaths.)
And the list of 32 is as follows:
(1) NoDa
(2) Plaza Midwood
(3) Elizabeth
(4) South End
(5) Downtown Davidson
(6) Montford/Madison Park/Park Road Shopping Center
(7) First Ward
(8) Dilworth
(9) LoSo (the area around The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, aka Lower South End, aka Queen Park)
(10) Fourth Ward
(11) Third Ward
(12) Downtown Matthews
(13) SouthPark
(14) Myers Park
(15) FreeMoreWest (area around the intersection of Morehead and Freedom, including Wesley Heights)
(16) Midtown
(17) West End (area around Johnson C. Smith University, including Biddleville)
(18) MoRA (Monroe Road area, from Sharon Amity to the border with Matthews)
(19) Ballantyne
(20) Cotswold
(21) Cornelius
(22) Villa Heights
(23) Oakhurst
(24) Second Ward
(25) Plaza Hills (area around Hattie’s Tap and Tavern)
(26) East Charlotte (outside of Plaza Midwood)
(27) Belmont/Optimist Park (Belmont the neighborhood, not the town in Gaston County)
(28) Arboretum
(29) North End
(30) Steele Creek/Ayrsley
(31) Downtown Pineville
(32) Quail Hollow
One last thing
This is all in the spirit of good fun. There’s nothing really on the line here (though we do have some cool ideas for little ways we can honor the winning neighborhood).
Now, the bracket:
Click on the image to enlarge.
Vote here. Or in the Google form below.
**Voting is now closed. Meet the winner of the 2018 Charlotte Neighborhood Bracket here.
Featured photo: Justin Driscoll
This story was originally published March 12, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "The 2018 Charlotte Neighborhood Bracket: What is Charlotte’s best neighborhood?."