2017 Charlotte Neighborhood Bracket Round 3: Which of these 8 neighborhoods is Charlotte’s best?

If you like upsets, then you loved the second round of the 2017 Charlotte Neighborhood Bracket. After having just one upset in the first round, we had three (and nearly a fourth) in the eight Stupendous 16 matches.

We had a classic 5/12 upset as South End hopped on the Blue Line and stormed past Fourth Ward 69 percent to 31 percent. Then down south, downtown continued its domination of uptown as No. 10 Downtown Matthews beat No. 7 Third Ward 52-48.

But the biggest upset of the day went to No. 14 Myers Park, that scrappy little streetcar suburb, which beat the soon-to-be toll lane suburb No. 3 Downtown Davidson 60-40.

We nearly saw the 2-seed, NoDa, fall to No. 15 FreeMoreWest. The difference between the two was just six votes. I do love me some Pinky’s fried pickles, but this was unexpected.

Now we’re down to the Excellent 8.

Click below to see a larger image, or view the whole bracket here. Voting for Round 3 is at the bottom of this page.

Quick note: Due to a glitch, the system still allowed voting after the polls closed at 8 p.m. yesterday. To make it fair, we didn’t count any votes made for any neighborhood after 8 p.m. March 14.

With just eight neighborhoods left, we’re down to the best of the best. No. 1 Plaza Midwood will face its first real test in No. 8 Dilworth. South End will face Elizabeth to decide once and for all which is better, the light rail or the streetcar. NoDa will try to bounce back from a less-than-stellar showing as it faces Downtown Matthews, and the Battle of the Parks continues as Myers Park takes on Montford Park (Madison Park/Park Road Shopping Center).

Ready for Round 3? Let the voting begin.

The voting works the same way as in previous rounds: One vote per person per day. We rated the neighborhoods on things like restaurant/bar scene, shopping, location, potential and general coolness, so keep those in mind when you’re voting.

And remember: This is all just for fun.

Voting in Round 3 has ended. You can vote in the semifinals here. 

Photo: Charlotte Observer file

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "2017 Charlotte Neighborhood Bracket Round 3: Which of these 8 neighborhoods is Charlotte’s best?."