West End

The historic intown neighborhood of West End is the vanguard of southwest Atlanta’s resurgence. And last year, it showed. In the 2015 Finals, West End chalked up a record-breaking 6,000 votes to trounce former champion Kirkwood and snatch the Curbed Cup, etching itself into history as the first neighborhood west of Peachtree Street to take home the prestigious fake trophy. With enough nominations to bag a No. 3 seed this year, West End could be back with a vengeance, riding high on Beltline expectations and an influx of new homeowners. In the spring, West End was part of a triumphant Atlanta Streets Alive showcase. The Lee + White project, unveiled in 2016, vows to create the Beltline's next hotspot food-and-beverage district. At last check, Beltline officials were expecting the Westside Trail’s completion next fall — at which point, the West End buzz might become deafening. Meanwhile, charming bungalows still exist in the mid-$200,000s a block from the Wren’s Nest.

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Cabbagetown

Curbed Atlanta

Buying a house these days in Cabbagetown is like trying to wrangle a unicorn with original hardwood hoofs. It speaks volumes to C-town’s desirability that the quirky, charming, welcoming eastside neighborhood is ridiculously starved for available housing. Routinely, only a couple of houses — if any — are for sale here, and bidding-war frenzies have become commonplace. But who can blame denizens of a place responsible for Chomp & Stomp, Carroll Street Cafe, and Anti-Bougie Gate for not wanting to let go? Along with terrific little parks, the iconic Fulton Cotton Mills Lofts, and beloved local watering holes like 97 Estoria, Cabbagetown boasts Atlanta’s most dazzling collection of commissioned street murals on Wylie Street and the amorphous graffiti wonderland that is Krog Street Tunnel. The highlight of C-town’s Curbed Cup career was probably in 2013, when as a No. 13 seed, it toppled much larger Decatur.