The Curbed Cup, our annual award for Atlanta’s “Neighborhood of the Year,” kicked off last week with 16 neighborhoods vying for the prestigious (fake) trophy. Now it’s time for Elite Eight action! (Seeding from 1 to 16 was determined by reader nominations this month). Polls will be open for 24 hours, so let the eliminations resume!

College Park (4)

In this Elite Eight match of ITP “parks,” both contestants have come extremely close to hoisting the nonexistent Curbed Cup hardware before, but ultimately to no avail.

Could it be a good sign for College Park that it’s a No. 4 seed again, just like last year? That’s when the south ITP city with a historic core knocked out a past champion (Old Fourth Ward) and, yes, Grant Park during a surprising gallop to The Finals.

As that tourney demonstrated, College Park isn’t lacking in pride. And 2017 saw news (BMW is launching a Technical Training Center, as the Atlanta Hawks will build a new facility to let their “G League” team soar) that should spell positive things for the College Park economy. Could that all be the spark to lift College Park into the hallowed Pantheon of Champions? Time will tell.

Grant Park (5)

Grant Park’s Round 1 trouncing of neighboring Boulevard Heights—capturing nearly 78 percent of votes—left zero doubt that this historic, leafy district means business in 2017. Granted, it was something of a David-Goliath scenario, but Grant Park’s debut was the most decisive victory of the tourney so far. By leaps and bounds.

Google Maps

Boasting a strong No. 5 seed this year, Grant Park has racked up multiple Elite Eight and Final Four appearances—and one razor-thin defeat in the 2013 Finals—in past dances.

When it comes to development, Grant Park has been killing it in 2017, from the demolition at Atlanta Dairies to another Paces Properties venture, Larkin on Memorial, and to the south, where The Beacon district has been inking tenants.

Elsewhere, the redevelopment of 1800s Atlanta Stockade into the adaptive-reuse GlenCastle should be another inimitable feather in the neighborhood’s cap. And suds lovers of Grant Park will probably benefit from the recent announcement of a brewery a few blocks away in Summerhill.