Half the field has already been eliminated in the Curbed Cup, our annual award to the Philadelphia neighborhood of the year. This week we'll have one matchup per day—with the polls left open for 24 hours—and by Friday only four contenders will be left vying for the prestigious fake trophy. Let the eliminations continue!
Rittenhouse Square edged out Mt. Airy, but it was a close one. Let's look at some recent coverage of the area. It was featured last week in London's Financial Times. The area was described this way: "One of the most desirable areas in the city centre, where old money still rules, is around Fitler and Rittenhouse squares, where handsome family houses rub shoulders with contemporary condos." The article cites the new "glass tower," 1706 Rittenhouse, where sales start at $4 million, as representative of new development in the area.
Washington Square West handily beat Germantown (but don't worry, Germantown! One day you shall triumph!). Wash West's most recent development is an LGBT-friendly housing complex for seniors. When the Inquirer covered the groundbreaking, it quoted gay African-American activist Donald Carter, now 62, for whom the building is a testimony to four decades of political struggle: "I started this experience as an outlaw, a social outlaw, a sexual outlaw," he said. The neighborhood was more outlaw itself for a long time. Gay News publisher Mark Segal said of Carter: "This is his community. Why can't he live in his community with dignity in his golden years?"
Voting is open for 24 hours. · Curbed Cup Archives [CPHI]