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The Curbed Cup 2017 winner is... Ballard!

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The neighborhood just became a two-time winner

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Seattle has spoken: Ballard is the winner of the 2017 Curbed Cup, making it the second-ever repeat champion. Both it and fellow finalist First Hill looked good for it at various points over the weekend, but ultimately Ballard swept the poll with 57 percent of the vote.

Ballard routinely takes top spots in the competition. In 2012, it won its first championship, dominating its next-door neighbor Fremont in the finals. But just last year, Ballard made the finals, although Columbia City pulled ahead to secure Seattle’s first two-time championship for 2016.

In addition to fun stuff like a homemade Diagon Alley, Ballard officially became the city’s tenth Business Improvement Area in 2017. Ballard has also been somewhat of a boomtown in recent years, with around 100 projects completed in the past year adding up to more than 500 new homes, according to data compiled by Seattle in Progress.

Mostly, though, Ballard spent 2017 building on what’s made them popular every year of the competition: combining their deep maritime heritage with new hipness. That’s not to say some longstanding local businesses haven’t made Ballard cool this whole time, with joints like the Tractor Tavern, Hattie’s Hat, the Smoke Shop, The Waterwheel, and the Sunset still nestled in the neighborhood’s super-popular nightlife. Ballard also has two of the city’s coolest record stores, Bop Street and Sonic Boom.

Congratulations, Ballard. The full, final bracket is below.