It all comes down to this, metro Atlanta.
After two weeks of criteria-free, March Madness-style competitions and more than 1,000 votes, two contestants are left standing in the quest to determine the Best OTP Downtown of 2024.
Those are the reigning Suburban Smackdown 2023 champ, No. 1 seed Alpharetta, and the dark horse that is No. 16-seed Trilith, the growing southside mixed-use and TV/film studio hub.
Alpharetta and Trilith bagged far and away the most votes in the Final Four, which catapulted both places into this hallowed, ultimate match.
Still, it’s a David vs. Goliath scenario if there ever was one.
Let’s take a second to meet these two worthy competitors. And then—please, good people of metro Atlanta—cast a vote below. Championship voting will close promptly after 24 hours at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Now, let’s go!
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ALPHARETTA (1)
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Estimated city population: 68,000
Distance from downtown Atlanta: 25 miles
Secret sauce: 120-acre Wills Park boasts a large dog park, public pool, 18-hole disc golf course, and an equestrian center considered among the Southeast’s best
Blocks of recent development around formerly sleepy Alpharetta City Center. Courtesy of Awesome Alpharetta
How fitting the No. 1 seed in this quest for OTP Downtown greatness (as determined by reader nominations) is not only one of the largest cities but also has “Alpha” in its name. (Kismet?) Ask locals, and they’ll say downtown Alpharetta was sleepy—if not outright boring—not too long ago. That all changed in 2019, when the final components of Alpharetta City Center were opened on former parking lots and strip centers, lending the North Fulton city an open-container central green, dozens of new shops and restaurants, upscale apartments—and a new identity. Outward growth has only continued, with the city’s first boutique hotel, new mixed-use ventures, and now wildly expensive condos popping up on the Alpha…
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