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 Loop trail en route to nearby Avalon.  

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TRILITH (16)

Fifty percent of Town at Trilith's acreage is committed to greenspace, much of it tucked off pathways. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Estimated city population: 1,000+ (with a goal of 5,000 one day)

Distance from downtown Atlanta: 26 miles  

Secret sauce: Nearby downtown Fayetteville, located just to the southeast, is small but charming in a more traditional sense. Just ask Zac Brown

Trilith's de facto Main Street. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

As recently as 2017, Town at Trilith was little more than rolling wheat fields—with a massive filmmaking complex across the street. What’s sprouted from that fertile Fayetteville soil is a master-planned, 235-acre (and growing) small town that’s leveraged Georgia’s TV and film industry (and tax credits) like no other, creating streets that brim with engaging residential architecture that stress connections to greenspace and neighbors. Today, Trilith’s Town Centre counts a variety of businesses, including Northern Italian hotspot ENZO, Barleygarden Kitchen and Craft Bar, Piedmont Wellness Center, and Nourish + Bloom, the South’s first autonomous grocery store. Trilith's first multifamily piece, Premiere Lofts, opened in 2021. Another crucial component—the long-promised Trilith boutique hotel—arrived in January. And the forecast calls for a major soccer hub opening in time for the 2026 World Cup.

(POLLING HAS CLOSED AFTER 24 HOURS. Thanks to all who participated in this tournament, and congrats to ALPHARETTA, which is officially—once again—the Suburban Smackdown CHAMPION! Trophy presentation coming to the homepage soon. Also, hat-tip to proud runner-up Trilith for a valiant tourney performance.)