Why Retail-Happy Glendale Was Named LA's Best 'Hood of 2013

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The people have spoken: After going head-to-head with a host of on-the-rise Downtown districts, the city of Glendale has nabbed our sister site Curbed's glorious golden jpeg trophy for LA's best nabe of 2013. Last week, the 'hood beat out conceptual space-filled Arts District, winning over 60.5% of the real estate-obsessed readers' votes.

Surely, the city's massive apartmentification also gave it a boost, but we can't help but wonder if its many recent retail upgrades also had a hand in earning Glendale the top honors. For starters, there's the Glendale Galleria: Despite losing Nordstroms to its Caruso-owned next door neighbor Americana at Brand, the massive shopping center rebounded with a majorly stylish makeover, a shiny new Bloomingdale's, fast fashion e-tailer JustFab's first brick-and-mortar, cool kid shop Kitson and plenty more luxe additions to its directory. And let's not forget discount chain Marshalls, which transformed the now-defunct booksellers Borders' old space into a designer label lover's happy place.

Meanwhile, we're patiently awaiting word on what will fill Nordie's vacated Galleria space. Could it be Uniqlo's first LA location, or an affordable home decor store to rival modern lifestyle store PIRCH, as some readers have suggested? We'll keep our ears to the ground—stay tuned!
· Curbed Readers & Editors Pick LA's Neighborhoods Of The Year [Curbed]
· 25 Snaps from Nordstrom's Grand Gala at the Americana [Racked]
· Peek Inside Glendale Galleria's Glorious New Bloomingdale's [Racked]
· Glendale Galleria is Getting Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Superdry, More [Racked]
· Surprise: Glendale's New Marshalls Is A Label Lover's Happy Land [Racked]