It was a close competition, but Queen Anne came out on top in Umpqua Bank’s battle of the “We Heart” contest, barely beating second-place Magnolia.
Queen Anne received 14,710 votes and Magnolia received 13,222 votes.
The two neighborhoods topped the other Puget Sound-area competitors that have an Umpqua Bank branch, such as third-place finisher Bellevue, which garnered 12,159 votes, and fourth-place finisher Phinney Ridge, with 9,340 votes.
The rest of the neighborhood rankings went as follows: Roosevelt, Capitol Hill, Downtown Seattle, South Lake Union, Eastlake and West Seattle. A total of 66, 581 votes were cast during the friendly competition.
The three top neighborhoods, Queen Anne, Magnolia and Bellevue, will each receive $10,000 to put toward a community nonprofit project. The project will be decided through another vote that Umpqua Bank will announce in the coming weeks.
As part of this promotional campaign, Umpqua Bank had those interested also vote for their favorite businesses in each community, with the top business in each community receiving $1,500. Initially the bank said the amount would be $1,000 to the top businesses, but it was able to sweeten the pot by $500.
The top vote getter among area businesses was Magnolia’s Upper Crust Bakery, which garnered 1,684 votes. Second on the list for Magnolia was Sonny & Maria’s Nail Salon, with received 1,510 votes. Leroux’s Fine Apparel was third with 996 votes. The top-three businesses were followed by Niko’s Gyros, Interbay Veterinary Care Center, PJ’s Paws & Claws, Magnolia’s Bookstore, the Serendipity Café, the Village Pub and the Vixen Day Spa & Boutique.
On Queen Anne, Le Reve Bakery and Cafe, led the way with 1,074 votes. Le Reve just barely out polled the Queen Anne Helpline, which gathered 1,065 votes. In third place was Queen Anne Books with 668 votes. It was followed by Yogalife, Charley + May Co., Chocolopolis, Once Upon a Time, Café De Lion, The Metropolitan Market and Three Birds Home & Gifts.
Umpqua will kick off Phase 2 of its “We Heart” project on Monday, Jan. 30, with the beginning of its “Build Your Block” Challenge.” Residents of winning neighborhoods are invited to submit community enhancement ideas at the Facebook site, http://www.facebook.com/umpquabank, or by sharing their nominations in person at Umpqua banks.
The field will be narrowed to three finalists by the end of March. Community members will then vote for the winning projects, with Umpqua providing neighborhoods with $10,000 as well as volunteer support to bring each project to life. “Build Your Block” winners in each neighborhood will be announced in mid-April.
Upper Crust Bakery owner Anna Beard said she was totally surprised by the news and plans to use the $1,500 prize money to help pay for upgrades to the bakery’s espresso bar area.
However, it was clear many of her loyal customers had been racking up the votes for the small pastry, coffee and dessert venue. Happy customer Pat Hutton hugged Beard after hearing the news on Jan 4.
“We all worked very hard for her and she deserves it,” said Hutton. “I’m so happy for [Beard] and for the whole community.”
Beard, who has a history of baking, including helping to build the Cupcake Royale business, bought the Upper Crust from the previous owners in 2008. Cooking appears to be in the family. Her husband, Michael Beard, is a chef at Magnolia’s Mondello’s Restaurant.
Over at Le Reve, owner Andrea Nakata said she plans to celebrate the victory with her staff and also buy a new refrigerator.
“Maybe we’ll invite some of our neighbors who voted for us,” Nakata said.
The bakery, lunch and dessert location has only been open since November of 2010, but Le Reve’s rise in popularity has been faster than Nakata had expected. The cozy, yet fashionable location has become a neighborhood favorite for business meetings, lunch and a pastry and coffee break in the afternoon.
“We were just two Queen Anne moms that wanted to start a place where other Queen Anne moms could meet,” Nakata said of herself and her partner who helped found the restaurant. “We want this to be a neighborhood gathering place with a little bit of French style.”
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