News & Opinion The Best in Charlotte - Best in the Nest

City Life Readers’ Pick Winners: Best in the Nest 2021

Best of Charlotte's city life chosen by the readers of Queen City Nerve

Q.C. Nerve Staff December 2, 2021

4 minutes read

Best in the Nest Readers’ Picks were chosen exclusively by readers through a one-month nomination process followed by a one-month voting process. The nominations were not tampered with by Queen City Nerve staff at all — save for removing ourselves from a few categories to proactively dispel any notions of favoritism. In other words, if you disagree with these ones, that’s on your fellow reader, not us.

Back to all categories

CITY LIVING

BEST APARTMENT COMPLEX

Winner: The Vue
Runner Up: The Gibson

BEST AREA TO LIVE

Winner: Plaza Midwood
Runner Up: NoDa

People perusing outside of Common Market in Plaza Midwood — Plaza Midwood (Photo by Grant Baldwin)

BEST CHURCH

Winner: Myers Park Baptist Church
Runner Up: The Cathedral of St. Patrick

BEST CITY IMPROVEMENT

Winner: Greenways
Runner Up: Parkwood Avenue bike lanes/traffic calming – CDOT

This portion of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway is located at Cordelia Park in Villa Heights, but following Route 7 from the greenway will bring you to Plaza Midwood. (Photo by Grant Baldwin)

BEST CO-WORKING SPACE

Winner: Hygge
Runner Up: Advent Coworking

BEST PARK IN CHARLOTTE

Winner: Freedom Park
Runner Up: Romare Bearden Park

BEST PLACE FOR A STAYCATION

Winner: Grand Bohemian
Runner Up: Ballantyne Hotel

BEST PLACE TO GET HITCHED

Winner: McGill Rose Garden
Runner Up: Mint Museum Uptown

BEST PLACE TO HOLD AN EVENT

Winner: Camp North End
Runner Up: The Barrel Room at Triple C

BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH

Winner: U.S. National Whitewater Center
Runner Up: Optimist Hall

U.S. National Whitewater Center (Photo by Jayme Johnson)

BEST PLACE TO WORK

Winner: Tip Top Daily Market
Runner Up: UNC Charlotte

BEST BUILDING IN THE UPTOWN SKYLINE

Winner: Duke Energy Building
Runner Up: Bank of America Tower

BEST WAY TO GET AROUND WITHOUT A CAR

Winner: Biking
Runner Up: Walking

Biking in Charlotte (Photo by David Flowers)

WORST PLACE TO WORK

Winner: Any restaurant owned by Jim Noble
Runner Up: Amazon

SPORTS & LEISURE

BEST BIKE CLUB

Winner: Ales and Trails
Runner Up: Bitches of Chaos

BEST CAMPING SPOT (IN STATE)

Winner: Stone Mountain State Park
Runner Up: Mount Mitchell State Park

BEST DISC GOLF COURSE

Winner: Reedy Creek Park Disc Golf Course
Runner Up: Renaissance Disc Golf Course

BEST GOLF COURSE

Winner: Pine Island Country Club
Runner Up: River Run Country Club

BEST GROUP WORKOUT

Winner: Kahli Yoga
Runner Up: Bloom Movement Artistry

BEST HIKING TRAIL

Winner: Crowders Mountain
Runner Up: High Shoals Falls (South Mountain)

BEST LOCAL MASCOT

Winner: Sir Purr
Runner Up: Chubby the Checker

BEST LOCAL SPORTS FIGURE

Winner: Christian McCaffrey
Runner Up: Steve Smith

BEST LOCAL SPORTS TEAM

Winner: Carolina Panthers
Runner Up: Charlotte Checkers

BEST PLACE TO GET BACK TO NATURE

Winner: Crowders Mountain
Runner Up: Grandfather Mountain

BEST RECREATION CENTER

Winner: Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center
Runner Up: Eastway Regional Recreation Center

BEST RUN CLUB

Winner: NoDa Run Club
Runner Up: Black Men Run Charlotte

BEST WEEKEND GETAWAY

Winner: Asheville
Runner Up: Charleston, South Carolina

NEWS, POLITICS & ENTERTAINMENT

BEST FREE EVENT

Winner: Charlotte Pride
Runner Up: Friday Nights at Camp North End

people in the streets for the Charlotte Pride parade and festival — Packed streets are a regular site at the Charlotte Pride festival and parade (Photo by Rob Harmon)

BEST HERO/HEROINE

Winner: Jamie Starks
Runner Up: Kaitlin Rothweiler

BEST LOCAL CELEBRITY

Winner: Jeff Jackson
Runner Up: Joe Bruno

NC Sen. Jeff Jackson appears on Nooze Hounds about a year before announcing his campaign for U.S. Senate. (Photo by Grant Baldwin)

BEST LOCAL FESTIVAL

Winner: Charlotte Pride
Runner Up: Festival in the Park

BEST LOCAL PODCAST

Winner: The Charlotte Podcast
Runner Up: Southbound

BEST NEW THING

Winner: Being vaccinated
Runner Up: Charlotte Gaymers Network

NC vaccine schedule — Sheila Lopez is administered a vaccine dose during a recent Atrium Health mass vaccination event at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. (Photo by Emily Barnes/Atrium)

BEST NEWS REPORTER/ANCHOR

Winner: Joe Bruno
Runner Up: Molly Grantham

BEST NEWS STORY OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS

Winner: CMS requiring masks
Runner Up: Myers Park High School rape cover ups

BEST POLITICIAN

Winner: Jeff Jackson
Runner up: Braxton Winston

BEST RADIO PERSONALITY

Winner: Ace & TJ
Runner Up: Ramona Holloway

BEST RADIO SHOW

Winner: Charlotte Talks – WFAE
Runner Up: Matt & Ramona in the Morning – The Mix 107.9

BEST TV PERSONALITY

Winner: Brad Panovich
Runner Up: Larry Sprinkle

BEST TV SPORTSCASTER

Winner: Steve Smith Sr.
Runner Up: Taylor Zarzour

BEST TV STATION

Winner: WSOC-TV
Runner Up: WBTV

BEST USE OF TAX MONEY

Winner: Parks and Greenways
Runner Up: COVID-19 relief

BEST VIRTUAL EVENT

Winner: Charlotte Black Film Festival
Runner Up: CreativeMornings/Charlotte

LOCAL ISSUE THAT NEEDS MORE ATTENTION

Winner: Affordable Housing
Runner Up: Homelessness

Home Again Foundation affordable housing — Home Again Foundation’s component-built cottage-style homes on Cochrane Drive. (Photo by Justin LaFrancois)

WHAT WE NEED LESS OF

Winner: Luxury Apartments
Runner Up: Traffic Congestion

Apartments under construction on South Boulevard (Photo by Grant Baldwin)

WHAT WE NEED MORE OF

Winner: Affordable Housing
Runner Up: Kindness

WORST POLITICIAN

Winner: Pat McCrory
Runner Up: Tariq Bokhari

WORST USE OF TAX MONEY

Winner: I-77 Express Lanes
Runner Up: CMPD

SOCIAL MEDIA

BEST BLOG

Winner: The Queen City Style
Runner Up: North Carolina Rabbit Hole

BEST BUSINESS INSTAGRAM

Winner: IRIS Blossom (@irisblossomclt)
Runner Up: Lucky Dog Bark & Brew (@barkandbrewclt)

BEST FACEBOOK PAGE

Winner: Camp North End
Runner Up: One Voice Chorus of Charlotte

BEST INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

Winner: Allie Papajohn (@eatdrinkclt)
Runner Up: Onya Nerves (@onyaofficial)

BEST INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER

Winner: Spicy CLT Memes (@spicycltmemes)
Runner up: Wynee Bermudez (@wyneesworld)

BEST LOCAL FACEBOOK GROUP

Winner: NoDa Community
Runner Up: Queer Society Charlotte

BEST TIKTOK ACCOUNT

Winner: Wyneesworld
Runner Up: Blackguyscook

BEST TWITTER ACCOUNT

Winner: @JoeBrunoWSOC9
Runner Up: @CLTdevelopment

BEST TWITTER ACCOUNT FOR HUMOR

Winner: @StarMedCare
Runner Up: @clt_overheard

BEST TWITTER ACCOUNT FOR NEWS

Winner: @JoeBrunoWSOC9
Runner Up: @WBTV_News

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT &
SOCIAL JUSTICE

BEST ACTIVIST

Winner: Ohavia Phillips
Runner Up: Cameron Pruette

Ohavia Phillips activist — Ohavia Phillips on the left (Photo by Grant Baldwin)

BEST ACTIVIST GROUP

Winner: Block Love Charlotte
Runner Up: Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg

BEST EVENT FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Winner: Charlotte Pride
Runner Up: 24 Hours of Booty

BEST NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

Winner: Block Love Charlotte
Runner Up: Goodyear Arts

Deborah Woolard serves at Block Love CLT. (Photo by Grant Baldwin)

BEST PLACE TO VOLUNTEER

Winner: Time Out Youth
Runner Up: Second Harvest Food Bank

BEST SUPPORT GROUP

Winner: Safe Alliance
Runner Up: Transcend Charlotte

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