This year, for the first time, we asked for their favorite places of worship, favorite nonprofits and favorite neighborhoods. We ask for and embrace campaigns, and many of the magazine's readers helped support ones for businesses and others in this year's contest. We got more than 14,000 votes for one nominee alone – CrossFit Iron Horse. Best Athlete was a runaway by the first woman to garner this honor from the magazine. When the voting closed, we added up the votes, and the staff reviewed the list. The Reader's Picks were easy. The staff then added its own picks, and, as you'll see, consensus was hard to come by in some categories, so we added ties in several instances. No blood was shed on our end.
