Readers' Choice Winner: People's United Bank

Orange residents have spoken and what more than half of them say is , 653 Orange Center Road is their favorite bank.

There was really no close second of the nine banking choices listed in our poll with the original Peoples United Bank taking 16 of the 32 votes.
Peoples also generated half the comments left on the poll.

Yooper: "I remember when the People's branch on Orange Center Road was their only branch outside Fairfield County. Things sure have changed."

Next week Orange Patch will be asking readers to vote for their favorite pizza in town. Voting begins at 5 a.m. on Monday.

Editor's Note: An Internet poll is not the most ideal vote-collection system in the world, as we all know. That's why we always strive to be 100 percent clear with our readers at Patch that this is not in any way a scientific poll. Our readers' choice features (formerly "Best of") are designed to be a fun and completely friendly expression of our collective passion for great food, great service or a great product, all close to home. It's also a fantastic way for small and medium business owners -- the lifeblood of our local economy -- to show how much they appreciate their customers. We take a look at comments, reviews as well as the poll, not just any one aspect, in communicating back to readers who among the group of businesses may rise to the top in readers' minds. And even if one business mobilizes more "votes" over another, everyone comes away with a lot of visibility, great displays of loyalty and, best yet, our corner of the web now has a great deal more information about local businesses. We live and shop here too, so if anyone wants to learn more about how they can interact with their customers on Patch or have any suggestions for future readers' choice features, don't hesitate to reach out to your local editor whose email is at the top of your screen.

About this column: Every Monday, Orange Patch asks its account-holders for local favorites, to be crowned Friday in our "Readers' Choice" series.