| Uptown Charlotte | |
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| — Neighborhood — | |
| Aerial of Uptown in May 2009 | |
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| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Charlotte center city (also known as Uptown) is the central area of Charlotte, North Carolina. The headquarters for the Fortune 500 companies Bank of America and Duke Energy are located here, as well as the headquarters for East Coast operations for Wells Fargo.
Museums, sporting venues, shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars are heavily concentrated in Uptown Charlotte. More hotels are currently under construction including the 17-story Hotel Sierra, located on the same block as the Time Warner Cable Arena. New museums such as the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Mint Museum of Modern Art opened in 2010. Uptown Charlotte (including South End)employs more than 70,000 people and more than 25-million visitors (including more than a half million conventioneers) come to Uptown to visit the 120 restaurants and 50 nightspots. The neighborhood has more than 13,000 residents.[1]
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Uptown Charlotte, within the bounds of I-277, is divided into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets.[2]
First Ward lies directly to the east of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is that quadrant bounded by North Tryon on the northwest and East Trade on the southwest.
First Ward was recently one of the most dangerous areas in Charlotte, but because of recent revitalization under a HUD HOPE VI grant, it has become one of the more desirable. Many new developments are planned and under construction. The award winning Center City Building which houses the uptown campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is in the first ward. The recently completed Center City Building is part of an urban village project being developed by Levine Properties. The current plans for the urban village include a 4-acre (16,000 m2) park, 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2) of office space, 2,700 residential units, 250 hotel rooms, 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2) of retail space, and 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2) of civic space. Current attractions include: The Main Library, the Spirit Square portion of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, ImaginOn Children's Learning Center, Levine Museum of the New South, the Time Warner Cable Arena, and is the home of the Charlotte Bobcats. On Tryon at Sixth Street, one of Charlotte's historic gems is being preserved and connected to a new condo project called Encore.
Second Ward lies directly to the south of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is the quadrant bounded by South Tryon on the northwest and East Trade on the northeast.
Second Ward is the location of Charlotte's "Government District" and is the site of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Second Ward used to be the location of the predominantly black neighborhood Brooklyn before an urban renewal project took place. Today the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art+Culture stands in Second Ward. Here we also find EpiCentre, a mixed-use entertainment and retail complex, the Charlotte Convention Center, and The Green, a downtown mini-park.
Donald Trump proposed a 72-story project called Trump Charlotte in the Second Ward which would have been the tallest building in Charlotte. The project was subsequently cancelled.
Third Ward lies directly to the west of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is the quadrant bounded by South Tryon on the southwest and West Trade on the northeast. Third Ward is the location of the Knight Theatre, the Mint Museum, and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art.
Center City's Third Ward is a diverse, quaint, turn of the century streetcar neighborhood home to Bank of America Stadium and Gateway Village which is one of the state's largest mixed-use developments with 1,500,000 sq ft (140,000 m2) of office, shops, restaurants, and over 500 housing units. The most exciting new project is Wachovia's First Street Project, comprising cultural, office, residential, and open space. Johnson & Wales University is expanding its campus in the Center City while the Mecklenburg County's Parks and Recreation Department has unveiled plans for an urban park in the district. Multiple condominium high rise towers have begun or are ready to begin construction. Plans are also underway to construct a $200 million transportation hub along the Norfolk Southern Railway called the Gateway Station. The Gateway Station will house the Greyhound bus stop, the Amtrak station, the LYNX Purple Line and LYNX Silver Line, and a CATS bus hub.
Fourth Ward lies directly to the north of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is that quadrant bounded by North Tryon on the southeast and West Trade on the southwest.
Fourth Ward is mostly residential and has many beautiful Victorian homes. It is an official historic district and is the location of Old Settlers' Cemetery as well as the three acre Fourth Ward Park.
There is much confusion brought about by the use of the terms "Uptown" and "Downtown" for Charlotte's center city area. These terms do not reference different areas of town and are thus interchangeable.
The history of the dual names is contested, yet prior to the mid-late 1980s, the term "Downtown" was used by residents, media and city leaders for the center city. During the 1980s, after the release of "Uptown Girl" by musician Billy Joel, first released in 1983, a massive campaign was launched to revamp the image of the downtown area and the term "Uptown" was introduced to the general public. On February 14, 1987, the Charlotte Observer began using the term "Uptown" as a way to promote a more positive upbeat image of the center city area.[3] School teachers were provided with "historical" documents justifying use of the term to teach to students. (Proclamation designating central shopping and business district as Uptown Charlotte by City of Charlotte Mayor John M. Belk on September 23, 1974)
Though many feel that the term "Uptown Charlotte" is a new term in the last 10 years, local residents from three or more generations past will attest to having called the center city area Uptown their entire lives. This is due to the main intersection in the original center city, Trade St. and Tryon St., having been the point of highest elevation. When people came from outlying areas to the city, they would say they were going 'up to town', a phrase that was eventually shortened to 'Uptown'.
Residents of Charlotte center city attend the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Elementary schools include First Ward Elementary and Irwin Avenue Open Elementary School.
west charlotte
Charlotte Catholic
Uptown Charlotte is served by three branches of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The Main library is located on North Tryon Street.[4]
The CheckIt Outlet microbranch is located on the Green off South Tryon Street.[5] This 1,000 sq ft (93 m2). facility holds popular DVDs and bestsellers and serves as a drop-off and pick-up point for library materials for workers and residents on the South Tryon side of uptown.
ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center is located on East Seventh Street.[6] ImaginOn is a collaborative venture of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and the Children's Theater of Charlotte which strives to bring the art of narrative to life. The library provides services, books, CDs, DVDs and homework support for children and teens at this location. ImaginOn also contains the McColl Family Theatre and the Wachovia Playhouse, venues used by the Children's Theater for their performances.
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