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 the city center. New museums such as the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Mint Museum of Modern Art opened in 2010. Charlotte's center city (including South End) employs more than 100,000 people and more than 25 million visitors (including more than a half million conventioneers) come to Charlotte's center city to visit a year. Center city is home to over 214 restaurants and 50 nightspots. The neighborhood has just under 25,000 residents.
§Companies
List of companies based or with major corporate persistence:
- Bank of America
- BBVA Compass
- Wells Fargo
- BB&T
- Ally Financial
- Duke Energy
- AT&T
- Chiquita Brands International
§Hotels
The following is an incomplete list:
§Restaurants
The following is an incomplete list:
§Parks
In August 2013, the city opened Romare Bearden Park which is a 5.4 acre public park located at 300 S. Church Street.
§The wards
Uptown/Downtown Charlotte, within the bounds of I-277, is divided into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets.
§First Ward
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 Hornets. 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
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, The Victorian Gothic style St. Peter's Catholic Church, 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
Third Ward lies directly to the west of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is the quadrant bounded by South Tryon on the southeast 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, start of the 20th century streetcar neighborhood home to the Carolina Panthers' 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.
BB&T Ballpark opened in 2014 as the home of the Charlotte Knights. Directly across the street is the new Romare Bearden Park, which opened in September 2013.
§Fourth Ward
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.
§"Uptown/Downtown"
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, 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. 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)
§Schools and libraries
§School system
Residents of Charlotte center city attend the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Elementary schools include First Ward Elementary and Irwin Avenue Open Elementary School.
§Private schools
- Trinity Episcopal School
§Colleges and universities
- Johnson and Wales University
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte North Charlotte
- Johnson C. Smith University
- Central Piedmont Community College
- Queens University of Charlotte
- Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
- Reformed Theological Seminary
- Southern Evangelical Seminary
- Union PSCE (Presbyterian Seminary)
§Libraries
Uptown Charlotte is served by two branches of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County now known as Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. The Main library is located on North Tryon Street.
The CheckIt Outlet Branch located on the Green off South Tryon Street is closed due to budget cut a few years ago. 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. ImaginOn is a collaborative venture of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library 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.
§Sites of interest
- Bank of America Stadium
- Time Warner Cable Arena
- BB&T Ballpark
- NASCAR Hall of Fame
- EpiCentre Charlotte
- Discovery Place
- Avenue
- ImaginOn
- TradeMark
- The Vue
- Main Library
- Levine Museum of the New South
- Little Sugar Creek Greenway
§References
§External links
- Charlotte Center City - Official municipal service district website
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story
- Living Uptown Charlotte
- Charlotte/Uptown travel guide from Wikivoyage
Interesting Informations
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