Viewed from an upper level in one of Charlotte’s glitzy skyscrapers, the Uptown roofs below resemble an ever-changing sea. There is new construction everywhere – high-, mid- and low-rise. Moreover, a good many of those roofs represent homes: penthouses, condominiums, apartments and even single-family homes.
Uptown is one of the city’s fastest-growing areas, with 11,000 residents – a number that is expected to increase to 21,000 by 2010. In fact, there is so much housing growth that the Multiple Listing Service has given Uptown its own designation: Area 99.
Hundreds of dining establishments and late-night bars attract the urban crowd – a figure that is steadily increasing.
As the numbers grow, so do the amenities that add so much to life. Some Uptown residents find so much here to entertain them that they park their cars on Friday and don’t move them the entire weekend. They’re within walking distance of much of the city’s cultural and entertainment venues, with more headed their way.
Block-long, massive Bank of America Stadium anchors Uptown on the southwest end. Snarling panther statues outside the gates hint at the passions inside as the Carolina Panthers take on NFL opponents.
On the other side of Uptown, the new Charlotte Arena is home to the NBA expansion team Charlotte Bobcats. The growing First Ward neighborhood, once the site of numerous parking lots, has seen significant changes in recent years, in part due to the construction of the new arena.
The aptly-named Courtside is a 17-story high-rise of 106 condominiums in First Ward at the corner of Sixth and Caldwell. Recently completed, it features 7,500 square feet of retail and restaurants at the street level.
The city’s cultural district, dubbed North End, extends from the center’s front door southward to the center of town: Independence Square, at Tryon and Trade streets.
This district includes Discovery Place science museum, the main branch of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Spirit Square, the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, the McColl Center for Visual Art and a handful of private art galleries. The area also includes the Levine Museum of the New South and the new $40 million ImaginOn, an ambitious project of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library and Children’s Theatre that includes a youth library, classrooms, technology center, early childhood reading center, performance stages and a craft shop.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is planning an urban village in First Ward with classroom space as well as retail, entertainment and residential units. The campus will provide classes for Uptown workers, mostly in business, architecture and engineering. The Urban Village could open as soon as 2009.
Charlotte worked hard to lure the NASCAR Hall of Fame to town. Construction is now under way on the corner of Caldwell and Stonewall and the facility is expected to be competed by 2009. |
