While many cities call their central business district "downtown," Charlotte calls its central business district,Uptown. "Uptown" is a late 20th century name given to the original city, which in the 19th century was divided into four political wards. Today the First and Fourth Wards are largely residential, with Fourth Ward housing the majority of Charlotte's remaining 19th century Queen Anne architecture. At the center of Uptown is The Square, the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets and the point of convergence of all four wards. Many of the city's skyscrapers are located uptown, as well as Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers, and the Charlotte Bobcats NBA arena. Johnson & WalesUniversity, the Museum of the New South and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design can also be found here, as well as the city and county government district.

The new Lynx Light Rail Transit was endorsed by 70% of voters and was constructed with Charlotte's $462.7 million. The rail  is 9.6 mile-long, serving 15 stations and is running north from I-485 at South Boulevard to 7th street in Center City. Grand opening was 24 November 2007. The system operates on 2 tracks (northbound and southbound) generally within the exisiting railroad right-of-way parallelling South Boulevard. The ridership has exceeded the city's expectations.

Dilworth, Charlotte's first streetcar suburb, was developed in the 1890s on 250 acres (1 km²) southwest of the original city limits. Planned largely with a grid pattern similar to the city's original four wards, it was initially designated the Eighth Ward. Centered on East Boulevard, today Dilworth is popular with Charlotte's young professionals drawn to its historic turn of the century architecture and traditional neighborhood feel.

Elizabeth takes its name from Elizabeth College, a small Lutheran women’s college founded in 1897 on the present-day site of Presbyterian Hosptial. Elizabeth began to develop rapidly after 1902, when a trolley line was completed. Elizabeth was annexed by Charlotte in 1907. IndependencePark, the first public park in the city, was created in the neighborhood, and Elizabeth became one of the most fashionable residential areas in Charlotte.

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.

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.

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.

Courtside, a 17-story high-rise of 106 condominiums in First Ward is at the corner of Sixth and Caldwell, features 7,500 square feet of retail and restaurants at the street level.

The city’s cultural district, 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 a $1 billion 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.

Opportunities to eat, drink, and be entertained abound in Uptown. The number and variety of Uptown restaurants keep growing, with fine dining, down-home Southern standbys and ethnic cuisine all part of the mix.

Prefer to dine on your rooftop terrace or by your urban window? Reid’s Fine Foods at Seventh Street Station parking garage supplies Uptown kitchens. In summer, you can supplement the fare with farm-fresh produce from the Center City Green Market in the Station’s plaza.

For a long time, Fourth Ward was the only residential pocket in what was the concrete expanse of Uptown. The turn-of-the-century homes in this quaint quadrant between North Tryon and West Trade streets had fallen into disrepair but were restored by determined homeowners and the bank that became Bank of America. Fourth Ward is now one of the most charming spots in the city with its sidewalks and street lamps, its cozy front porches and Fourth Ward Park.

A new condominium community, The Citadin at Fourth Ward Square, covers the entire block between Eighth and Ninth streets on North Graham. With retail on the street level, The Citadin is composed of two 25-story towers and two 11-story buildings. The 427 units range from the $200s to around $2 million. Fifth and Poplar, a 305-unit mix of penthouses, condominiums and town homes, offers a number of amenities, including a concierge service, state-of-the-art fitness center, central courtyard and its very own Harris Teeter Supermarket.

In Third Ward, Uptown’s southwest quadrant, small, renovated homes mix with new condominiums and apartments. It’s flanked on its southern side by Bank of America Stadium, the Panthers’ practice field and on its northern side by West Trade and Gateway Village – Bank of America’s mammoth new mix of homes, retail and office space that also houses Johnson & Wales University students. The Village stretches along five blocks of West Trade and also has a YMCA. Gateway Lofts and Post Gateway Place near Trade Street also add hundreds of residential units to Uptown.

The last piece of the Uptown residential puzzle began with The Ratcliffe on the Green, an upscale condominium high-rise in Second Ward, an area in the southeast quadrant of Uptown that had been occupied mostly by government buildings. The luxurious Ratcliffe offers an interactive park with fish fountains and landscaped walkways and is surrounded by 60,000 square feet of retail and office space. The Green, a 1.5-acre park built over an underground parking deck, is a popular gathering spot during the week, and is converted into an ice skating rink during the winter months.

Lately, it seems that development of Uptown high-rises is happening everywhere. Over a dozen new buildings are expected to open in the next few years. t 13 stories, the brand-new 230 South Tryon offers 110 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as several penthouses ranging from $300,000 and $1.5 million.

At the site of the old Charlotte Convention Center in Second Ward, EpiCentre is a retail/residential complex that stands 50 stories with 428 luxury rental units. Retail shops on the street level will open in early 2007 and the residential section – 210 Trade – is expected to be completed in 2008.

At Poplar, Mint and Trade streets, the 28-story TradeMark features five levels of office, retail and restaurant space, 202 residential units as well as a pool terrace, exercise room and community facilities. Scheduled to open in mid-2007, TradeMark offers units from $265,000 to $765,000.

The Park will rise 21 stories above Third and Caldwell streets. Its verdant rooftop will include gardens, sitting areas, a walking trail, a pool and a small forest of trees. The Park is slated to open in late 2007.

At Fifth and Church, 36-story Avenue will offer 386 one- and two-bedroom condos with floor-to-ceiling windows, a pool and sundeck when in opens in late 2007.

Another high-rise, The Vue, will open in 2009 with 50 stories and 403 units ranging between $240,000 and $4 million. The Vue will be located at Fifth and Pine in Fourth Ward.

About 400 condominiums and 140 hotel suites will compose TWELVE, a 33-story high-rise on College Street between Seventh and Eighth streets. TWELVE will open in early 2009.

In First Ward, Quarterside will be a mixed-use development of retail and loft-style condos off McDowell between Sixth and Seventh streets.

The excitement that attracts people to Uptown home ownership is evident also in commercial life. The Westin Hotel on Stonewall and College streets opened in 2003, offering a unique new building for the Charlotte skyline. With 700 rooms, the hotel is right across from the Charlotte Convention Center and features a bar, restaurant and 44,000 square feet of meeting space.

Bank of America’s new building, The Hearst Tower on North Tryon Street soars 46 stories, making it the city’s second tallest building after the Bank of America tower, which rises above all others at 60 stories. Across Tryon, the 30-story IJL Financial Center, which was built in 1996, shares similar window designs and exterior colors as the Hearst Tower. Three Wachovia Center ascends 32 stories on South Tryon, and a 27-story tower at 300 S. Tryon includes a front courtyard and outdoor seating and dining.

It’s all happening within a relatively small area – the blocks radiating outward from the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets. For the city at large, that’s the center of action. And for an increasingly large number of Charlotteans, it’s the place they call home.