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About Uptown
Uptown The center of Charlotte is known as Uptown but locals still call it
downtown. In the 19th century, Uptown was divided into four political wards, and
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 at which all four wards converge. Uptown is home
to the majority of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Bank of America Stadium
(home of the Carolina Panthers) and the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Johnson & Wales
University, the Museum of the New South, Discovery Place, and the Mint Museum of
Craft + Design are also located Uptown, along with the government district for
both Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte. Uptown Charlotte is currently
in the midst of a construction and developmental boom, with numerous high-rise
buildings under construction, as well as major retail and cultural projects.
Charlotte center city (also known as Uptown Charlotte) is the area comprising
the township and original city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Its numerical
distinction within the county is 1 (of 15). Its official distinction would be
Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina.
The area, bounded by the Belk and Brookshire freeways (the I-277 loop), is
further broken down into four wards. Of them, First, Third, and Fourth Wards
have residential areas. The Second Ward is made up primarily of city and county
government offices. The residential population of the center city is
approximately 10,000.
Uptown is where Charlotte's business sector is located, largely made up of
banking and other financial service industries. About 55,000 people work in
Charlotte's center city. The headquarters for the Fortune 500 companies: Bank of
America, Duke Energy, and Wachovia are located there. Museums, sporting venues,
hotels, restaurants, and bars are heavily concentrated in uptown as well.
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 most noticeable development is the new Charlotte Bobcats Arena. UNC
Charlotte is planning to build a new academic building in the First Ward as part
of an urban village project being developed by Levine Properties. The current
plans for the urban village include a 4 acre park, 450,000 sq. feet of office
space, 2,700 residential units, 250 hotel rooms, 250,000 sq. feet of retail
space, and 450,000 sq. feet of civic space. Current attractions include: Spirit
Square, ImaginOn Children's Learning Center, Levine Museum of the New South, and
the Mint Museum of Craft and Design.
Second ward is the location of Charlotte's "Government District" and will be the
location of the new NASCAR Hall of Fame. Second Ward used to be the location of
the predominantly African American neighborhood Brooklyn before urban renewal
took place. Many new developments are under construction or proposed. EpiCentre,
a mixed use entertainment and retail complex, is under construction on the site
of the old Charlotte convention center.
Third Ward is a namely residential neighborhood that boasts Johnson & Wales
University and Bank of America Stadium. A 1.5 million sq foot mixed-use
development. Wachovia is currently working on a very ambitious project that will
include cultural, office, and residential.
Fourth Ward is mostly residential and has many beautiful Victorian homes. New
development is occurring with high rise condominium towers and the North
Carolina Music Factory, an entertainment complex.
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. & Tryon St., having been the
point of highest elevation. When people would come from outlying areas to the
city, they would say they were going 'up to town', a phrase that was eventually
shortened to 'Uptown'. Despite this, there are many who steadfastly believe that
center-city Charlotte was called "Downtown" up until 10 years ago when there was
a concerted effort to rename it "Uptown" by various groups that had come from
outside Charlotte. These people feel that this was an attempt to improve the
city's image. Unfortunately, that argument is illogical due to the history of
calling the area Uptown that exists throughout the region.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.