[2] Several Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in the district, including Bank of America, Duke Energy, Honeywell, and the east coast operations of Wells Fargo.

The term "Up-Town", referring to the geographic location of Tryon and Trade Street—"uptown" actually does sit at a higher elevation than the rest of the city—was recorded as early as 1895 in the Charlotte Observer but fell out of use around 1929 for reasons unknown.

In 1973, a massive campaign was launched by local businessman Jack Wood to revamp the image of the downtown area and embrace the historic and arguably uniquely Charlotte term "Uptown" by reintroducing it to the general public.

"[7] 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.

[32] Once considered one of the most dangerous areas in Charlotte, the first ward has become one of the more desirable because of gentrification under a HUD HOPE VI grants with many new developments under construction.

[33] 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 second ward was formerly the location of the predominantly black neighborhood, Brooklyn, before an urban renewal project took place.

[37] Today, second ward is home to Queen City Quarter, a mixed-use entertainment and retail complex;[38] the Charlotte Convention Center;[39] the Victorian Gothic style St. Peter's Catholic Church;[40] The Green, a downtown mini-park; and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art+Culture (named for Harvey Gantt).

It is the Ward that house a lot of the entertainment and culture attractions in Uptown which include Knight Theatre, the Mint Museum, and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Carolina Panthers' and Charlotte FC's Bank of America Stadium, Truist Field, home of the Charlotte Knights, opened in 2014, Romare Bearden Park, which opened in September 2013,[42] and Gateway Village.

Gateway Village, one of the state's largest mixed-use developments, is 1.5 million sq ft (140,000 m2) in size, and home to offices, shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and over 500 housing units.

Third ward is also the site of the upcoming Gateway Station transportation hub, which began construction in July 2018.

[46][47] It is an official historic district, and is the location of Old Settlers' Cemetery and the three-acre Fourth Ward Park.

[82][86] Uptown needs more hotel rooms within walking distance from the Convention Center to attract more world class events.

[85] Austin: 13,629[85] Baltimore: 8,766[85] Indianapolis: 8,487[85] Louisville: 9,408[85] Nashville: 20,108[85] Tampa: 14,104[85] One step the city is taking to change this a land swap with developer Millennium Venture Capital.

The library provides services, books, CDs, DVDs and homework support for children and teens.

ImaginOn contains the McColl Family Theatre and the Wachovia Playhouse, venues used by the Children's Theater for their performances.

[143] The Charlotte Convention Center attracts over 500,000 people a year to its 280,000 square feet (26,000 m2) of exhibit space.

The Convention Center is currently undergoing an expansion to add an additional 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of meeting space and a pedestrian bridge connection to the adjacent Westin hotel.

The first phase of the Levine Center for the Arts opened in 2010, as part of the then-named Wachovia Cultural Campus.

[161] Uptown Charlotte is surrounded by Interstate 277, an auxiliary highway which creates the boundaries of the four wards and is the innermost of the city's three ring roads.