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[ Iveys Condominiums ]
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[ Itinerary ]
[ Tour Guide ]
[ Related Sites ]
[ Iveys Condominiums ]
[ Homes Tour ]
[ Directions ]
[ ]
The rebirth of Fourth Ward began just over two decades ago.
At the turn of the century, the city's most affluent citizens lived in Fourth Ward, an area bounded roughly by North Church Street, West Trade Street, the Southern Railroad and Brookshire Freeway.
The area thrived, with more than 350 Victorian homes, churches, mills, factories and hospitals.
But deterioration knocked during the Great Depression and by the 1950s an exodus to the suburbs had furthered Fourth Ward's decline. The area became a haven for prostitutes, criminals and vagrants. Many homes - nearly 66 percent - had been demolished.
In the early 1970s, a few hopeful people envisioned a revitalized Fourth Ward, a restored Victorian neighborhood. In 1976, the city approved the Fourth Ward Redevelopment Plan and, during the following decade, spent more than $2.7 million in Fourth Ward.
The landmark year, 1976, also included the creation of the Historic District
Commission and the designation of Fourth Ward as Charlotte's first historic
district.
A group of local financial institutions began a low-interest loan program and formed a partnership with the city to extend home mortgage and rehabilitation loans to aid in the district's revitalization.
Today victorian houses, brick sidewalks, street lamps and wrought-iron gates fill Charlotte`s historic Fourth Ward. The neighborhood is, for Charlotte, a lush green residential pocket among the towering offices and concrete parking lots of uptown. From here, you can walk to your uptown office, to a play at Spirit Square or to Alexander Michael`s, the neighborhood tavern.
Suburbanites might wonder about raising kids in an uptown neighborhood.
Although the latest census revealed that relatively fewer children live in Fourth Ward than the rest of Charlotte, the Fourth Ward ``village'' is an ideal place to raise youth.
You can ride bikes in the neighborhood and ride uptown at night walk your children to Discovery Place, the library, church, Springfest, Jazz Charlotte and Race Week.
Other common questions are about the safety in urban neighborhoods - and how in the world uptown residents get by without a corner grocery store.
We have an excellent policeforce up here. It's dangerous to live anywhere. You have to be street wise. The neighbors all watch out for each other. I call it an old-fashioned neighborhood because people in suburbs now don't know anybody.
As for the grocery store, well. . . .
Fourth Ward's greatest need is a grocery store.
Though it takes a drive to get to grocery stores, a clothing store, a sandwich shop and two salons are all within walking distance.
A historic bookstore and a new coffee shop, along with Alexander Michael's restaurant, serve Fourth Ward residents - as well as more and more outsiders who frequent the area.
As you can see, there is a lot of readaptive use of historical buildings. Our next stop will be at Ivey's Condominiums , a historical department store converted into condos.
Related Sites
The above tour information was adapted from an article written by Stephanie Erickson and appeared in the Charlotte Observer Sunday, August 27, 1995.
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[ Iveys Condominiums ]
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