Fourth Ward

The corner of Uptown that survived urban renewal. Restored late-1800s houses on brick sidewalks sit a block from towers, with Fourth Ward Park at the center and a short walk to the Trade Street restaurants.

Fourth Ward is the northwest corner of Uptown and the only part of the center city that still looks like the Charlotte that existed before the banks. Preservationists saved its Victorians in the 1970s and 1980s while most of the old downtown came down.

Where it is

• North Poplar, North Pine and West Ninth, the restored 1890s houses
• Fourth Ward Park, with the gazebo and fountain
• Settlers’ Cemetery and First Presbyterian’s block on the south edge
• The Music Factory’s bars a few blocks north
• The 7th Street Blue Line station

If you’re moving here

This is the residential, walkable corner of Uptown, with the grocery at hand and the towers a short walk south. It’s quieter than Third Ward on game days and more expensive per square foot than almost anywhere else inside the loop. You’ll choose between a restored Victorian, a new townhouse and a mid-rise condo. Street parking is by residential permit, and the Saturday-night Music Factory crowd is the one complaint you’ll hear from neighbors.

If you’re visiting

• Walk the Victorian blocks in the late afternoon when the light hits the porches
• Stop at Settlers’ Cemetery, where the town buried its founders until 1867; the cemetery guide explains
• See First Presbyterian’s 1857 sanctuary from the churches guide
• End at the Music Factory for a show or a drink