Time postcard: Charlotte not 'trifling' now

"In 1791, George Washington called Charlotte, N.C., a 'trifling place.' In 1941 an author scoffed that the city had as much use for high-rises 'as a hog has for a morning coat.' By 1991, Charlotte was still a minor-league city without major-league sports, a cultural wasteland with a central business district that died every weekday after work."


So goes a Time magazine "Postcard from Charlotte" you can find online at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1844558,00.html. OK, so they got it wrong about Charlotte being "without major-league sports" by 1991. The city's first NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, had already completed two seasons before 1991. So Charlotte wasn't as "minor league" then as the writer assumed.


But it's our two big banks that have pushed the city into the national spotlight of late. As the nation's financial system teeters, Bank of America donned a white hat and came to the rescue of Merrill Lynch. Wachovia was ready and in talks to help Morgan Stanley.


So it's hardly surprising that a lot of people want to know more about what makes Charlotte tick - and prosper. Interesting reading.