"I like the details in the streetscape: the decorative lighting, the front porches, the sidewalks, the front lawns and the gardens," said the president of Charlotte Center City Partners. "I'm impressed with the quality of the housing."

"That neighborhood has risen from the ashes."

Walsh heads the agency charged with invigorating Charlotte's downtown. He sees parallels to Fourth Ward, the established downtown neighborhood where renovation started 25 years ago.

"I look back to some of the difficulties Fourth Ward had and the way people just turned everything around,"said Walsh. "Now you see almost a mirror impression of that turnaround in First Ward - the streetscape, the linear park (along Ninth Street), the Episcopal school and the nearby capitol projects such as the trolley that will be up and running in a couple of years.

"Projects like Tivoli are paving the way for a very strong neighborhood, and there is going to be a time in the not too distant future where the boundaries between First and Fourth wards are going to blend."