What's next for Charlotte after Wachovia's fall?

Peter St. Onge | Charlotte Observer

For a generation, as a bank town, Charlotte swaggered.

We grew from Top 10 in banking to Top 5 to Top 2. We rebuilt our downtown, got ourselves an international airport, a football team, a basketball team, twice.

We compared our rising property values, enjoyed our growing restaurant scene, smiled at cranes and frowned at traffic, but we knew what it signaled: prosperity.

And we expected more. Charlotte recruited other cities' young professionals and hunted other cities' business headquarters leaving other chambers of commerce to glumly wonder what was next.

Monday, it was our turn.

Wachovia Corp. pummeled by toxic loans announced it was being taken over by Citigroup. Wachovia's retail banking headquarters will remain in Charlotte, but the investment banking division and the corporate decision makers will be based in New York. No longer will we be a city of two brawling banks, competing in business and sponsorship and charity.

Read the complete story at charlotteobserver.com

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