The jagged outline of center city has come a long way since the 1970s, when Uptown was downtown. And it's still filling in, despite the pandemic slowdown, Axios' Katie Peralta Soloff reports.

Why it matters: The skyline is Charlotte's signature. These new tall buildings will add a few more strokes:

• Charlotte Metro Tower: At 40 stories, the new Duke Energy tower is going up at 525 S. Tryon St., right across the street from Duke Energy Center, which is 48 stories.

• The Ellis: 33 stories, multifamily residential, 524 N. College St.
• FNB Tower: 29 stories, office and residential, 401 S. Graham St.
• Seventh and Tryon: 20-30 stories, Spirit Square.
• JW Marriott: 22 stories, hotel, 600 S. College St.

Flashback: This reminded me of a favorite story about the Charlotte skyline. In the early 70s, when North Carolina National Bank (now Bank of America) planned to build a 40-story skyscraper on the Square, city leaders rightfully asked for more details.

• "I’ll give you an environmental impact statement," former NCNB and BofA president Hugh McColl told them. "It’s going to blot out the sun!"

Full story: See Katie's list of what's going up (and what isn't) in Uptown

Olivia Culpo is a Sports Illustrated cover model, former Miss Universe, restaurant owner, actress, creative director and influencer with a following of more than 4 million. She's also dating Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

• We caught up with her to see how she’s settling into Charlotte since moving here last year. Here's some of what she shared with Axios' Lauren Corriher.

Where she shops: Capitol for women, Tabor for men.

• Not Just Coffee for... well, coffee.
• Mimosas Nail Bar for mani/pedis; Lauren Kunijo for hair; Toska European Spa for facials.

Where she eats: Flower Child, O-Ku, Kindred, Fahrenheit, Jack Arnold’s BBQ, Flour Shop and Village Juice Co.

What she loves about our city: "How laid-back Charlotte feels. I think in a way it helps me concentrate more on work. Being in a super crowded and busy city like New York and L.A. can definitely be fun, but also a little distracting and overstimulating at times. Charlotte hits a nice middle ground for me."

Go deeper with Lauren's full interview.

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The public bickering between the city and the county over who would drive houseless human beings to a shelter in a winter storm tells us a little about how "Tent City" got to where it is.

The state of play: The county oversees public health and homelessness; the city oversees public transportation and affordable housing. Everyone's responsible; nobody's responsible. They've shared and sidestepped leadership on the encampment all year while nonprofits did the work on the ground.

• That changed this week when the county health director called it a public health hazard and ordered the encampment shut down by 5pm today.

Driving the news: County manager Dena Diorio said she was "disappointed" in city manager Marcus Jones because the city backed out of plans to provide transportation to hotels the county is providing.

• "When I make a commitment to somebody, I do it," Diorio said in a virtual meeting.
• The city had a different story, saying in a statement the county had told them their services were no longer needed.

Why it matters: The two managers, who each make about $350,000 in base salaries, are the most powerful people in our local governments. We haven't seen their offices take shots at each other like this in recent memory.

What's next: The people who live in tents don't care who does what. About 180 of them accepted an offer for a 90-day stay in a motel. What happens to those who choose not to go is the top question.

For the Charlotte newcomers, here's Amplify Charlotte's handy graphic of what the city and county each oversee.

Score one for local journalism: 72 hours after the Charleston Post & Courier published an investigation into small-town corruption in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster wants more scrutiny on the organizations that ripped ratepayers off, the paper reports.

Why it matters: Research shows that when community newspapers close, government spending increases.

• The Post & Courier's editor said the project cost $35,000.

Why it matters here: Just across the state line in Chester, Lancaster and York Counties, the local gas authorities’ board members spent more than $160,000 riding Segways, touring wineries and eating a dinner overlooking waterfalls at a recent conference.

• All of it was funded by their ratepayers.

My thought bubble: What are they getting away with in North Carolina's small towns?

Sometimes location is everything. That's the case for this 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom condo listed at $219,900 in Uptown's 4th Ward. Other perks include an open floor layout, covered wooden deck and fireplace. 

Interested? Schedule a showing with Rym Saka of the Redbud Group. 

This week's list from Axios' Brianna Crane starts with a one-bedroom South End condo in the old Lance factory and goes up to a $1.6 million Myers Park home that looks like a mountain house.

• The one pictured above falls in between.

501 Scofield Road — $775,000

• Neighborhood: Barclay Downs
• Realtor: Beth Livingston at HM Properties
• Specs: 5 beds, 3 baths, 2,480 square feet
• Notable features: Updated kitchen, tons of entertaining space, large yard.
• Why Bri loves it: Beautiful open kitchen, painted-brick fireplace, screened-in porch.

Full story: 6 houses for sale in Charlotte, starting at $319K

Chef Rob Masone grew up in Rock Hill, not far from where he just opened the new restaurant Kounter. One of his favorite memories is his mom’s homemade chocolate pies. Well, homemade aside from the Cool Whip on top.

It’s a Masone family tradition to buy Food Lion brand Cool Whip. The taste is good, sure, but the chef later learned his mother preferred it out of necessity, he told Axios' Emma Way.

• Decades ago, Masone’s mother would pay for groceries with a check at their local Food Lion and ask them to hold off on cashing it for a few days until the next paycheck came in. The clerks agreed, and the tradition stuck.

🌀 News you can use from our super cool, very important Axios Charlotte partners.

• Memorial Day Weekend will be here before you know it and tickets are already on sale for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Snag them now for the whole fam and start dreaming of warmer weather.

Raleigh ranked fifth on the Milken Institute's annual ranking of big metropolitan areas with the best regional economies, Axios' Jennifer Kingson reported.

• Charlotte ranked ... wait a minute ... Charlotte wasn't ranked?
• Obviously, this ranking is absurd.

A few years ago, I described the relationship between North Carolina's larger cities like this in a Bitter Southerner essay.

I lived in Greensboro for two years and never heard people argue about Greensboro’s identity. Winston-Salem has a little edge, and that’s cool, but Winston-Salem doesn’t constantly ask people if it’s cool. Fayetteville wants to tell you what it isn’t, a noble and fruitless pursuit for the military town. Raleigh’s consistent troll is that it isn’t Charlotte. Which brings us back to Charlotte, which maybe used to talk about Atlanta, but now really just talks about Charlotte.

Meanwhile, Greensboro just took home "freezing rain capital of the Southeast" honors, the North Carolina Rabbit Hole writes. Good for them!