Perhaps Queen Charlotte, the german wife of England's King George III, never even knew about the village in the North Carolina piedmont that took her name in 1768. If she did, however, she couldn't have been pleased to learn of its reputation as a hornet's nest of anti-British sentiment during the Revolutionary War. Even back then, this city had an independent streak a mike wide. That streak is still visible in North Carolina's largest city, where "Uptown" is down-town and what a label like "New South" seems out of date. Through ambition, persistence, and against all geographic logic, Charlotte has become America's largest banking center outside of New York City. It is also an increasingly attractive place to live - a city where a distinctive local culture comfortably combines NASCAR and barbecue with high art and haute cuisine.