Charleston is a district in the burgh of Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

 in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Once a village distinct from Paisley, Charleston has become absorbed as Paisley has expanded, in particular by housing developments in Lochfield and Glenburn

Glenburn, Paisley

Glenburn is a large housing estate situated to the south of Paisley, close to the Gleniffer Braes. Glenburn has three primary schools . A public library and many shops can be found at Skye Crescent. Other shops can be found in Glenburn on Braehead Road and Glenburn Road...

.

Until the 1990s, Charleston was a mixed area of housing, industry and people were involved in stripping . However, the closure of several factories and the development of their sites for modern housing, has significantly changed the character of the area.

Housing on Neilston Road, Stock Street and Espedair Street provide typical examples of Scottish tenement flats

Tenement

A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...

. Three to four storeys tall, with shops on the ground floor and constructed of local blond sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, these tenement flats have been extensively restored and modernised since the 1980s.

The Iain Banks

Iain Banks

Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...

 novel, Espedair Street

Espedair Street

-Plot introduction:The book tells the story of the rise to fame of Dan Weir , a bass guitar player in a rock and roll band called Frozen Gold, and of his struggles to be happy now that he is rich and famous.-Plot summary:...

takes its name from the street in Charleston and is partly set in the district.

Locally the area is nicknamed "Kentucky".