Charlotte Living

Downtown Urban Lifestyle, Lake Living, Land, Retirement, and Amenities in NC Charlotte

The largest metropolitan area in the Carolinas, Charlotte attracts 500 newcomers each week. Roughly one in four residents moved here in the last decade.

What’s the allure? Good jobs in a business-minded atmosphere, a can-do community spirit, a mild climate with four seasons, rolling land and rural beauty, good schools, affordable homes in communities that range from Main Street Mayberry to metropolitan, and plenty of diversions, including professional sports, outdoor recreation, and arts and entertainment.

An international airport, network of Interstate highways, and easy drives from the mountains and coast make the Queen City of Charlotte perfect for frequent travelers, family trips North and South, and great weekend getaways.

North Carolina has even more award-winning golf courses, and Blue Ridge Mountain resorts. North Charlotte has Lake Norman, while South Charlotte is near Lake Wylie. Both are great destinations for day trips, or for lakeside living.

Residents can choose from sleek new high-rise condominiums or century-old Fourth Ward Victorians, and walk to and from work. Down time offers Broadway shows, gallery openings, cutting edge restaurants, fun taverns and clubs, outdoor concerts, museums and professional sports.

Just outside the Center City are Charlotte’s first suburbs – the grand mansions and willow-oak lined streets of Myers Park, the charming cottages of Dilworth and the funkier, younger and cheaper revitalized neighborhoods of Elizabeth, Plaza-Midwood and Cotswold.

Skip down to South Charlotte’s Ballantyne, Stonecrest and Arboretum communities and across the Union County line into Weddington and you’re in the soccer-mom suburbs.

Upscale shopping centers, great schools, golf courses and family friendly communities are the norm in this more conservative, transplant-heavy area.

Waterfront Properties

Water views also remain a top draw. Lake Wylie, southwest of Charlotte, offers new communities such as The Palisades and The Sanctuary as well as renovated older homes on quiet side streets. Lake Norman, north of the city, is more developed and congested with its incorporated towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Denver and Mooresville.

But no matter which part of Charlotte folks call home, weekend excursions seem to take residents everywhere.

Newcomers can enjoy shopping stores at SouthPark Mall, watching boat traffic from the deck of T-Bones at the Lake on Lake Wylie; dancing with friends at Menage, sipping Irish imports at Ri-Ra, listening to jazz at Blue, and tailgating at Carolina Panthers NFL games.

Critics who claim Charlotte has no character or charm haven’t taken the time to discover its culture, history and, in growing pockets, funky vibe. More importantly, the people in Charlotte are the jewels in the Queen City’s crown.

“You don’t have an identity based on the number of old buildings or museums you have, “Your identity is wrapped up in who lives here. Charlotte is really a cross-section of America, with people moving here from all over the country and making it their own. Part of the attraction is that it’s new and clean. It’s just waiting for people to make their imprint on it.”

Charlotte residents love to tout the city’s accomplishments. This hang-up probably dates back hundreds of years when George Washington called it a “trifling place.” Some kudos you’re likely to hear:

• Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the U.S. behind New York City. The 60-story skyscraper with the crown of white lights on top is the Bank of America Corporate Center and soars higher than any other building from Philadelphia to Atlanta.
• Fortune magazine named harlotte the nation’s #1 pro-business attitude. The city’s CROP Walk fund-raiser is the most lucrative in the nation, and the local Habitat for Humanity branch has built more homes for the poor than any other affiliate.
• Lowe’s Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR races in May and October that have become one of the largest sporting events in the country.

The Carolina Panthers, also known as the Cardiac Cats, battled to the Super Bowl (but lost) in 2004. The Charlotte Bobcats NBA team begins playing in the new uptown arena this fall.

Queen City residents will treat you royally. Charlotte is still a town where people install water fountains for joggers – and their dogs; where neighbors show up with cookies, cakes and casseroles for newcomers; and where folks are more apt to ask where you go to church than where you work.