Charlotte has changed a lot since George Washington visited in 1791 and found it to be a “trifling place.” Heck, it’s changed a lot since 1987, when a Sacramento sports columnist belittled the city’s effort to land an NBA expansion team: “The only franchise Charlotte will receive,” he wrote, “is one with golden arches.”
For the record, Charlotte was awarded an NBA franchise that year by unanimous vote of the league’s board of commissioners. In fact, the city later received an NFL team, plus a second NBA team when the first departed.
So, throughout its modern-day history, Charlotte has proven to be a can-do place that is growth oriented. It’s also a city that arches its back in the face of criticism, whether it originates from the nation’s first president or an ill-informed journalist in California.
As you read the 11th edition of the Insiders’ Guide to Charlotte, you will learn the ins and outs of this vibrant city and what makes it tick. This book—first introduced in 1987— provides a one-stop source of information about a dynamic, growing area for newcomers, visitors, and locals alike.
Charlotte is the largest metropolitan area in North Carolina, a competitive big sister to the state’s capital city of Raleigh and a crown jewel of the New South. We’re one of the largest banking centers in the United States, and our superlative skyline structure—the 60-story Bank of America Corporate Center—soars higher than any building between Philadelphia and Atlanta. In recent years, Fortune magazine has recognized us for having the nation’s No. 1 pro-business attitude, and we’ve won kudos for everything from livability to our public library system.
Practically every major NASCAR race team is located in the region, and the popular racing series annually holds three of its premier races at our 1.5-mile speedway. The unveiling of the NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in May of 2010 solidified the Queen City’s place as the true home of stock car racing. We hosted the NCAA Final Four in 1994 and nearly landed a world championship in 2004 when our Carolina Panthers battled to the wire against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Charlotte’s second NBA team—the Bobcats—debuted in 2004 and is owned by Michael Jordan, a native North Carolinian and considered by many to be the greatest player in basketball history.
Meanwhile, our CROP Walk fund-raiser is among the most lucrative in the nation, and our Habitat for Humanity branch has built more houses than any other affiliate.
This buttoned-up banking town also has a quirky side—we eat more Beanie Weenies and ketchup and have the highest per capita consumption of Spam in the world. We love to tout our accomplishments and status, and we have a hang up about the term “world-class.” Our civic leaders strive to build a world-class city, world-class banks, world-class culture, and a world-class business environment.
As much as we love being No. 1 in anything, we’re not very fond of problems that come with being on top. We don’t care too much for traffic congestion, always-under-construction roads, overcrowded schools, increased crime, or poor air quality.
In reality, Charlotte is a big small town. It’s a place where home owners install water fountains for parched joggers and folks ask where you go to church before they ask where you work (it’s probably a bank, anyway). We argue over issues that seem petty to other large cities, and we’re always in a squabble with the school board. Yet, we’re generous with our time and money for folks who need a helping hand. We can be quite stubborn, too, refusing to build a new arena for our first NBA team because no one liked the owners, then recruiting a second NBA team a few years later by building a more expensive arena.
But more than anything, Charlotte is welcoming to outsiders. Residents say “hi” to strangers they pass on the street and are happy to provide directions to a lost soul confused by what appears to be the intersection of Queens Road and Queens Road.
Newcomers do not find the city intimidating because very few people in Charlotte are actually from Charlotte. In fact, you’re as likely to meet a graduate of Ohio State University as you are a graduate of UNC Charlotte. And for some unknown reason, there are a remarkable number of transplants from Buffalo, N.Y.
The region grew by leaps and bounds in the 1990s and early 2000s, as people flocked here from across the country (and world) in search of good jobs and a better quality of life. At the height of the influx, nearly 500 newcomers moved to the Queen City each week, bringing with them many different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
What they found was a warm and friendly city with an ever-changing skyline. They encountered a mostly genteel place where old money, new money, and no money come together to bolster our can-do spirit.
Now that’s world-class.