Charlotte -- A Great Place to Live!

With a Metro Charlotte population of over 1.6 million hardy souls, Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina. The population of the city itself (as of the year 2002) was 579,684. Charlotte has a land area of 242 square miles, and is situated in the foothills of North Carolina (called the Piedmont) with an altitude of 765 feet. Average daily temperatures are 39.3° F in the month of January and 79.3° F in the month of July. However, those figures can be misleading because it is not uncommon to see temperatures in the 90's during the summer and down to the low teens in the winter. However, such extremes do not usually last for a long time, and the weather is often mild and comfortable. A common saying is "If you don't like the weather, stay around a few minutes and it will change!"

Charlotte was named in honor of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of George III. However, it is often called "The City of Trees" for the vast canopy of the many trees that grace its streets.

Those trees form a blazing cornucopia of beauty in the fall. Native trees include black oak, elms, sweet gum, pin oak, poplar, red oak, beech, sugar and red maples, and of course, the omnipresent cedar and pine trees.

Although Charlotte is quickly becoming a very cosmopolitan city, there are still rural vistas to be found. This photo of a line of brilliantly red bradford pears leading to an old barn was taken in Matthews near the Union county line.

In the spring, thousands  and thousands of brilliantly colored azaleas suddenly burst into exuberant bloom and turn Charlotte into a "fairyland" (as one visitor described the annual extravanganza).

 The photo at  right shows just a few of the 200-300 azaleas that grow on my own personal property. This over-whelming display of beauty is repeated innumerable times throughout the city and its environs, along with pansies, dogwoods, bradford pears, tulips and daffodils.

In the 1800's, Charlotte was a major gold-producing center and even had its own Mint (now known as the Mint Museum). The 1848 California gold rush ended that distinction, but cotton farming led to more prosperity. Today, however, those days are long past and Charlotte is now a huge banking center as well as a trucking city and home to many other businesses.

Charlotte has many attractions such as the Carowinds theme park; racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway; and numerous sports venues including the Sting (WNBA), Bobcats (NBA), Checkers (East Coast Hockey League), Eagles (USL soccer), Carolina Cobras (Arena Football) and the Panthers NFL team.

The Panthers Stadium is pictured here.  The Panthers are having a great year. Monday, December 8th, they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which puts the Panthers atop the NFC South. We love our Panthers!

For those more esoteric interests, Charlotte has something for everyone and there are many historic sites and museums available, including the Mint Museum of Art, the Museum of the New South, Charlotte Museum of History / Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, Charlotte Nature Museum, and Discovery Place.

Charlotte is dedicated to education and strives to assure that no child is left behind in the school systems. Education further continues with the many colleges and universities that are available and those include: the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Johnson C. Smith University, Queens University, Kings College, Brookstone College, Johnson & Wales University, and Central Piedmont Community College.

Charlotte has truly become a vibrant and growing city, throbbing with endless opportunities and new ideas.

We would love for you to make your home here!  

To the left are interactive links that give insight into the many exciting features that Charlotte has to offer.

***These links are listed as a convenience to our visitors. If you use these links, we take no responsibility and give no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of these third-party sites.***