'Charlotte' is the largest city in the state of
North Carolina and the
20th largest city in the
United States. It has a 2006 estimated population of approximately 664,342
[1]as of
January 1,
2007. It is the
county seat of
Mecklenburg County, and is located in the south-central part of the state in the
Piedmont region, near the
South Carolina border. The city's economy has matured in the 1990s and early 2000s to become dominated by financial services, as well as retail commerce. According to 2006 estimates, Charlotte is the 5th fastest growing among large U.S. cities.
[2]
Nicknamed ''The Queen City'' (which it shares with
Cincinnati, Ohio and
Buffalo, New York),
Charlotte (as well as the county containing it) was named in honor of
Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of
King George III of the
United Kingdom. During the
American Revolution the British Commander in the Southern Colonies,
General Cornwallis, occupied Charlotte but was driven out soon afterwards by the fierce opposition of the city's residents to British rule. Cornwallis famously wrote that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion", leading to another city nickname: ''The Hornet's Nest''.
The
Charlotte metropolitan area (
MSA) had a census estimated population of 1,583,016 in 2006. As of 2006, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury
combined statistical area (CSA) had a regional population of 2,191,604.
[3] A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean (
IPA: ).
History
Horse-drawn carriage in uptown Charlotte
The area that is now Charlotte was first settled in 1755 when Thomas Polk (uncle of
United States President James K. Polk), who was traveling with Thomas Spratt and his family, stopped and built his house of residence at the intersection of two
Native American trading paths between the
Yadkin and
Catawba rivers.
[4] One of the paths ran north-south and was part of the
Great Wagon Road; the second path ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of
Scots-Irish and
German descent from
Pennsylvania into the
Carolina foothills. Within the first decades following Polk's settling, the area grew to become the community of "Charlotte Town," which officially
incorporated as a town in 1768.
[5] The crossroads, perched atop a long rise in the
Piedmont landscape, became the heart of modern
Uptown Charlotte.
In 1770, surveyors marked off the new town's streets in a
grid pattern for future development. The east-west trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of
William Tryon, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina.
[6] The intersection of Trade and Tryon is known as "Trade & Tryon" or simply "The Square".
[7]
Both the town (now a city) and
its county are named for
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the
German-born wife of British
King George III. The town name was chosen in hopes of winning favor with the crown,
[8] but tensions between the
United Kingdom and Charlotte Town began to grow as King George imposed unpopular laws on the citizens in response to the townspeople's desire for
independence.
[9] On
May 20,
1775, the townsmen allegedly signed a proclamation later known as the
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a copy of which was sent, though never officially presented, to the
Continental Congress a year later.
[10] The date of the declaration appears on the
North Carolina state flag. Eleven days later, the same townsmen met to create and endorse the
Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of laws to govern the newly independent town.
[11]
Charlotte was a site of encampment for both American and British armies during the
Revolutionary War and, during a series of skirmishes between British troops and Charlotteans, the village earned the lasting nickname "Hornet's Nest" from frustrated Lord
General Charles Cornwallis.
[12] An ideological hotbed of revolutionary sentiment during the Revolutionary War and for some time afterwards, the legacy endures today in the nomenclature of such landmarks as
Independence Boulevard,
Independence High School, Independence Center, Freedom Park, Freedom Drive, and the former
NBA team
Charlotte Hornets.
Churches, mainly of the
Presbyterian faith, but also Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Catholics, began to form in the early 1800s, eventually giving Charlotte its nickname "The City of Churches."
[13]
In 1799, 12-year-old
Conrad Reed brought home a rock weighing about 17 pounds, which the family used as a bulky doorstop for three years before it was recognized by a jeweler as near solid gold and bought for a paltry $3.50.
[14] The first verified gold find in the fledgling United States, young Reed's discovery became the genesis of the nation's first
gold rush. Many veins of gold were found in the area throughout the 1800s and even into the early 1900s, thus the founding of the
Charlotte Mint in 1837 for minting local gold. The state of North Carolina "led the nation in gold production until the California Gold Rush of 1848,"
[15] although the total volume of gold mined in the Charlotte area was dwarfed by subsequent rushes. Charlotte's city population at the
1880 Census grew to 7,084.
[16] Some locally based groups still
pan for gold occasionally in local (mostly rural) streams and creeks. The
Reed Gold Mine operated until 1912. The
Charlotte Mint was active until 1861, when
Confederate forces seized the mint at the outbreak of the
Civil War. The mint was not reopened at the end of the war, but the building survives today, albeit in a different location, now housing the
Mint Museum of Art.
The city's first boom came after the Civil War, as a cotton processing center and a railroad hub. Population leapt again during World War I, when the U.S. government established Camp Greene north of present-day Wilkinson Boulevard. Many soldiers and suppliers stayed after the war, launching an ascent that eventually overtook older and more established rivals along the
arc of the Carolina Piedmont.
[17]
The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, largely under the leadership of
financier Hugh McColl. McColl transformed
North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) into a formidable national player that, through a series of aggressive acquisitions, eventually became
Bank of America. Another bank,
First Union, experienced similar growth, and is now known as
Wachovia after a merger. Today, measured by control of assets, Charlotte is the second largest banking headquarters in the United States after New York City.
[18]
Geography and climate
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 242.9 square miles (629 square kilometers). Out of that, 242.3 sq. mi. (627.5 km²) of it is land and 0.6 sq. mi. (1.6 km²) of it is water. The total area is 0.25% water.
Charlotte constitutes most of
Mecklenburg County in the Carolina
Piedmont. Uptown Charlotte, so named because it sits atop a long rise between two creeks, was built on the
gunnies of the St. Catherine's and Rudisill
gold mines.
Charlotte's elevation is 748 feet above sea level (at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport).
A 2007
American Lung Association report
[19] ranks Charlotte as having the 16th highest levels of
smog among U.S. cities.
Charlotte is located in
North America's
humid subtropical climate zone. The city has mild winters and hot, humid summers. In January, morning lows average around 0 °C (32 °F) and afternoon highs average 11 °C (51 °F). In July, lows average 22 °C (71 °F) and highs average 32 °C (90 °F). The highest recorded temperature was 40 °C (104 °F) on September 6, 1954 and during the August 2007 Southeastern heat wave.
[20] The lowest recorded temperature was -21 °C (-5 °F) in January 1985. Charlotte's location puts it in the direct path of subtropical moisture from the Gulf as it heads up the eastern seaboard along the jet stream, thus the city receives ample precipitation throughout the year but also a very large number of clear, sunny, and pleasantly warm days. On average, Charlotte receives about 1105.3 mm (43.52 in) of precipitation annually, including very little snow and more frequent ice-storms.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Avg high [°C](°F) | 12 (54) | 13 (56) | 18 (64) | 23 (73) | 27 (80) | 31 (87) | 32 (90) | 31 (88) | 28 (82) | 23 (73) | 17 (63) | 12 (54) | 22 (72) |
|---|
| Avg low temperature [°C](°F) | 0 (32) | 1 (34) | 6 (42) | 9 (49) | 14 (58) | 19 (66) | 22 (71) | 21 (69) | 17 (63) | 11(51) | 6 (42) | 2 (35) | 11 (51) |
|---|
| Rainfall (millimeters)(inches) | 101.6 (4.00) | 90.2 (3.55) | 111.5 (4.39) | 74.9 (2.95) | 93.0 (2.66) | 86.9 (3.42) | 96.3 (3.79) | 94.5 (3.72) | 97.3 (3.83) | 93.0 (3.66) | 85.3 (3.36) | 80.8 (3.18) | 1105.3 (43.52) |
|---|
Major storms
In 1989, the city took a direct hit from
Hurricane Hugo. Passing through Charlotte with wind gusts over 160 km/h (100 mph), Hugo caused massive property damage and knocked out power to 98% of the population. Many residents were without power for several weeks and cleanup took months to complete. Being a city far inland, residents, city government and the utilities were not prepared to handle such a powerful hurricane. Over 80,000 trees were destroyed in Charlotte.
In December 2002, Charlotte (and much of central North Carolina) was hit by a massive ice storm that knocked out power to over 1.2 million Duke Power customers. According to a Duke Energy representative: "This ice storm surpasses the damage from Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which had 696,000 outages." During an abnormally cold December, many were without power for more than two weeks.
Neighborhoods
Economy
Brevard Restaurants with the Wachovia Bank Building in background
Charlotte has become a major U.S. financial center, and, based on assets, both the nation's second largest and fourth largest financial institutions call the city home (
Bank of America and
Wachovia, respectively). Bank of America' headquarters, along with other regional banking and financial services companies, are located primarily in the uptown financial district. Thanks in large part to the expansion of the city's banking industry, the Charlotte
skyline has mushroomed in the past two decades and boasts the Bank of America Corporate Center, the tallest skyscraper between
Philadelphia and
Atlanta. The 60-story postmodern gothic tower, designed by renowned architect
Cesar Pelli, stands 871 feet tall and was completed in 1992.
The following
Fortune 500 companies are
headquartered in the
Charlotte metropolitan area:
★
Bank of America
★
Duke Energy
★
Family Dollar
★
Goodrich Corporation
★
Lowe's
★
Nucor
★
Sonic Automotive
★
SPX Corporation
★
Wachovia
Other major companies headquartered in the Metro Charlotte include
Time Warner Cable (a business unit of Fortune 500 company
Time Warner),
Continental Tire North America (formerly Continental/General Tire),
Muzak,
Belk,
Harris Teeter,
Meineke Car Care Centers,
Lance, Inc,
Bojangles' , Carlisle Companies,
LendingTree, Compass Group USA and
Food Lion in suburban Salisbury. Also, neighboring Gastonia is home to Choice Beverage, Inc., makers of SunDrop and Cheerwine, and Parkdale Mills world headquarters.
Charlotte is also a major center in the US motorsports industry, with
NASCAR having multiple offices in and around Charlotte. Approximately 75% of the industry's employees and drivers are based within two hours of downtown Charlotte. Charlotte is also the future home of the
NASCAR Hall of Fame, expected to be completed in
2009. The center city/uptown area of Charlotte has seen remarkable growth over the last decade. Numerous residential units continue to be built uptown, including over 20 skyscapers either under construction, recently completed, or in the planning stage. Many new restaurants, bars and clubs now operate in the uptown area.
Law, government and politics
Charlotte has a
council-manager form of government. The
mayor and
city council are elected every two years, with no
term limits. The mayor is ''ex officio'' chairman of the city council, and only votes in case of a tie. Unlike other mayors in council-manager systems, Charlotte's mayor has the power to
veto ordinances passed by the council; vetoes can be overridden by a two-thirds majority of the council. The council appoints a
city manager to serve as chief administrative officer.
Unlike other cities and towns in North Carolina, elections are held on a partisan basis. The current
mayor of Charlotte is
Pat McCrory, of the
Republican Party. McCrory has served as mayor since his election in
1995. Charlotte holds elections for mayor every two years, with the next election in
2007; there is no
term limit. Although it has elected Republican mayors since
1987, Charlotte tends to lean Democratic. However, voters are friendly to moderates of both parties.
The city council is comprised of 11 members (7 from districts and 4
at-large). The
Democrats currently control the council with an advantage of 7-to-4. While the city council is responsible for passing ordinances, many policy decisions must be approved by the
North Carolina General Assembly as well, since North Carolina municipalities do not have
home rule. Since the 1960s, however, municipal powers have been broadly construed.
Historically, Charlotte has been a stronghold of North Carolina's Republican Party. However, the city's rapidly changing demographics is steadily increasing the strength of the Democratic Party; in 2004 Democratic presidential candidate
John Kerry carried the city by a narrow margin.
[21] This follows the pattern of other large North Carolina cities such as
Raleigh and
Greensboro, where out-of-state immigration has also caused an upsurge in Democratic voting strength. However, this increasing liberalism has placed Charlotte at odds with much of the rest of North Carolina, where traditional conservative social values and Republican voting strength remain dominant.
Charlotte is split between three
congressional districts on the federal level--the 8th, represented by Republican
Robin Hayes; the 9th, represented by Republican
Sue Myrick; and the 12th, represented by Democrat
Mel Watt.
The
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is a combined jurisdiction agency. The CMPD has law enforcement jurisdiction in both the City of Charlotte and the unincorporated areas of the County of Mecklenburg; however, several smaller towns, such as Matthews, maintain their own law enforcement agencies for their own jurisdictions. The Department is comprised of approximately 1600 sworn, armed, law enforcement officers, and several hundred civilian support personnel. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department divides the city into 13 geographic areas, which vary in size both geographically and by the number of officers assigned to each division.
Education
UNC Public Logo
The city's public school system,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, is the largest in North Carolina and 23rd largest in the nation
[22]. About 130,000 students are taught in 161 separate elementary, middle and high schools. Secular and religious
private schools are prominent, from well-established schools with large campuses to others that are small and new. The relatively recent phenomenon of
charter schools, independently operated public schools, are another education option.
Charlotte's largest higher education institution, the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, is located in
University City, as the northeastern portion of Charlotte is called. At 20,000 students and counting, it is the fastest-growing university in the state system. The area is also home to University Research Park, a 3,200 acre (13 km²) research and corporate park.
Central Piedmont Community College has multiple campuses, all in the Charlotte metro area, and is the largest
community college in North Carolina or South Carolina.
[23] Charlotte is home to a number of notable private universities and colleges such as
Queens University of Charlotte and
Davidson College; the latter being 20 miles north of Charlotte.
The
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County serves the Charlotte area with a large collection of books, CDs and DVDs in 20 branches. Most of its locations provide free access to Internet-enabled computers and WiFi.
People and culture
Demographics
| Historical populations[24][25][26] |
|---|
Census
year | Population |
|---|---|
|
| 1880 | 7094 |
| 1890 | 12,000 |
| 1900 | 19,000 |
| 1910 | 34,000 |
| 1920 | <70,983[Charlotte does not appear in the largest 100 cities prior to 1940. Figure is inferred from 100th ranking in this year.] |
| 1930 | <85,864 |
| 1940 | 100,899 |
| 1950 | 134,042 |
| 1960 | 201,564 |
| 1970 | 241,178 |
| 1980 | 315,473 |
| 1990 | 395,934 |
| 2000 | 540,828 |
As of 2005,
census estimates show there are 610,949 people living within Charlotte's city limits, and 896,372 in Mecklenburg County. The county's population is projected to break 1 million in 2010. The
Combined Statistical Area of Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC had a population of 2,191,604 in 2006.
[3]
Figures from the more comprehensive 2000 census show Charlotte's
population density to be 861.9/km² (2,232.4/mi²). There are 230,434 housing units at an average density of 367.2/km² (951.2/mi²).
The city's breakdown by race is as follows:
★ 58.26%
Caucasian - mostly of
British and
Irish ancestry.
★ 32.72%
Black
★ 7.36%
Hispanic or
Latino of any race
★ 3.41%
Asian (majorly
Gujarati
Indian,
Chinese, and
Vietnamese)
★ 0.34%
Native American
★ 0.05%
Pacific Islander
★ 3.56% from other races
★ 1.66% from two or more races.
The median income for a household in the city is $46,975, and the median income for a family is $56,517. Males have a median income of $38,767 versus $29,218 for females. The
per capita income for the city is $26,823. 10.6% of the population and 7.8% of families are below the
poverty line. Out of the total population, 13.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Religion
The birthplace of
Billy Graham, Charlotte was and still is locally known as the "The City of Churches." Of those who practice a religion, most Charlotteans are
Christians of various
Protestant denominations. Throughout much of its history
Presbyterian churches were the most prominent in Charlotte (Charlotte is the historic seat of
Southern Presbyterianism), but the changing demographics of the city's rapidly increasing population have brought scores of new denominations and faiths to the city. The
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,
Wycliffe Bible Translators'
JAARS Center, and
SIM Missions Organization also make their homes in Charlotte. In total, Charlotte proper lays claim to more than 700 places of worship.
The
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America is headquartered in Charlotte, and both
Reformed Theological Seminary and
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary have campuses there; more recently, the
Religious Studies academic departments of Charlotte's local colleges and universities have also grown considerably.
Charlotte is the seat of the bishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. The largest Christian congregation within Charlotte is that of St. Matthew Catholic Church. The
Traditional Latin Mass is offered by the
Society of St. Pius X at St. Anthony Catholic Church in nearby
Mount Holly.
The
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion) is headquartered in Charlotte.
Jewish
synagogues (Temple Beth El:
Reform Judaism, Temple Israel:
Conservative Judaism, Ohr HaTorah:
Lubavitch, Havurat Tikvah:
Reconstructionist Judaism, and a Charlotte
Torah Center congregation) are located in or adjacent to
Shalom Park on Providence Road.
[28] In recent decades, Judaism has thrived in Charlotte and the Carolinas,
[29][30] with local Jews such as
Leon Levine and
Herman Blumenthal making huge charitable and philanthropic contributions to the city and surrounding regions.
[31]
The Charlotte area has five
mosques: The Islamic Society of Greater Charlotte, Islamic Center of Charlotte, Masjid Ash-Shaheed, South Musallah, and the Islamic Society of Gastonia.
Hindus meet at the Hindu Center or the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (
BAPS) temple.
There are also several other religious institutions in the Charlotte area, including two
Unitarian Universalist Churches and the
Eidolon Foundation.
[32]
Media
Main articles: Media in Charlotte, North Carolina
Sites of interest
Main articles: List of sites of interest in Charlotte
Sports
People fill Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte is home to the
NFL's
Carolina Panthers, which debuted in 1995. The Panthers play in
Bank of America Stadium, located in Uptown. The team won the 2004
NFC Championship when it beat the
Philadelphia Eagles in
Philadelphia by a score of 14-3. In
Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004, the Panthers were defeated by the
New England Patriots, 32-29. The Panthers have been in three NFC Championship games: in 1996, 2004 and 2006.
From 1988 to 2002, Charlotte hosted an NBA franchise named the
Charlotte Hornets. The franchise relocated to
New Orleans, Louisiana in 2002 after bitter animosity between the team's fans and principal owner
George Shinn led to slumping attendance and ill feelings towards the Hornets. In 2004, Charlotte was awarded its second
NBA expansion team named the
Charlotte Bobcats. The team plays in the
Charlotte Bobcats Arena, which opened in fall 2005 in downtown Charlotte.
Charlotte was home to the
World Football League's
Charlotte Hornets during 1974 and
1975. The city has also been home to two
Arena Football League teams, the
Charlotte Rage and
Carolina Cobras. Charlotte briefly had a
Major Indoor Lacrosse League team in
1996, the
Charlotte Cobras. The team did not fare well, however, and after a single 0-10 season, the Cobras folded. The
WNBA Charlotte Sting played in Charlotte between 1997 and 2006.
Charlotte is home to the
Charlotte Eagles of the
United Soccer Leagues and plays host to the annual
Wachovia Championship, an increasingly prestigious stop on the
PGA Tour. The
NCAA football Meineke Car Care Bowl is played annually in December at Bank of America Stadium.
Charlotte is also the home of the new US Nation white water center, located in west Charlotte. It was created and opened for the general public in the late summer of 2006. Many White water teams from all over the world are schedualed to train here.
[33] The Center also has 17 miles of hiking and bike trails surrunding the facility.
The New US National White Water Center is in West Charlotte
Charlotte is the hub of stock car racing, with major races being held at nearby
Lowe's Motor Speedway, considered by most fans and participants in the sport to be
NASCAR's 'home track'. A vast majority of
NASCAR teams and race shops are located within 40 miles of Charlotte, and most NASCAR drivers maintain a residence in or near the city. Seventy-three percent of American motorsports employees are based within two hours of downtown Charlotte. The
NASCAR Hall of Fame is set to open in Charlotte in early 2009.
Baseball has a long, rich history in the Queen City, dating back to 1901 when the
Charlotte Hornets were formed. The
Triple-A Charlotte Knights, the top
minor league affiliate of the
Chicago White Sox, currently call the Charlotte area home (the team's stadium is located in nearby
Fort Mill, South Carolina).
Charlotte is on the list of cities that the
Florida Marlins are considering for relocation; team officials visited the city in early 2006 to discuss a move with city leaders and consider a plan to build a privately-funded stadium downtown. But city leaders stated as of April that they would not fund or support any attempt to bring the
Florida Marlins to Charlotte. In May 2007,
Nate Silver of
Baseball Prospectus, after an exhaustive analysis of major league attendance and media markets in North America, concluded, "There is, to my mind, exactly one place that would clearly be viable for the 31st major league franchise, and that place is Charlotte, North Carolina. The South as a whole is underrepresented in the major leagues. . . . Charlotte is no metropolis, but it is conveniently located at the center of several mid-size markets, including the Winston-Salem/Greensboro/Raleigh-Durham corridor along I-40, and Columbia, South Carolina. What’s more, the area is growing rapidly, and would give both the Braves and the Nationals a natural rival in the NL East."
[34]
Via the
Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, the
Charlotte Checkers of the
ECHL are a farm team for the
NHL's
New York Rangers respectively. The Charlotte Checkers now play at the new
Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Additionally, Charlotte is also home to a professional inline hockey team, the
The Charlotte Outlawz.
Charlotte is the hometown of 16-time World Heavyweight Champion, the legendary
"Nature Boy", Ric Flair. Flair defeated then WCW World Champion
Big Van Vader for his first WCW title in Charlotte (His 11th in the NWA/WCW title lineage and his thirteenth overall at that time, counting his two WWF championship reigns) at the Independance Arena in Charlotte in December of 1993 at Starrcade.
Charlotte is home to the headquarters of the
Big South Conference despite having no schools playing in the Big South (although near-by schools
Winthrop University, from
Rock Hill, South Carolina (full), and
Gardner-Webb University, from
Boiling Springs, North Carolina (football only) are members).
Golf is a popular activity, both as a participation and spectator sport. The
Wachovia Championship debuted in 2003 on the men's
PGA Tour, and is held each year in early May at
Quail Hollow Club.
Tiger Woods is the defending champion of the Wachovia Championship. The
US Open has been held at the
Pinehurst course, which is about 2 hours east of Charlotte in the
Sand Hills region in the middle of North Carolina.
Brooklandwood in the nearby Union County town of
Mineral Springs is the site of the
Queens Cup Steeplechase, one of
steeplechase horse racing's major annual events. The program consists of several races, and is held the last Saturday of April. The schedule of events also features a
Jack Russell Terrier judging contest. Over 10,000 people descend on Mineral Springs from all parts of the country to take part in this day long event of races and other activities.
Independence High School has gained a degree of national fame due to its impressive winning streak in football which currently sits at 108 including 7 state title games.
Chris Leak, a future national champion with the
Florida Gators turned out for the Patriots during the early part of this run. Independence also has state championships in
softball and
volleyball.
Garinger won the
1989 state championship in boy's basketball.
Crime
In general, the occurrence of crime in Charlotte has been decreasing in recent years, as has crime nationally. According to the
FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, violent crimes have dropped from a rate of 1630 occurrences per 100,000 population in 1997 to 1099 occurrences per 100,000 population in
2004. The violent crime rate has decreased steadily from 1997 to 2004, though the 2004 rate was slightly higher than the 2003 rate (1099 compared to 1077). From 1997 to 2002 property crime dropped from 7,779 occurrences per 100,000 population to 6,340 occurrences per 100,000 population. However, since then the rate has risen to 7090 occurrences per 100,000 population as of 2004, a trend not seen in the national statistics.
In 2005, Charlotte had 85 homicides. The highest peak in murders came in at 129 slayings in 1993, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, while the lowest number of murders in years is at 60 in 2004.
Direct comparisons to national crime rates are difficult as many different urbanization levels are present across the country. Compared to other cities with populations from 500,000 to 999,999 for 2005, Charlotte's crime is higher than average. The average for cities in this category was 927 violent crimes per 100,000 population and 5968 property crimes per 100,000 population.
Transportation
Mass transit
CATS new
LYNX rail line is scheduled to open in November 2007
The
Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the agency responsible for operating mass transit in Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County. CATS operates historical trolleys, express shuttles and bus service serving Charlotte and its immediate suburbs. Bus ridership continues to grow (66% since 1998), but more slowly than operations increases which have risen 170% in that same time when adjusted for inflation.
[35]. The 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan (updated October 2006) looks to supplement its established bus service with
light rail &
commuter rail lines called
LYNX. Designed to carry passengers along five key corridors, the project is estimated to cost $8.9 billion. $4.6 billion are capital costs and $4.3 billion are operating costs through 2035.
[36]
[37]
A 1998 ballot measure was approved giving authorization to develop five rapid transit corridors by levying a half-cent sales tax. About 65 percent of the revenue from that tax goes toward funding the bus system; the rest is designated for light rail, which was the centerpiece of the 1998 campaign.
[1] Light rail has become a source of controversy in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. A measure to repeal the half-cent sales tax will be on the November 2007 ballot. Refer to
Charlotte Area Transit System for more information.
CATS has nearly completed work on the first line. Its cost has risen to $462 million so far, when it was originally estimated to cost $221 million. Delays in construction and unforeseen skyrocketing costs of construction materials, which has affected the construction industry across the board, have contributed to the increase.
[2] The first leg of the light rail will run from uptown south to I-485, 9.6 miles, largely paralleling South Boulevard, called the South Corridor Line. Plans for
LYNX will connect uptown Charlotte with some of its immediate suburbs along four additional key corridors. It will be completed and become operational, regardless of the result of the November 2007 election. If the city were to abandon the project, it would be forced to repay federal funding.
Air
Air Force One takes off from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, with the Charlotte skyline in the background.
Charlotte's Airport is one of the bussiest in the the Nation
is the 11th busiest airport in the world, as measured by traffic movements..
[38] It is served by many international and domestic airlines, and is the largest hub of
US Airways.
American Airlines,
Air Canada,
Continental,
Delta,
Northwest,
United,
AirTran Airways,
JetBlue and
Lufthansa are some of the major carriers that serve the airport. Nonstop flights are available to many destinations across the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and Canada.
Highways
Charlotte's central location between the population centers of the northeast and southeast has made it a transportation focal point and primary distribution center, with two major interstate highways,
I-85 and
I-77, intersecting near the city's center. Charlotte's
beltway, designated
I-485 and simply called "485" by locals, is partially completed but stalled for funding. The new projection has it slated for completion by 2013.
[39] Upon completion, 485 will have a total circumference of approximately 67 miles (108 km). Within the city, the
I-277 loop freeway encircles Charlotte's downtown (usually referred to by its two separate sections, the
John Belk Freeway and the
Brookshire Freeway) while
Charlotte Route 4 links major roads in a loop between
I-277 and
I-485.
Intercity rail
Amtrak's
Crescent and
Carolinian and Piedmont trains connect Charlotte with
New York,
Philadelphia,
Baltimore,
Washington,
Richmond, and
Raleigh to the north, and
Atlanta,
Birmingham and
New Orleans to the south. The
Amtrak station is located at 1914 North Tryon Street.
Popular culture
★ In the episode 13 of the CBS post-apocalyptic drama ''
Jericho'' entitled "Black Jack", Charlotte is revealed as one of the U.S. cities destroyed by a terrorist nuclear bomb attack.
Skeet Ulrich, star of the show, grew up and graduated from High School in the Charlotte area.
★ In ''
The Simpsons'' episode "
Bart-Mangled Banner", Mayor Quimby compares the national hatred of Springfield caused by Bart's mooning of the U.S. flag to that of "Hitler City, North Carolina" before it changed its name to Charlotte.
★ The 2001 movie ''
Shallow Hal'' starring
Gwyneth Paltrow and
Jack Black was filmed and set in Charlotte.
★ Many scenes in the 2006 movie '' were filmed in and around Charlotte.
★ Many scenes in the 1990 movie ''
Days of Thunder'' were filmed in and around Charlotte.
★ Many scenes in the 1998 movie ''
Black Dog'' starring
Patrick Swayze,
Meat Loaf and
Randy Travis were filmed in and around Charlotte.
★ Many scenes in the 1994 movie ''
Nell'' starring
Jodie Foster were filmed in and around Charlotte. In the script,
Liam Neeson refers to a hotel in which he stayed that is on Tryon Street.
Sister cities
Charlotte has seven
sister cities[40]:
★
Arequipa,
Peru (1962)
★
Baoding,
People's Republic of China (1987)
★
Krefeld,
Germany (1985)
★
Kumasi,
Ghana (1995)
★
Limoges,
France (1992)
★
Voronezh,
Russia (1991)
★
Wrocław,
Poland (1993)
See also
★
Charlotte metropolitan area
★
Hurricane Hugo
★
I-85 Corridor
★
Mecklenburg County
★
Notable people associated with Charlotte
★
Piedmont Crescent
★
SC-NC-VA Tornado Outbreak
Notes
1. http://www.charlottechamber.com/index.php?submenu=DemographicsEconomicProfile&src=gendocs&ref=DemographicsEconomicProfile&category=eco_dev
2. http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/27/real_estate/fastest_growing_cities/
3. U.S. Census Bureau 2005 population estimates of Combined Statistical Areas
4.
One of the main attractions in Charlotte is NASCAR and visting the great statue of the beast, Sam Farson. He is known as one of the best hockey players of all time.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Founding a New City
5. Mecklenburg County, North Carolina USGenWeb Project
6. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Designing a New City
7. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Founding a New City
8. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Charlotte Incorporated
9. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: King's Power
10. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Mecklenburg Declaration
11. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Mecklenburg Resolves
12. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Revolutionary War
13. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: The City of Churches
14. Blanchard Online: American Rarities (Retrieved on 05-22-07)
15. http://www.blanchardonline.com/AmericanRarities/archive-08/char.html
16. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story (Accessed May 22, 2007)
17. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Antebellum Days
18. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: 80s Charlotte
19. American Lung Association, Annual Air Quality Report Card (2007)
20. http://weather.charlotte.com/auto/charlotte/history/airport/KCLT/2006/9/6/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA
21. http://www.meckboe.org/pages/Election/e_info/general04/off1.html
22. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_090.asp
23. http://newcomer.com/cities/charlotte/CHLTcolleges.html
24. Gibson, Campbell (June 1998). Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990. ''U.S. Bureau of the Census - Population Division''.
25. http://www.cmstory.org/
26. http://www.publicpurpose.com/dm-uscty.htm
27. U.S. Census Bureau 2005 population estimates of Combined Statistical Areas
28. http://www.jewishcharlotte.org/section_display.html?id=5
29. http://www.jewishtourofthecarolinas.org/charlotte.html
30. http://www.jewishcharlotte.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=27748
31. http://www.blumenthalfoundation.org/index.htm
32. http://www.eidolonfoundation.org
33. www.usnwc.org
34. Nate Silver, "Moving the Marlins," Baseball Prospectus.com (May 17, 2007).
35. http://www.charlotte.com/transit/story/242097.html
36. http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/eeetqupyrb2davfgwr3lw756x34htb7cvcmz2t6ijp625undfczu34dx2bszmrxj4ewtx7yxskifgb25ra6qqsh3ejb/MTC102506.pdf
37. http://www.mecklenburgtransit.com
38. http://www.aci.aero/cda/aci/display/main/aci_content.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-54-57_9_2__
39. http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=126265
40. http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Sister+Cities/Home.htm
Further reading
★ Hanchett, Thomas W. 'Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975'. 380 pages. University of North Carolina Press. August 1, 1998. ISBN 0-8078-2376-7.
★ Kratt, Mary Norton. 'Charlotte: Spirit of the New South'. 293 pages. John F. Blair, Publisher. September 1, 1992. ISBN 0-89587-095-9.
★ Kratt, Mary Norton and Mary Manning Boyer. 'Remembering Charlotte: Postcards from a New South City, 1905-1950'. 176 pages. University of North Carolina Press. October 1, 2000. ISBN 0-8078-4871-9.
★ Kratt, Mary Norton. 'New South Women: Twentieth Century Women of Charlotte, North Carolina'. Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in Association with John F. Blair, Publisher. August 1, 2001. ISBN 0-89587-250-1.
External links
★
Official Charlotte-Mecklenburg County NC website
★
Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS)
★
Visit Charlotte--Charlotte Convention and Visitors Bureau
★
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story a local history website
★
Maps and aerial photos
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