Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte (/ˈʃɑːrlət/ SHAR-lət) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census,[10] making Charlotte the 15th-most populous city in the United States, the seventh-most populous city in the South, and the second-most populous city in the Southeast behind Jacksonville, Florida. The city is the cultural, economic, and transportation center of the Charlotte metropolitan area, whose estimated 2023 population of 2,805,115 ranked 22nd in the United States.[8] Metrolina is part of an eighteen-county market region or combined statistical area with an estimated 2023 population of 3,387,115.[11][8]
Charlotte
United States
1755[5]
December 3, 1768[6]
312.00 sq mi (808.08 km2)
310.02 sq mi (802.94 km2)
1.98 sq mi (5.14 km2) 0.63%
673 ft (205 m)
874,579
897,720
2,821.06/sq mi (1,089.22/km2)
1,379,873 (US: 37th)
2,098.3/sq mi (810.2/km2)
2,805,115 (US: 22nd)
Charlottean
$228.9 billion (2022)
37-12000[4]
2404032[4]
Between 2004 and 2014, Charlotte was among the country's fastest-growing metropolitan areas, with 888,000 new residents.[12][13][14][15][16] Based on U.S. census data from 2005 to 2015, Charlotte tops the U.S. in millennial population growth.[17][18][19][20] It is the third-fastest-growing major city in the United States.[21][22][23][24] Residents of Charlotte are referred to as "Charlotteans".[25][26]
Charlotte is home to the corporate headquarters of Bank of America, Truist Financial, and the East Coast headquarters of Wells Fargo, which along with other financial institutions has made it the second-largest banking center in the United States.[27][28][29][30]
Charlotte's notable attractions include three professional sports teams, the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, and Charlotte FC of MLS. The city is also home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Opera Carolina, the Charlotte Symphony, the Charlotte Ballet, Children's Theatre of Charlotte, Mint Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Billy Graham Library, Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte Museum of History, Carowinds amusement park, and the U.S. National Whitewater Center.[31][32][33][34][35][36]
Charlotte has a humid subtropical climate. It is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, the largest human-made lake in North Carolina.[37][38] Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake are two smaller human-made lakes located near the city.[39][40]
Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the United States, after New York City.[170][171][172][173]
The second largest financial institution by total assets in the United States, Bank of America, is based in Charlotte.[174] It is also home to the nation's sixth largest financial institution, Truist.[175][176]
Charlotte also has become a large employment center for major banks not headquartered in Charlotte:
Other large companies, such as Microsoft and Centene Corporation, operate their East Coast headquarters in Charlotte.[191][192][193] In November 2018, Honeywell moved its corporate headquarters to Charlotte.[194] In June 2019, Lowe's announced it will be building its Lowe's Global Technology Center worth $153 million, which is set to be complete in 2021 and will be headquartered in South End neighborhood in Charlotte.[195][196] In 2019, Dole Food Company relocated its headquarters to Charlotte from California, and expanded its presence in Charlotte with its merger with Ireland-based Total Produce in February 2021.[197] On May 25, 2021, it was announced that Charlotte would become the East Coast headquarters of Credit Karma.[198][199] Cedar Fair's corporate office is located in southwest Charlotte.[200] On September 20, 2022, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced it will be relocating its headquarters from nearby Greensboro to Charlotte in 2023.[201][202][203] On July 12, 2023, railcar company TTX announced it will move its corporate headquarters to Charlotte.[204][205]
As of 2019, Charlotte has seven Fortune 500 companies in its metropolitan area. Listed in order of their rank, they are: Bank of America, Honeywell, Nucor, Lowe's, Duke Energy, Sonic Automotive and Brighthouse Financial.[206] The Charlotte area includes a diverse range of businesses, including foodstuffs such as Harris Teeter,[207] Snyder's-Lance,[208] Dentsply Sirona, Carolina Foods Inc.,[209] Bojangles,[210] Food Lion,[211] Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill,[212] Compass Group USA,[213] Krispy Kreme, Inc.,[214] and Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc. (Charlotte being the nation's second largest Coca-Cola bottler);[215] packaging company Sealed Air,[216] financial services company Dixon Hughes Goodman,[217][218] online leading marketplace LendingTree, chemical company Albemarle Corporation,[219] Lawn and garden equipment maker WORX, door and window maker JELD-WEN,[220] motor and transportation companies such as RSC Brands, Continental Tire the Americas, LLC.,[221] Meineke Car Care Centers, retail companies Belk,[222] Cato Corporation and Rack Room Shoes, along with a wide array of other businesses.[223][224]
Charlotte is the major center of the U.S. motorsports industry, housing the US's only Formula One team, Haas F1,[225][226] multiple teams and offices of NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord.[227] Approximately 75% of the NASCAR industry's race teams, employees and drivers are based nearby.[228] The large presence of the racing technology industry and the newly built NHRA dragstrip, zMAX Dragway at Concord, are influencing other top professional drag racers to move their shops to Charlotte as well.
Located in the western part of Mecklenburg County is the U.S. National Whitewater Center, which consists of human-made rapids of varying degrees, and is open to the public year-round.[229][230][231][232][233]
The Charlotte Region has a major base of energy-oriented organizations and has become known as "Charlotte USA – The New Energy Capital".[234][235] In the region there are more than 240 companies directly tied to the energy sector, collectively employing more than 26,400. Since 2007 more than 4,000 energy sector jobs have been announced. Major energy players in Charlotte include AREVA, Duke Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, Fluor, Metso Power, Piedmont Natural Gas, Albemarle Corp, Siemens Energy, Shaw Group, Toshiba, URS Corp., and Westinghouse.[236][237] The University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a reputation in energy education and research, and its Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) trains energy engineers and conducts research.[238] Over the last couple of years, Charlotte has become a hub in the Information technology industry.[239][240][241][242][243][244]
The area is an increasingly growing trucking and freight transportation hub for the East Coast. There are a couple of reasons for this growth. First, Charlotte's close proximity to major Interstates 40, 85, 77 or 95. Second, geographically it is also positioned within a 650-mile drive to 53% of the US population.[245] A number of Charlotte-based logistics companies have experienced a lot of recent growth. There are few notable expansions in the last ten years that have helped to create Charlotte as a logistics hub. In December 2015 FedEx announced plans to build a number of warehouse buildings in a Concord, North Carolina business park to locate 800 jobs there.[246] In August 2016 Red Classic, Coke Consolidated transportation subsidiary, announced they would be hiring for an additional 300 jobs between August 2016 and the end of 2017.[247] The company as of August 2022 has 357 local employees.[248] In October 2022 XPO Logistics has spun off RXO into a separate company that is a truckload brokerage. The new company has 750 local employees and $4.7 billion in annual revenue[249][250] Also in October 2022 Armstrong Transport Group formerly located in the University area after relocating to South End would be adding 100 jobs to its current local headcount of 125.[248][251] Others logistics companies that have are large Charlotte presence are Maersk North America with 800 employees, Zenith Global Logisitics with 720 employees, Cargo Transporters with 650 employees,[252] Southeastern Freight Lines Inc. with 517 employees,[253] Distribution Technology with 400 employees, and Transportation Insight LLC with 375 local employees.[248]
Charlotte has seen a major construction boom in recent years. Zillow identified the city as the "hottest housing market" in 2023.[254][255][256] Numerous residential units continue to be built uptown, including over 20 skyscrapers under construction, recently completed, or in the planning stage.[257][258] Many new restaurants, bars and clubs now operate in the Uptown area.[259][260] Several projects are transforming the Midtown Charlotte/Elizabeth area.[261][262][263] Population increases has also brought about gentrification in the city, particularly in predominantly African-American neighborhoods such as Biddleville and Cherry.[264][265][266][267][268]
In 2013, Forbes named Charlotte among its list of Best Places for Business and Careers.[269] Charlotte was listed as the 20th largest city in the US, and the 60th fastest growing city in the US between 2000 and 2008.[270]
Government[edit]
Charlotte has a council–manager form of government. The mayor and Charlotte City Council are elected every two years, with no term limits. The mayor is ex officio chair 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; the council can override a mayoral veto by a vote of seven of its ten members.[376] The Council appoints a city manager to serve as chief administrative officer.[377]
Unlike some other cities and towns in North Carolina, elections are held on a partisan basis. Vi Lyles, a Democrat elected in 2017, became the 59th mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. She is in her second term.[378]
Patrick Cannon, a Democrat, was sworn in as mayor on December 2, 2013.[379] On March 26, 2014, Cannon was arrested on public corruption charges. Later the same day, he resigned as mayor.[380] Mayor Pro Tem Michael Barnes served as Acting Mayor until April 7, when the City Council selected State Senator Dan Clodfelter, also a Democrat, to serve the remainder of Cannon's term.[381] Former Mecklenburg County Commission chairwoman Jennifer Roberts defeated Clodfelter in the 2015 Democratic primary and went on to win the general election, becoming the first Democratic woman to be elected to the post.[382] She was ousted in the 2017 Democratic primary by Mayor Pro Tem Vi Lyles, who later defeated Republican City Councilman Kenny Smith in the general election to become Mayor of Charlotte.[383]
Historically, voters have been friendly to moderates of both parties. However, in recent years, Charlotte has swung heavily to the Democrats. Republican strength is concentrated in the southeastern portion of the city, while Democratic strength is concentrated in the south-central, eastern, and northern areas.[384] The city had a Republican mayor from 1987 to 2009.[385][386][387]
The Charlotte City Council has 11 members (7 from districts and 4 at-large). Democrats control the council with a 9-to-2 advantage, winning all 4 of the at-large seats in the November 2013, 2015, and 2017 municipal elections. While the City Council is responsible for passing ordinances, the city's budget, and other policies, all decisions can be overridden by the North Carolina General Assembly, since North Carolina municipalities do not have home rule. While municipal powers have been broadly construed since the 1960s, the General Assembly still retains considerable authority over local matters.[388]
Charlotte is split between two congressional districts on the federal level. The northern half of the city is in the 12th district, represented by Democrat Alma Adams. The southern half is in the 14th district, represented by Democrat Jeff Jackson.[389] Charlotte is represented by ten members of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Mary Gardner Belk (D-88th), Terry M. Brown Jr. (D-92nd), Nasif Majeed (D-99th), John Autry (D-100th), Carolyn Logan (D-101st), Becky Carney (D-102nd), Brandon Lofton (D-104th), Wesley Harris (D-105th), Carla Cunningham (D-106th), and Kelly Alexander (D-107th), and six members of the North Carolina Senate, Mujtaba A. Mohammed (D-38th), DeAndrea Salvador (D-39th), Joyce Waddell (D-40th), Rachel Hunt (D-42nd), Vickie Sawyer (R-37th), and Natasha Marcus (D-41st).[390]
Charlotte was selected in 2011 to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which was held at the Spectrum Center.[391] It began September 4, 2012, and ended on September 6, 2012. [1] In 2018, Charlotte was chosen to host the Republican National Convention in August 2020.[392]
