Charlotte sits in the Appalachian Mountain foothills with mild winters and tolerable summers. A view from the air reveals a sea of greenery throughout the region. The “Queen City” has all the amenities of shopping, dining, cultural venues, historic sites, sports venues, arts, family attractions, colleges and is a major financial center. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of downtown Charlotte is it's success as America’s 2nd leading banking center. How local bankers achieved that status is worthy of a business school study.

    The growing corporate presence has revitalized a central business district historically called "Uptown", but increasingly called "Center City." The latter name is more appropriate because Center City, as collection of adjacent districts that surround and include Uptown, has $6 billion of construction recently completed or scheduled  for completion by 2011. So if you haven't been to Charlotte in the last 6 years, you will be amazed at the number and quality of upscale residences, cultural centers, shops, restaurants, nightlife, and lightrail service raising the profile of urban living and visiting in the Queen City. And even though freeway construction is the order of the day, Charlotte does not have the level of traffic congestion one experiences in Atlanta or Dallas.

    Amidst booming growth, history buffs still relish inviting walking tours of the Charlotte Museum of History or Historic Fourth Ward, where you will find vintage homes from the 17th century. Art lovers are pampered at the Mint Museum of Craft & Design and the Tryon Center for Visual Arts. Stroll down Tryon Street or take a trolley tour through the South End district. “Edutain” the kids at Discovery Place and spend a day at Carowinds Theme Park. Enjoy an outdoor concert for up to 8 months of the year or a Broadway play at the beautiful North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. With Charlotte’s rising corporate status, concerts, visual arts, and dance performances are now top shelf.

    The home of enigmatic Sweet Daddy Grace and the legendary Billy Graham envelops you with a tree-filled landscape, Southern hospitality and great value for your money. A cost of living at the national average ensures few surprises when shopping or dining, even at elegant restaurants. This is the nation’s leading furniture-making region, so you can purchase wide range decorative pieces at discount. Value shoppers also splurge at the numerous outlet stores and malls.

    Need to get your sports on? Charlotte has the Carolina Panthers NFL football team that has already played in a SuperBowl. Owned by Robert Johnson, formerly of BET, the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats basketball team has provided more energy to downtown. Charlotte has always been a linchpin of the NASCAR racing circuit, with its 167,000-seat Lowes Motor Speedway and the NASCAR Hall of Fame is coming in 2010. Moderate year-round weather produces some of the most the beautiful golf courses in the Southeast.

    Many people will be surprised to learn that Charlotte made a signature contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. Introduced to the region while attending Johnson C. Smith University and other colleges, many African Americans choose to stay after graduating. The Afro-American Cultural Center conducts a reservoir of events to connect with Black culture and the Levine Museum of the New South helps everyone interpret a balanced history of the region. Equally important, Black businesses are opening left and right, which means soulful dining and shopping options aplenty.

    Charlotte has a chance to grow smart with planned communities that incorporate transit, not just woods clearing for housing tracts and more freeways. It also has a chance to better empower its African American citizens to participate in the growing regional economy. To the extent it continues its smart growth and economic empowerment ways, it will remain one of the Southeast's premier places to visit and distance a Great Charlotte from the question of becoming a Baby Atlanta.