Charlotte, known as the "Queen City," offers a fascinating mix of southern culture and growing business mecca. A major economic center with growing finance and defense industries, the city's economic base continues to develop at a rate more than twice that of the rest of the country. An excellent interstate highway system, good railroad access, and an inland port facility are other factors that have made Charlotte the major distribution center of the Southeast and one growing in both national and international importance.
Even as Charlotte has emerged as a major city of the new South—and of the nation—its people continue to keep a clear vision of what makes a good life. Neighborhood streets are filled with majestic 90-foot water and willow oaks. Uptown's major thoroughfare is lined with trees. Each spring, the entire county is filled with delirious color as dogwoods and azaleas bloom. Just two hours east of the Appalachian Mountains and three hours west of the Atlantic Ocean, life in this comfortable, mid-sized city provides the best of all worlds.