North Carolina's urbane city, Charlotte, continues to boom. Its clever bastard culture is more than simply craft beer and trendy BBQ—it's also NASCAR and Junior Johnson, the inventor of moonshine. Charlotte's young, educated, and ambitious populace is building a new metropolis in a once-old city.
People: It seems like everyone in Charlotte is a 30-something with a young family, and they all appear to have graduated from places like Davidson. After graduating from that little liberal arts school, they all went about their business. Most likely, all of their parents are affluent and well-connected.
It isn't easy to explain the feeling of having the second-largest banking center in the country in a city that many people only visit to research their ancestry (which you will undoubtedly hear a lot about if you don't have relatives who arrived here in the 1700s from Europe). A peculiar pride permeates the city, which is already evident in the fact that their NBA team changed its name from Charlotte Hornets to Pelicans and then promptly brought those Hornets back. They seem to believe they have something to prove.
Other significant facts about Charlotte include the Carolina Panthers football team calling Bank of America Stadium home, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame can be found in Charlotte. This place hosts a large annual music festival known as the Carolina Rebellion. The Carolina Renaissance Festival takes place every year, and the theatre season is full of incredible local performances. One of the nation's best aquariums is here, along with numerous museums and parks. There are trolleys and buses that travel through the city, so you don't have to drive around.
There are a few specific neighborhoods in Charlotte that should be avoided, just as in any major city. The city is typically very safe, well-lit, and secure, with plenty of outside areas to explore.
The primary mode of transportation is a personal automobile, while buses and light rail are available. There's adequate public transit but nothing extraordinary. Instead of driving, you can take the light rail or bus to work, making life easier. If you work and reside in the city, your commute shouldn't take more than 20 minutes.
It's also worth mentioning that Charlotte is still relatively new to the craft beer scene. Here, wine is still a viable alternative to craft beer. They have a few excellent coffee shops, but Blackbird Rsquo is Charlotte's response to New York's Intelligentsia. It attracts a crowd of hipsters, freelance journalists typing away on their MacBooks, and individuals wearing flannel shirts. There is typically a queue that extends outside.
Charlotte's sizable gay community can be found at several nightlife hotspots throughout the city, including gay bars, drag shows, and nearby universities where LGBT students might mingle with their peers. One of 12 cities in the US that has an LGBT liaison employed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is Charlotte. They hold a Pride Week event there every year.
There are a ton of churches in Charlotte. The city is referred to as the "buckle of the Bible belt." Several megachurches with thousands of members, including that Pastor Andy Stanley's North Point Community Church, are located in addition to numerous smaller, neighborhood churches.