The Charlotte Region at a Glance
Location
Interstates 77 and 85 intersect in Charlotte, linking the city with the Great Lakes region, New England and Florida. Interstate 40, which stretches westward across the nation to California, is also in the Charlotte Region.
Population
The area comprised of the city of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County has over 825,000 people and over 2.4 million in the 16 county region. This area is one of America's fastest-growing metropolitan regions. Over 12.3 million people live within a 150-mile radius of Charlotte. Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC CBSA is the 21st largest metro area in the country.
Transportation by Air
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, the nation's 12th largest in total operations, 37th in cargo and 18th in worldwide total passenger boardings, offers nonstop or single plane service to more than 123 destinations. Ten major airlines and six commuter carriers serve over 100 markets with over 600 daily nonstop flights. International flights to Europe and the Caribbean are available from Charlotte, and all other worldwide destinations are only one stop away. More than 28.2 million total passengers were boarded in Charlotte in 2006. Charlotte is within 650 miles of 60% of the US population. Our location, midway along the East Coast, makes air travel to all major cities more cost- and time-efficient compared to other southeastern airports. Some of the major airlines in Charlotte are:
- Air Canada
- Air Tran Airways
- American/American Eagle
- Continental Airlines
- Delta/Delta Connection
- Jet Blue
- Lufthansa German Airline
- Northwest Airlines
- United/United Express
- USAirways/USAirways Express
Business/Finance
The Charlotte metro area was selected as one of "America's 50 Hottest Cities" by Expansion Management Magazine in 2007. Charlotte has also been hailed by Fortune Magazine as having the nation's No. 1 pro-business attitude. Nine Fortune 500 headquarters and more than 300 Fortune 500 companies' with operations are located in the Charlotte Region along with more than 700 foreign firms.
Right to Work Force
North and South Carolina law permits individual workers to choose whether or not they wish to join a labor union. Currently, only 3.3% of North Carolina and 3.3% of South Carolina workers belong to unions, including public and private industries.
Sports and Entertainment Facilities
Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers, is a $160 million state-of-the-art facility, designed specifically with football in mind to give each of the 72,300 spectators it holds a clear view of the playing field.
The Carolina Panthers (704-358-1644 or 1-800-635-4695), the 29th team in the NFL, won the 2003 NFC Championship. The Carolina Panthers also won seven games in their inaugural season, setting an NFL record for a startup team.
Lowes Motor Speedway (704-455-3200) is America's premier NASCAR facility. It is home to the Coca-Cola 600, The NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, and the Car Quest Auto parts 300 each May; and the Bank of America 500 and AllPro Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts 300 each October. The May races, including the Coca-Cola 600, attract crowds in excess of 500,000 people every year. The crowd is second only in size to the Indianapolis 500. The 600 is the second largest single-day sporting event in the country. The majority of the sport's leading racing teams have their headquarters in the Charlotte region.
World Premier of Cars The Charlotte Region and Lowes Motor Speedway hosted the world premier of Cars. With more than 30,000 people attending, it was the largest premier in Disney's history.
The US National Whitewater Center (704-391-3900) is a non-profit outdoor recreational park and environmental education center located only 10 minutes from downtown Charlotte. Inspired by the whitewater stadiums built for the 2000 & 2004 Olympic games, Scott Shipley, the designer and engineer and a three-time Olympian from the US, created the world's largest multi-channel, recirculating artificial whitewater river in the world and the only river of this type in the western hemisphere at this time. USA Canoe and Kayak has moved its headquarters to Charlotte and the USNWC is now an official Olympic Training Site. The center's 300 acres of woodlands along the scenic Catawba River are the perfect setting for whitewater rafting and kayaking, mountain biking, and hiking. The center also has the largest climbing wall in North America that is open for public use.
Bobcats Arena is a "grand new" entertainment and sports venue with professional and college sporting competitions, concerts and family events. With a variety of seating arrangement possibilities, the arena is capable of a maximum capacity of 20,200 spectators.
The Charlotte Bobcats (704-424-4120) are now in their 3rd season. Emeka Okafor #50 was the NBA 2005 Rookie of the Year.
Knights Castle is home to the Charlotte Knights Triple-A baseball team. Seating capacity is 10,000 with the ability to accommodate another 4,000 on the grass berms. The stadium was built to major league specifications featuring 35,000 square feet of covered concourse, nine concession stands, full-service box office, 21 skyboxes, temporary office space and over 3,000 paved parking spaces.
Charlotte Knights Baseball (Knights Stadium/704-332-3746 or 803-548-8051) are a Triple-A baseball team (Florida Marlins affiliate) with 72 home games running from April - September.
Paramount's Carowinds/Palladium (800-888-4386) is a 108-acre theme and water park that straddles the North Carolina/South Carolina state line just 15 minutes from uptown Charlotte. The park offers more than 60 state-of-the-art rides, attractions and shows for all ages. 2006 marked the introduction of the new Australian-themed water park, Boomerang Bay. Carowinds is also home to Nickelodeon Central, a 15-acre Nickelodeon playground with more than 20 attractions for families to enjoy together. The park has eight roller coasters including the BORG Assimilator, the Carolinas' first flying coaster in which the guests fly facedown, suspended below the track and race toward the ground at speeds of up to 50mph. It is the first coaster in the world to carry a Star Trek theme. The Paladium Amphitheatre is an outdoor theatre designed for 13,000 people to enjoy a variety of star performances.
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (704-549-5555), an outdoor amphitheater with lawn seating just north of Charlotte, brings in such notable acts as the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, Paul McCartney, The B-52's, and Widespread Panic. This facility seats up to 19,000 people.
Golf in the Charlotte region features over 100 public and private courses, including Piper Glen, a Tournament Players Championship Course, The Peninsula, host of the LPGA Championship Tournament, and Birkdale, which was designed by Arnold Palmer. In May of 2003, Quail Hollow hosted the inaugural Wachovia Championship, with a purse of $5.6 million, one of the highest on the PGA Tour. The tournament is now held annually in May at Quail Hollow.
Television
Seven major television networks are represented in Charlotte by WBTV (CBS), WSOC (ABC), WCCB (FOX), WCNC (NBC), WTVI (PBS), WJZY (The CW). WAXN-TV is an independent television station serving the Charlotte area. NBC news cable channel CNBC has its studios in Charlotte with both English and Spanish broadcasts originating from here. Raycom Sports, Jefferson Pilot Sports, NASCAR Images, Speed Channel and Wheeler TV are based in Charlotte. ESPN and TNN both do extensive production work in the Charlotte region. The Inspirational Network cable channel INS and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association have their headquarters in Charlotte.
© Copyright The Charlotte Regional Partnership, Inc. 2007 The Charlotte Regional Film & Video Guide and the Charlotte USA Design are trademarks of The Charlotte Regional Partnership, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the contents of this guide, in whole or in part, in any medium including Internet Web pages or links, is expressly forbidden without the written consent of the Charlotte Regional Film Commission. This guide book is published by the Charlotte Regional Film Commission as a reference and no endorsement is implied. Information compiled as of February 2007. While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information contained in this guide is accurate and current, it cannot be guaranteed.