So I was over at the Charlotte Chamber the other day and picked up a handy sheet listing all the "Top 10" -style lists Charlotte has made this year. Since we're always wondering how we fare compared to other places, I thought it'd be an interesting item to share. So, here's 12 lists where Charlotte (and North Carolina) ranked in the Top 12 this year:
- No. 12 Top State for Business. (CNBC ranking of all states).
- No. 11 Top Boomtown (Bloomberg ranking of all large metro areas).
- No. 9 Most Job Openings per Capita (Beyond.com May 2013 ranking of 50 cities).
- No. 9 Top Moving Destination (Penske Truck Rental).
- No. 8 Best City for Jobs (Forbes.com, May 2013).
- No. 7 Top Cities for Small Business (Nerdwallet.com, August 2013).
- No. 7 Spring Break Destination for Families (Livability.com list of 500 cities).
- No. 6 Hot Cities for IT Jobs (Modis, Inc., ranking of 10 cities).
- No. 5 Most Installed Solar Power Generation Capacity (SNL Energy ranking of all states).
- No. 5 Fastest Growing Metro 2000-2012 (U.S. Census ranking of 52 metro areas).
- No. 4 Fastest Growing City Since Recession (Forbes.com).
- No. 2 Best Airport for Making Connections (Travel Leaders Group ranking of U.S. airports).
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9 comments:
Nice!
Charlotte sucks.....It's like I've always said..too many people have moved to the Charlotte region. The problem is that the state has not kept up with the amount of transplants moving here regarding jobs...Really, its quite ridiculous here. I mean there is even competitition for retail jobs...Cmon now....
Yall forgot to mention Charlotte has Elevator Jay!
Charlotte is #2 for complainers on how "Charlotte sucks" behind Raleigh.
I don't know how to rank these things. I always think listicles have limited usefulness. So much of what makes a city a good place to live depends on things that cannot be reduced to a metric. But here are some things I like about Charlotte:
1) Charlotte, more than most places (especially in the south) is a meritocracy. That isn't to say that connections don't matter here; they do. But it's fairly easy to make connections compared to other places, particularly if you're willing to go out and work at it a bit.
2) Because it is a meritocracy, Charlotte doesn't much care where you're from as long as you add to the civic fabric and conversation. It's not for nothing that civic/business/faith leaders (whatever you think of them) like Sue Myrick, Jim Rogers, Laura Schulte, Claire Fallon, Pat McCrory, Judy Schindler came here from elsewhere. And there are many, many more unsung transplants whose daily interactions with others add immensely to the city.
3) You can thank the natives for laying the groundwork for this openness. And you can thank the newcomers for being open, too.
3) Central Charlotte-out to the middle ring or so-is pretty easy to navigate (once you learn the many Queens, Sharons and Plazas.) It still retains the feel of the much smaller place that it once was and the infill development, while altering that somewhat, hasn't completely obliterated it.
And some things I don't like:
1)After all these years of explosive growth and change, Charlotte is still too concerned about the opinions and criticisms of others. I guess this is just part of Charlotte's bootstrap character. If you're self-made, you can be touchy and thin-skinned about jibes and sneers. I think all cities are like this, Charlotte just more so.
2) After all these years of explosive growth and change, Charlotte is still too church-y for me (though not as much as it once was, thank God!) At least I don't hear "where do y'all go to church" like I once did. I'm not knocking faith. I'm just saying that an obsessively religious culture can be an impediment to creative ideas and, um, research universities.
3) After all these years of explosive growth and change, Charlotte's freeways still suck and the NCDOT is still to blame.
"...Charlotte is still too church-y for me (though not as much as it once was, thank God!)..."
Is that loaded with sarcasm or irony?
Read more here: http://cltdevelopment.blogspot.com/2013/10/twelve-ways-charlotte-is-superior-to.html#storylink=cpy
Charlotte is number 1 in a few areas.
#1- ranking in lowest Hall of Fame visits.
#1- ranking in business incentives given with tax payer dollars too poor performing companies.
#1- ranking in cities natinally that just lost their airport authority.
#1- ranking of cites nationally that calls itself "world class" on a daily basis.
#1- ranking in cities our size that will pay for a no name convention at the drop of a dime.
#1- ranking of cites our size with a Part Time mayors job.
Keith W. Hurley-Shareholder
Keith needs a spellchecker or dictionary or an update on his English skills!
Thanks, 2:17 It's both irony and sarcasm. I was so hoping someone would notice! :)
Keith Hurley, many large US cities in addition to Charlotte have the council-manager "weak mayor" form of government including Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Austin, San Jose and many others.
I think it's better than a "strong mayor" form of government that's found in older US cities in the northeast and midwest.
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