By Cynthia M Piccolo

Charlotte, since it was named for King George III's wife, is known as the Queen City. Charlotte has a population of 540,828. The metro area has 1,330,448, and there are approximately six million within a 100-mile radius of Charlotte.

In Charlotte, you can enjoy all the benefits of a major urban center but with a low cost of living and a good housing market. Check out the accolades listed on the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County website, such as: one of the 10 best places to live, based on a ranking of cities above 300,000 population (December 2002, Money); fourth out of 20 of the Best Cities for Black Families (October 2002, BET.com); one of the nation's most livable cities (March 3, 2003, Livable.com); one of the best places to be single (June 6, 2002, Forbes); one of the "most picture perfect metros" (March 2003, Plant Sites and Parks).

Charlotte is also one of the leading cultural capitals in the South. Check out the Mint Museum of Art, one of the southeast's premiere fine art museums. If you want more active art, see a performance at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

And the kids will love spending summer days at Paramount Carowinds amusement park. They'll also love spending time at locations such as Discovery Place, one of the top hands-on science museums in the US. Want the kids out and about? Take them to nearby locations like the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve, the McDowell Nature Preserve, or Reedy Creek Environmental Center. Mecklenburg County has more than 100 parks, so you can easily expose the kids to nature. And if you and the kids like football, Charlotte is home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

Although it has plenty of sunshine year-round, Charlotte experiences four mild but distinct seasons. Only about half of the winter days dip below freezing, with the average temperature being around 40.5F (4C). In the summer, temperatures average at 78.5F (25C), and top 90F (30C) only 36 days per year on average.

Sounds like a tough combination to beat!

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