Called the "Queen City", Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina state and the seat of Meckenburg County. It is the 18 largest city in the US, with a population right around 700,000. In the year 2008, the city was chosen the "Best Place to Live in America" by relocate-America.com. It was likewise number eight among the 100 "Best Places to Live and Launch" by CNNMoney.com. Prevention likewise rated the city 4th best "Walking City" in the nation and the best in North Carolina.
There is a strong base of arts and culture within the city. Every year there are approximately 70,000 events and performances, comprising festivals and arts education programs, which is supported by the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and its 27 cultural organizations below it. Charlotte is home to various museums, like the Second Ward Alumni House Museum, NASCAR Hall of Fame, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Mint Museum of Art and Bechtler Museum of Modern Art (guide visitors through ever-changing exhibits featuring amongst the world's best collections), McColl Center for Visual Art, Light Factory, Levine Museum of the New South (exhibits amongst the most captivating collections of post-Civil War Southern history consisting of its award-winning centerpiece exhibit, Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers), Harvey B. Grantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture, Historic Rosedale Plantation, Discovery Place (features over 300 exhibits comprising a live rain forest), Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fire Education Center and Museum, Charlotte Trolley Museum, Carolinas Aviation Museum, Billy Graham Library and Charlotte Nature Museum. For performance arts, Charlotte offers excellent ballet, opera and Broadway shows and productions at the NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center's Belk Theatre and Knight Theatre.
There are numerous parks within and around the city for everybody to enjoy. Frazier Park is a place meant for dog owners to take their pets out for walks and has separate parts for large dogs and small dogs. The Frazier dog park has a supply of public water meant for the dogs to drink from. Swaney Pointe K-9 Park is located at Ramsey Creek Park where there are two separate fenced-in secure areas for small and large dogs. Barkingham Park is situated at Reedy Creek Park. It is a fenced-in, four-acre, off-leash place intended for dogs. Additionally, Charlotte also has Ray's Fetching Meadow and Davie Dog Park. For those who want to see Mother Nature at its best, they could visit Mecklenburg County Nature Preserves, Latta Plantation, Reedy Creek, McDowell and Cooper Head Island, Evergreen, Cowan's Ford, RibbonWalk, Flat Branch, Rural Hill, Auten, Gar Creek, Stephen's Road, Shuffletown Prairie and Bracket Bluff.
Charlotte is the 2nd biggest center for banking in the US, next to New York City. Bank of America is the largest of the financial institutions located within the city. In the city of Charlotte, there are many fortune 500 businesses headquartered within its metropolitan area: Bank of America, Lowe's in suburban Mooresville, Duke Energy, NUCOR (steel producer), Family Dollar, Sonic Automotive, Goodrich Corporation, and SPX Corporation (industrial technology). The city is likewise the hub of the U.S. motorsports business, like NASCAR. In the year 2007, more than 3,500 new energy sector jobs were announced in the city, that made Charlotte the base of energy-oriented organizations. At present, it is called "Charlotte USA - The New Energy Capital."