I once lived in Charlotte for about ten years, and I still visit there from time to time. Next to San Francisco, it’s my favorite American city. First of all, I’ll deal with your specific request for something that’s pretty close in but more rural and flat. One thing to keep in mind is that Charlotte sprawls over quite a large area. The entire thing is called the Charlotte Region and spans several counties in both North and South Carolina.
There’s a reason that Charlotte is so sprawling, and it isn’t what you might fear. It’s not that the city can’t handle it’s growth; in fact, it’s the opposite. Thanks to North Carolina’s very peculiar annexation laws, Charlotte grows practically every day — that is, the city limits expand. Back in the 50s, the state’s supreme court ruled that “if an area is urban, it shall be municipal”. All that is required for a city to annex land is that the land adjoin the city limits and have a certain minimal population per square mile. There is no vote by the citizens to be annexed. Upon annexation, the city must begin immediately to provide certain services, including police and fire, and must within a year provide other services, such as street lights and sidewalks.
The effect of this is that you avoid the problems associated with urban sprawl in cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta, where communities arise just outside the city limits, allowing people to take advantage of the city’s amenities without helping to foot the bill. Contractors in North Carolina know that if you build close to a city like Charlotte, it is only a matter of a short time before the land is taken by annexation.
So what does that mean to you? Well, it has to do with your request to be 20 minutes away from the city. That’s not possible. I mean, it’s possible to be 20 minutes away from the center of uptown, but it’s not possible to be 20 minutes away from urbanity and be anywhere near the center of town. The idea is to find what portion of the city most appeals to you and get as close to it as you can. Because of the way it grows by annexation, there are quite distinct communities. Some more artsy. Some more folksy. Some more ritzy. Some more traditional. Some more avant guarde. Some more sportsy. Some more redneck. Some more cultured. And so on.
As a whole, the city is surprisingly cosmopolitan. It is a financial mecca, headquarters for Bank of America and Wachovia. It has more banking assets than any city outside New York. It is a city of entrepreneurs, and greatly values its rich history of risk taking and revolution. General Cornwalis called it a “hornet’s nest” when his British soldiers first encountered it, and it has major streets with names like Independence Blvd, Freedom Dr, and Liberty Ave. It has some of the tallest buildings in the southeast, and almost all of them are banks. It is also a US Airways hub with one of the busiest airports in the country.
It has trees. Lots and lots of trees. In fact, its trees are protected by ordinance such that you can be almost smack dab in the center of everything and not even realize you’re in an urban area. Trees hide the skyline until you move around them. It is constantly buzzing with civic activity. It thrives on recognition and takes pride in its history of rising to the occasion and overcoming odds. Its professional sports teams are prime examples. No one outside of Charlotte took seriously its ability to support them, and yet it does. So, you get the idea. Where there are banks and start-up businesses, there are lawyers. You won’t have any problem finding work.
The first thing to decide is whether you want to live in North or South Carolina. If you choose South, you are going to be the bastard children of your own state. South Carolina (meaning Columbia) doesn’t like North Carolina, and so the ten-lane freeway ride home is going to funnel into four lines at the state line. Traffic on that side of town is Charlotte’s worst problem. And yet, there are amenities there. Lake Wiley, for one. Southpark (a shopping area the size of a small city). Carmel Rae (the Beverly Hills of Charlotte). Carowinds amusement park, and so on.
To the west are foothills of the Great Smokey mountains. Since you want flat-land, that’s probably not in the cards. But it is the most rural part of the whole area, so if you can find a pocket plateau, you’ll be okay. In general, Charlotte is in what’s called the Piedmont, a land type characterized by smooth, rolling hills between the mountains and the coast. If you like occasional mountain retreats, being on the west side gives you an hour head start.
To the east are vast vistas of flatlands, but there is also some heavy industry in that area. It costs more to live east than west, but there’s more there. It’s a bit more snooty, too. Southeast Charlotte is the very pinnacle of snoot. If you like the beach, being on the east side gives you a big head start for the coast.
I think you’ll like the north side the best. All the high tect stuff is there, including IBM, Verbatim, and Microsoft. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is there as well. Then again, so is Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is home of NASCAR’s longest race, the World 600. But that’s northeast. Stay toward northwest. That puts you near Lake Norman. You have ready access to I-77 and I-485. You are close to everything but still have a sort of rural feel. But it’ll cost you.
This is getting pretty long, but if you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them. Best of luck, and enjoy your new home! Coincidentally, there was a huge influx of West Virginians to Charlotte in the 1980s. They came mostly for jobs. There might be whole communities of them there.
