Charlotte’s home to many major
corporation and is the biggest banking center in the
U.S. outside of New York City. It’s also home
to many racing enterprises since NASCAR is headquartered
here with 75% of its employees within 2 hours of downtown
Charlotte. In recent years, renewable energy has been
booming to the point where Charlotte is known as the
“New Energy Capital.”
No matter what you want for retirement,
Charlotte is a great place to consider due to its
diverse economy, increasingly urban living, and plenty
of cultural activities to go around.
Many consider Charlotte
North Carolina to be among the best retirement cities
in the U.S.
Retirement 55+ Housing Options:
Charlotte,
NC There are
unique housing options which include condos, apartments
for rent, hi-rises, retirement communities, lofts,
co-ops, luxury condominiums, top end townhouses and
other housing for over 55 boomers and seniors.
The
Cypress of Raleigh
is dedicated to your quality of life, and is perfectly
designed for your retirement lifestyle. It’s
a community that has been carefully and thoughtfully
planned to ensure the highest level of service and
the highest degree of satisfaction.
Charlotte Retirement Living
Charlotte Retirement Hi Rises are mostly located in
South Park, South End, and Uptown Charlotte.
Center
City Property - This guy specializes
in selling real estate in a variety of neighborhoods
including Center City Charlotte, Uptown Charlotte,
Downtown Charlotte, Dilworth, Myers Park, and No Da.
Seems to be the go to guy in Charlotte urban city
residential real estate.
The
Vue - Charlotte The VUE is a new 51-story,
409 unit high rise coming to Charlotte's Uptown on
the corner of Fifth and Pine Street. This project
has been met with excitement and anticipation as it
seeks to add architecturally and culturally to Charlotte.
51 stories of luxury condominium residences in Charlotte's
Uptown. Making your home here means leading an active
city life with countless conveniences and amenities.
It means living close to where you work and where
you play - your whole life within walking distance.
Social
In the computer age, there have been
many sites created to help people mingle. The best
one is meetup.com. It’s an online directory
of all kinds of offline clubs. It provides an online
home to these clubs so new members can inquire about
joining. Charlotte’s page can be found at www.meetup.com/cities/us/nc/charlotte
Another area to possibly find clubs
is to join a local country club as a social member.
Many clubs have this level of membership where you
can attend events without golfing on the course. This
is a great way to get connected into the community.
No matter your political party, you
can always look for clubs related to politics by searching
on national registries for local clubs or groups.
Public Transportation
Charlotte’s mass transit system
is known as CATS (Charlotte Area Transit Authority).
It operates buses, shuttles, trolleys, and a new light
rail system known as LYNX which opened in 2007.
There are 546 vehicles in this fleet.
With the LYNX system experiencing growth and a new
line slated to be finished to the University of North
Carolina-Charlotte campus by 2018, it’s pretty
easy to get around. The system also provides special
fares and services to seniors and those with disabilities.
Access to Medical Services
The Carolinas Medical Center (http://www.carolinasmedicalcenter.org)
is a big hospital group in the Charlotte area. They
have experienced rapid growth by adding new hospitals
in Fiscal Year 2009. At the start of 2012, they added
a group of hospitals in Western North Carolina.
Access To Local Businesses
With a wide array of road networks,
it’s easy for seniors to get in the car and
drive to local areas for entertainment or necessary
services. By living in the center of the city, there
will be tons of different restaurants and service
providers ready to cater to your every need. Since
Charlotte has experienced a lot of growth in urban
living (20 skyscrapers have been completed, under
construction, or planned), you can be sure that if
you live in a high rise condo that you’ll have
almost any service provider within a quick distance
from you.
Restaurants
For higher end Italian dining, Luce
Ristorante e Bar (http://www.luceristorante.net/)
is a downtown favorite.
For sushi lovers, Joel’s Grille
and Sushi is a local favorite (http://www.joelsgrill.com/)
over in Mooresville
There are loads of other restaurants
that can be found on http://www.urbanspoon.com/c/38/Charlotte-restaurants.html
Fitness
For fitness lovers, Charlotte offers
some very unique opportunities. The U.S. National
Whitewater Center is located west of Charlotte. You
can visit it year round to ride the man-made rapids.
Lake Norman is north of the city and
is home to state parks. You can visit it for hiking,
camping, and other outdoor fitness activities.
Continuing Education
There are many universities in the
Charlotte area. The biggest however is the University
of North Carolina-Charlotte. It has over 24,000 students
and is the fastest growing campus in the state system.
Located nearby is a corporate research park spanning
3,200 acres.
With the UNC campus so close by, you
could take classes in the morning and visit museums
in the afternoons, and attend a seminar in the evening.
The Charlotte Library system also
has 1.5 million books and 24 locations around the
metro area so it’s easy to pick up new books
no matter where you live.
Cultural Attractions
There are many cultural attractions
related to Charlotte’s history dating back to
the American Revolution. Some highlights include:
1. Bechtler Museum of Modern Art (http://www.bechtler.org)
is a brand new in early 2012 museum dedicated to mid-20th
century European artists. It houses the private collection
of the Bechtler family of Switzerland.
2. Carolinas Aviation Museum (http://www.carolinasaviation.org/)
has over 50 airplanes and many smaller exhibits related
to the history of aviation in North and South Carolina.
It just moved from its original location in the original
hanger of the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport
to a brand-new facility that has more space and protection
for the aircraft.
3. NASCAR Hall of Fame (http://www.nascarhall.com)
is a brand new museum dedicated to the history of
NASCAR. It has over 40,000 feet of exhibit space.
There are many other cultural attractions
that can be found at www.charlottesgotalot.com/
Charlotte Living
