Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, is famed for being the location of the nation’s first gold rush, which started with a nugget found back in 1799. Nowadays, the city is known as a financial, business and logistics hub, with excellent educational facilities. There is plenty to see and do as well, with a stellar location surrounded by natural beauty. Many people moved to Charlotte in recent years, and for good reason.
Check out the great things you need to know about Charlotte:
1. How big is Charlotte?
Located in Mecklenburg County, Charlotte covers around 310 square miles. It is the 2nd-largest city in the southeast USA and the 15th-most populous in the country. The city sits at the center of the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, an urban region known as ‘Metrolina’ that stretches over 16 counties and into South Carolina. Experiencing rapid expansion, Charlotte has ranked as one of the country’s fastest-growing metro areas in recent times.
The city proper consists of 199 recognized neighborhoods and five larger districts: Center City, East Charlotte, West Charlotte, North Charlotte and South Charlotte.
2. What is the weather like in Charlotte?
Charlotte enjoys a humid subtropical climate characterized by four distinct seasons. Winters tend to be cool while summers are generally hot and humid. Rain is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, with around 3.5 to 4 inches per month. Over winter, the city sees light snowfall and temperatures dropping below freezing overnight. This can be a good time to consider self storage in Charlotte, where you can keep outdoor furniture, electrical equipment and even vehicles safe in a climate-controlled storage unit.
The high humidity levels of the summer months can also make renting a storage unit in Charlotte a good idea. Items such as wooden musical instruments, important documents, photographs and collectibles can all be damaged by excessive moisture. Fortunately, a climate-controlled storage unit will keep these items in tip-top condition.
3. What is the job market like in Charlotte?
Finance is one of the main drivers of Charlotte’s economy, with the city recognized as the second-largest banking center in the U.S. Several Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the city, and besides finance, a diverse range of other businesses call Charlotte home. Sectors such as manufacturing, packaging, construction and healthcare are also important to Charlotte’s economy.
With its central location in the east of the country, Charlotte is a hub for transportation and freight companies. Renting a storage unit in Charlotte can be a great option for companies large and small, providing a convenient place to keep stock safe and secure, and it can be particularly useful for e-commerce businesses.
4. Universities and college life in Charlotte
Charlotte is more than a business hub, it is also a major center of education, with a range of universities and colleges calling the city home, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC) being the largest here. There are also many more private and public institutes to choose from, for example Queens University of Charlotte, both in the city center and the suburbs.
Charlotte’s large student population may struggle to find an apartment or dorm room that is big enough for all their belongings. However, by renting a storage unit in Charlotte, items can put there so that even the coziest shared dorm doesn’t have to feel crowded. Possessions can also be put in it during summer so they don’t have to be transported home or kept in more expensive residential space.
5. Outdoor recreation in Charlotte — motorsports, climbing and kayaking
Festivals abound in Charlotte, celebrating culture, art, sport and local traditions. Sport plays a large role in this city, which is famed for an abundance of motorsports such as drag racing, NASCAR and even Formula One. Any aspiring race driver can keep their vehicle in top shape at one of the many self storage facilities in Charlotte. With humidity and climate control, as well as drive-up access, it would be a perfect place to keep your dream machine running keen.
If getting out into nature is more your thing, there are endless opportunities for hiking, cycling, fishing, kayaking, rock climbing and much more in and around the city. Once again, self storage can provide a perfect place to keep bulky equipment such as kayaks and mountain bikes, ensuring that your home remains clutter-free.
6. How self storage helps you move to Charlotte
Charlotte is a popular city among people of all ages and from all walks of life. Over the years, many people have relocated from Florida to North Carolina. However, incomers arrive from a wide array of states to enjoy the scenery, weather, job opportunities and quality of life here. Hiring a moving company helps ease the process but you can also do it yourself.
Renting a storage unit in Charlotte is a great idea during the moving process. It offers flexibility, as you can move all your belongings into the unit and then transfer them into your new home later when you’re ready, rather than trying to match your schedule with the seller’s. Once you have settled in, your Charlotte storage unit can then continue to be a great help in keeping your home free from clutter.
7. Housing options in Charlotte
Being both a historic city and an expanding one, Charlotte has a wide range of housing to offer, from large mansions dating from more than a century ago to the most modern skyscrapers.
Single family living
Any family wishing to live in a house of their own in Charlotte will be pleased to hear that a range of sizes and many architectural styles are represented in the city. There are large houses to be found in the Colonial Revivalism, Queen Anne and Victorian styles and also American Craftsman-style bungalows in neighborhoods such as Dilworth. Myers Park and Eastover are two pricy districts with spacious homes plus attractive tree-lined boulevards while Cameron Wood and Highland Creek are planned suburban communities.
Renting a self storage unit will not only enable anyone who is moving into a large Charlotte home but will also accommodate a lot of furniture if you want to renovate any rooms there — this will keep them out of the way during that process.
Apartment living
Single-family homes are more common than apartments and condos in Charlotte, but there are still options for multifamily living. There are soaring residential skyscrapers — more than 20 such buildings in Uptown. For proximity to business centers and entertainment districts, it’s also worth checking out central neighborhoods like Midtown and Elizabeth.
Living in a city-center apartment can mean having less space than is ideal, but renting a nearby self storage unit can make all the difference. Charlotte has self storage facilities scattered throughout the city, even in the center of town, and clutter can be kept to minimum at home by keeping some items there.
8. Is Charlotte a good place to live?
There are many good reasons why Charlotte has been one of America’s most rapidly expanding cities in recent years. It has a reputation of being attractive and well-maintained, with lots of trees and flowers on display. Many of the neighborhoods are known as pleasant and safe places to live.
Moving to Charlotte, NC, from New York City
Moving to Queen City from the Big Apple could mean you experience reduced bills, and the housing market might be easier on the wallet as well. The winter weather here is more moderate than in New York, while the summers rarely get too hot.
Moving to Charlotte, NC, from Los Angeles
Angelenos might like to know that there are nice beaches in this part of the world as well, not to mention local reservoirs such as Lake Norman and Lake Wylie. They also might appreciate all the greenery around town which can help add to a less stressful ambience.
9. What are the storage options in Charlotte?
Charlotte self storage comes in a wide range of types and sizes. A 5’x5’ storage unit should be enough for a small number of possessions that nevertheless can make a home look cluttered. A 5’x10’ storage unit would give extra storage space for items that cannot be kept permanently in a small city-center apartment.
A 10’x10’ storage unit might be suitable to hold outdoor gear such as kayaks and bicycles, for example, and a lot of boxes. A climate-controlled version of the same size unit would be good for keeping delicate items such as valuable wooden furniture all year round.
A 10’x20’ storage unit, which is the size of a single-car garage, is big enough to hold all the contents of many types of homes while you are moving — or, of course, it can hold a car. The 10’x30’ storage unit is the largest unit size commonly available and can accommodate a business’s equipment and products or even a large recreational vehicle or a boat.
For more information on the local self storage sector, check out Charlotte’s self storage statistics. You might now have answers to the questions “Why are people moving to Charlotte?” and “Should I move to Charlotte?” To see Charlotte self storage listings to help you with moving, decluttering or for any other reason, check out StorageCafe’s search portal.
