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Best Affordable Suburbs
7. Cornelius, N.C. Lake Norman
just outside of Charlotte
Nearest major city: Charlotte
Population: 17,290
Median household income: $87,016
Median home price: $206,000
Unemployment rate: 3.3%
Violent crime index: 48
The fast-growing bedroom community, 30 miles north of
Charlotte, has some beautiful homes on Lake Norman,
North Carolina's largest lake. About 31% of residents
are married with children. The average commute is 31
minutes.
From BusinessWeek:
Lake Norman hosting first AquaPalooza party
The free family ‘rafting' event would include
dozens of boaters anchoring off Midway Marina on July 25.
TERRELL Dozens of Lake Norman boaters are scheduled to take part this
summer in what organizers bill as the world's largest boating party.
AquaPalooza drew 12,000 boats and 56,000 visitors to about 100 venues
nationwide last year.
Lake Norman would join in the fun for the first time July 25, when
boaters will anchor off Midway Marina near the N.C. 150 bridge.
AquaPalooza is an annual “rafting” event where boats tie to each
other. It features concerts, food and children's games.
The event is in its fourth year nationwide. Lake Wylie's AquaPalooza
is scheduled for July 18.
Pending approval of the festival by the Lake Norman Marine
Commission, Lake Norman's event would include a performance on a barge
by the Spongetones power-pop band of Charlotte.
The free family festival is scheduled to have a climbing wall, Moon
Bounce and other children's activities, and plenty of good eats,
including food from Lancaster's Bar-B-Que and Wings in Mooresville. A
fireboat and various law enforcement officers would be on hand.
The Lake Norman AquaPalooza had registered 38 boats by last week
without any publicity, said Mark Lancaster, who is helping organize the
event with sponsor Sea Ray of Lake Norman.
Lancaster is chairman of the Lake Norman Wildlife Conservation
Federation and former chairman of the Lake Norman Marine Commission. He
owns a custom dock and shorelines company, and his family runs
Lancaster's Bar-B-Que, Big Daddy's and other local eateries.
Lancaster and other event organizers sought a rafting permit from the
Lake Norman Marine Commission at its monthly meeting in Mooresville last
week. Only two of the five commissioners were present, so the commission
lacked a quorum to vote on anything.
But chairman Sam Ausband of Lincoln County told Lancaster and Tom
Riemann, general manager of Sea Ray of Lake Norman, that they've
organized the event so well that he expects their application to be
approved.
Amphitheatre debut mostly smooth
1st concert at N.C. Music Factory gets high marks
for traffic control and parking; not so for concessions prices.
A sell-out crowd packed the Uptown Amphitheatre on Saturday for the
first concert at the N.C. Music Factory, a new entertainment complex on
the northwest edge of uptown.
And developer Noah Lazes was keeping a list of improvements to make
as he monitored operations:
Adding row numbers to the parking lot (without them, it was a
monotonous maze of cars, but well-patrolled by police).
Making the sound tent more audience-friendly by flattening it and
angling it to improve the view for lawn ticketholders seated behind it.
Saturday's show was the first test of operations for the Music
Factory, a massive project 10 years in the making that is set to include
several bars, clubs and restaurants at a final estimated cost of $40
million. The 5,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater is the first of two
Live Nation-run music venues to open at the complex, set in 100-year-old
textile mills, bringing thousands of people to an obscure and previously
neglected area of Fourth Ward.
And while many were there to see headliners The Fray, several
concertgoers said they were curious to check out the newest addition to
Charlotte's live music scene.
“It's exciting, especially since it's so close,” said Elisa Webb of
Ballantyne, who normally attends concerts at Verizon Wireless
Amphitheatre in north Charlotte. “It'll be even better when the bars and
restaurants open and we can hang out prior to the shows.”
Lazes, of ARK Group, and city leaders were most anxious to see how a
newly built section of Seaboard Street handled the heavy traffic. The
street is so new that some concertgoers who relied on GPS devices or
Mapquest were routed the old way, crossing several railroad tracks along
a deserted back road. But no other problems were spotted. A steady
stream of cars stretched down Seaboard Street from Graham Street, but
the line moved quickly thanks to a large number of parking attendants
directing traffic.
Parking wasn't a problem, either; 400 spots in the 2,500-capacity lot
remained at 8:30 p.m., and many people walked from center city.
Most complaints centered around the high prices at the concessions
stands, where beers ranged from $8-$11 and snacks such as nachos cost up
to $9. One concertgoer said as he approached a beer tent, “$11 for a
beer? That's crazy.” Concessions windows were plentiful, but the lines
moved slowly with 10-15 people in each one at all times.
By 9 p.m., the lawn was a sea of people with every inch of grass
claimed, leaving latecomers without a space to sit. Some improvised,
setting up blankets on the paved plaza or leaning along the railing.
“Next time, I'm paying the extra money for a seat,” said Kim Fore of
Ballantyne, who had a lawn ticket. “There's not a bad seat in this place
since it's small. It's not like Verizon,” with its 18,000 capacity.
A small number of concertgoers found themselves turned away at the
ticket booth after learning their tickets from a third-party vendor were
invalid. They had bought them when the show was scheduled to be held at
Verizon.
“I drove four hours, and now I don't get to see my favorite band,”
said Molly Riley of Roanoke, Va. But she and her friends were later
admitted.
The show ran smoothly with seamless set changes and solid acoustics.
Another plus: The sun sets behind the stage, keeping concertgoers cool
and sightlines clear.
Next up for the Music Factory is the opening of the 2,000-capacity
Fillmore Charlotte, a live music club also operated by Live Nation.
Corey Smith plays its first show on Friday.
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Charlotte region is newcomer hub
Union and Mecklenburg counties are among the
fastest growing in the nation. Uptown is now a hot spot.
Despite a tough economic climate, the Charlotte region remains
popular with transplants.
Newcomers propelled two local counties to rank among the nation's
fastest growing in 2007. Union County ranked seventh among fast-growing
counties with populations of more than 10,000. Mecklenburg, meanwhile,
was 10th in sheer number of people gained in 2007. It added about 32,000
people.
Union County's residential boom has strained its water and sewer
systems and left schools overcrowded. Still, it hasn't stopped the
influx.
The county has grown at a faster rate each year since 2002. Its
population grew to about 185,000, according to a Census estimate. That's
up almost 50 percent from 2000.
Overall, the 11-county Charlotte region grew by about 79,000.
Mecklenburg, with a population of 867,000, is by far the region's
biggest county. It grew by 3.8 percent.
One of the city's biggest areas of growth has been uptown, a change
highlighted in 2008 by the success of the ACC men's basketball
tournament.
Held at Time Warner Cable Arena in the heart of uptown, more than
25,000 visitors bounced back and forth between the games and their
hotels, and uptown's more than 110 restaurants and 50 nightclubs.
Contrast that with 1994, when the city hosted the NCAA's Men's Final
Four. City leaders scrambled then to create a temporary entertainment
district they hoped would leave fans with a favorable impression of the
Queen City.
At the time, uptown was one big office park, closing at the end of
the work day. The center city had fewer than 15 restaurants and only one
true nightclub, Mythos.
Perhaps most important has been the growth in uptown residents. Today
about 11,000 people call the area home and many more are expected as new
condominiums come online and more entertainment venues open. Officials
predict the population could reach 25,000 by 2020.
Charlotte Center City Partners has even started pushing for a new
high school downtown. Center City officials argue that uptown is
centrally located between Myers Park and West Charlotte and that public
transportation makes it an economical choice for a new school.
So while recent statistics show that average Charlotte-area home
prices have fallen for the first time over a 12-month period since 1991,
Charlotte's historically steady market, population growth and strong job
outlook will help the city stay afloat in this increasingly sluggish
economy.
And those are factors that will likely continue to make the region a
hot relocation destination
Top execs of area's nine Fortune 500 companies
Charlotte might be considered Banktown, but the nine area Fortune 500
companies that call it home span five economic sectors.
The diverse group includes two of the nation's largest banks, the
second-largest home improvement chain and one of the largest power
companies.
The nine chief executives are among the highest paid in their
industries – part of a general trend of rising executive compensation.
But as the Charlotte banks hemorrhage billions and the national
economy and stock market sputter, some CEOs could be hit with pay cuts,
or worse. Wachovia's Ken Thompson was ousted in June 2008 after his bank
had been hit particularly hard by the banking downturn and amid concerns
it could become a takeover target. And Lowe's Companies CEO Robert
Niblock lost his bonus in 2007. The Mooresville-based company is hurting
because the national housing crisis means fewer home improvement
projects.
Ironically, the highest paid CEO in the group in 2007 was Thompson,
who was replaced in July 2008 with Robert Steel, a former U.S. Treasury
official. Thompson made $17.15 million. Bank of America's Ken Lewis, who
was the highest paid in 2006, ranked second with $17.03 million. And SPX
chief Chris Kearney was third with $15.07 million.
Earnings and stock prices are down in general, but the executives
still make millions.
When one-time stock option windfalls are excluded from reported
compensation packages, the nine were compensated 9 percent more last
year than in 2006, according to an Observer analysis of U.S. Securities
and Exchange documents.
That could change if stock prices of the area's two largest banks –
Bank of America and Wachovia – continue to fall, along with shares of
Sonic Automotive, Duke Energy and Lowe's.
A bright spot among the nine: Matthews-based Family Dollar. The
discount retailer reported a 7.1 percent increase in profits for its
third quarter that ended May 31, 2008 – the most recent results at press
time – due to an increase in shoppers looking for bargains and spending
their government stimulus checks.
The latest SEC filings detailing executive compensation, called
proxies, don't reflect the full story of the slumping economy's effect
on executive pay. The round of proxies out in 2009 will likely show more
withheld bonuses, devalued stock options and deeper pay cuts.
Jobless with a plan? Kauffman training is in the
works for Charlotte
The
Kauffman Foundation, a $2 billion Kansas City, Mo.-based
organization that promotes entrepreneurship, is coming to Charlotte to
lend a hand.
Charlotte is among a select group of cities targeted for training
unemployed workers to start small businesses. The program, called
FastTrac, is designed to teach them the necessary skills to jumpstart
profitable companies.
“This is the Cadillac of training courses,
the creme de la creme,” says George McAllister, regional director of the
N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center. “There has
not been a program of this caliber offered in Charlotte ever before.”
So far, New York and Detroit are the only other cities where Kauffman
has launched the program.
Under FastTrac, courses will be offered here at no charge to
job-seekers. The regular tuition for the Kauffman-supported training is
often more than $1,000.
Kauffman officials say they chose Charlotte for the initiative
because of its strong pool of well-educated, white-collar workers who’ve
lost their jobs due to turmoil in the banking industry.
Kauffman offered the courses free in certain cities during the
2001-02 recession, though on a smaller scale. The FastTrac curriculum
started in 1993 at the foundation’s headquarters and has since served
350,000 people.
“We recognized there’s a big opportunity to help communities keep
their top talent by teaching them to start businesses,” Kauffman
director Monica Doss says about the effort to take FastTrac to certain
cities. “We’re targeting people who thought all along that some day they
might want to own a business. Well, the day may be here.”
The program will be available to up to 500 individuals in a 12-county
area around Charlotte. The N.C. Small Business and Technology
Development Center, located near UNC Charlotte, is the local contact for
FastTrac, and the program will fall under the umbrella of Gov. Bev
Perdue’s recently announced Charlotte-area work-force recovery task
force.
McAllister says Kauffman will supply the curriculum for the program
and provide trained experts to help get courses started. The foundation
also will train local facilitators to teach the curriculum once the
first wave of courses concludes.
Altogether, that’s about a $100,000 in-kind contribution, McAllister
says. State funds through the governor’s work-force initiative will keep
the program running.
The first courses will be available in Charlotte to 30 people in two
separate groups. Participants will meet five times over a three-week
period to work on business plans, receive one-on-one coaching and
hands-on training with seasoned entrepreneurs. The courses will
eventually be offered at community colleges across the region.
FastTrac is designed for serious entrepreneurs who are ready to start
a business. To serve those unsure about business ownership, McAllister’s
office and other agencies working with the governor’s task force will
offer an entry-level course as a precursor to FastTrac.
Jodi Wright and her sister, Heather Schobel, of Charlotte have
already applied for FastTrac. Wright, a real estate professional, lost
her job as the economy declined. Now, she and Schobel, a Johnson & Wales
University-trained chef, and their mother are ready to launch a gourmet
catering business, Savory Moments.
They’re hoping to fine-tune their ideas in FastTrac. “We have a
business plan, but there are still so many questions,” Wright says.
“We’re new to opening a business.”
Doss, the FastTrac director, says the program is designed to evaluate
business plans for strengths and weaknesses and to teach entrepreneurs
how to start on a successful note.
“By the time you come out of the program, your business plan is
thoroughly vetted by a lot of people, and you’re very grounded,” she
says.
The program started in New York in January, and Doss says she already
sees successes. A group of young entrepreneurs there kept meeting weekly
after the course concluded to help each other’s fledgling businesses.
Doss is confident Charlotte’s banking community will embrace the idea
of business ownership with as much passion.
“This is a different generation of bankers,” she says. “They’re not
all thinking, ‘I’ll be in banking the rest of my life.’ ”
QUICKINFO
FASTTRAC
•The program will begin in Charlotte on July 6 at
CPCC’s Central Campus.
•To register or get more details, call
(704) 548-1090
or go to pronetcharlotte.com
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