Good Question....

Well here's a few facts about Charlotte NC

2nd largest banking center in the nation (controls more than $1 trillion in assets)
3rd best metro for business location
4th among "Best Cities for Black Families" by www.BET.com
5th largest urban region in the U.S.
6th largest trading area in the U.S.
6th largest wholesale center in the U.S.
6th in number of Fortune headquartered companies
8th best city for entrepreneurship
One of the "10 Best Places to Live" by Money magazine
20th among "Best Cities for Women" by Ladies Home Journal
21st most active airport in the U.S. (in total passengers)
26th largest city in the U.S. (in total population)
28th among "America's Most Wired Cities" by Yahoo! Internet Life
One of "America's 32 most livable cities" by Partners for Livable Communities (2003, 2004)

And that's without mentioning the climate thing. Or the cost of living thing.

It's also without the hour away from aging parents thing and the one hour from the mountains and three hours from the beach things.

Here's a little video clip if you're interested....

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3272735

If any visitor has first hand experience of Charlotte, please feel free to leave a comment...