Camcorder

New Formats:. Charlotte has a number of sister cities, including:. The following list covers consumer equipment only!. Amtrak's Crescent and Carolinian and Piedmont trains connect Charlotte with New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, and Raleigh. Aftermath of this, "I tried to make a gag called "An octopus appears in a miniskirt" (Mini ni Tako ga Dekiru, ミニにタコができる)" he explained when he was asked why he had done it by media reporters. Plans for the light rail and commuter rail network will link uptown Charlotte with its immediate suburbs along four additional key corridors. For the most famous example, the unbelievable incident that Japanese television performer Masashi Tashiro was caught for taking a sneak shot of a woman's skirt in a station occurred. CATS has begun work on the $426.8 million south corridor light rail project, running from downtown to suburban Pineville with service scheduled to begin in 2007.

Camcorders can be used for voyeurism. The 2025 Corridor System Plan looks to upgrade Charlotte's public transportation by supplementing its established bus service with a light rail and commuter rail network along five key corridors at a total cost of over $1.7 billion. There are even examples of Hollywood movies shot entirely on consumer camcorder equipment (see Blair Witch Project.). The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the local mass transit agency that operates historical trolleys, express shuttles and bus service that serve Charlotte and its immediate suburbs in both North and South Carolina. Camcorders are often used in the production of low-budget TV shows, where the production crew does not have access to more professional equipment. Upon completion, the Outerbelt will have a total circumference of approximately 67 miles (108 km). The film can be used to spot and pick out troublemakers, who can then be prosecuted in court. Charlotte's beltway, designated I-485 and nicknamed the "Outerbelt", is nearly complete and slated for completion by 2013.

The police use camcorders to film riots, protests and the crowds at sporting events. Charlotte's central location between the population centers of the northeast and southeast has made it a transportation focal point and primary distribution center, with two major interstate highways, I-85 and I-77, intersecting near the city's center. Activist videos often appear on Indymedia. Nonstop flights are available to many destinations across the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and Canada. Greenpeace uses camcorders to film their activities. American Airlines, Air Canada, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, AirTran and Lufthansa are some of the major carriers that serve the airport. If the police do use violence there will be evidence on video. It is served by many international and domestic airlines, and is the largest hub of US Airways.

Anti-globalization protestors film the police to deter police brutality. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is the 17th busiest airport in the US. Anti-hunting protestors film fox hunts. The average for cities in this category was 927 violent crimes per 100,000 population and 5968 property crimes per 100,000 population.
. Animal rights protestors who break into factory farms and animal testing labs use camcorders to film the conditions the animals are living in. Compared to other cities with population from 500,000 to 999,999 for 2004 (the first year that data was broken down by the FBI for the Uniform Crime Report in this manner), Charlotte's crime is a bit higher than average. Political protestors have capitalized on the value of media coverage use camcorders to film things they believe to be unjust. Direct comparisons to national crime rates are difficult as many different urbanization levels are present across the country.

Home video is usually done with poor filming techniques. However, since then the rate has risen to 7090 occurences per 100,000 population as of 2004, a trend not seen in the national statistics. For casual use, camcorders often cover weddings, birthdays, graduation ceremonies, and many other personal events. From 1997 to 2002 property crime dropped from 7,779 occurences per 100,000 population to 6,340 occurences per 100,000 population. Scheduled events such as official press conferences, where a video infrastructure is readily available or can be feasibly deployed in advance, are still covered by studio-type video cameras (tethered to "production trucks."). According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, violent crimes have dropped from a rate of 1630 occurences per 100,000 population in 1997 to 1099 occurences per 100,00 population in 2004 The violent crime rate has decreased steadily from 1997 to 2004, though the 2004 rate was slightly higher than the 2003 rate (1099 compared to 1077). Subsequently, the video is transmitted electronically to a studio/production center for broadcast. In general, the occurence of crime in Charlotte has been decreasing in recent years, as has crime nationally.

In locations away from a distribution infrastructure, camcorders are invaluable for initial video acquisition. Lawrence Homes Home Ice at the new Charlotte Bobcats Arena.


. Camcorders have found use in nearly all corners of electronic media, from electronic news organizations to TV/current-affairs productions. The Charlotte Checkers now play in St. Nonetheless, these new addon-functions can be used to shoot short fun clips at parties, where quality of the recording is not an issue. Via the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL are a farm team for the NHL's New York Rangers. Also there is no way to zoom slowly. Charlotte is on the list of cities that the Florida Marlins are considering for relocation; team officials are expected to visit the city in late February or early March 2006 to discuss a move with city leaders and consider a plan to build a privately-funded stadium downtown.

While digicams have optical zooming in principle, it is often disabled during filming because depending on the optics, adapting the focus while zooming may not be perfect so the captured video may not always stay sharp during zooming. The Triple-A Charlotte Knights, the top minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, currently call the Charlotte area home (the team's stadium is located in nearby Fort Mill, South Carolina). This means their use is either limited to capturing short clips in poor quality, lack good zooming ability and every device which is limited to flash memory for recording and does not use DVD, Harddisk or Tape as recording media cannot store enough data to capture longer periods of PAL/NTSC-qualitiy video. Baseball has a long, rich history in the Queen City, dating back to 1901 when the Charlotte Hornets were formed. Mobile phones are not as advanced in video-gathering as digicams and employ even stronger compression, resulting in less quality and/or use lower frame rates. Seventy-three percent of American motorsports employees are based within two hours of downtown Charlotte. As of 2006, many recent digicams can record short movie clips with a resolution of 640x480 and 30 frames per second (either using MJPEG or MPEG-4, but the recording time is either very short (few minutes) and/or the compression artifacts are very visible. A vast majority of NASCAR teams and race shops are located within an hour's drive of Charlotte, and most NASCAR drivers maintain a residence in or near the city.

Video-capture capability is now available in selected models of cellphones, digicams, and other portable consumer electronic devices such as media players, but due to compression artifacts caused by high compression ratios, their output quality is not comparable to the output quality of dedicated camcorders. Charlotte is a hub of stock car racing, with major races being held at nearby Lowe's Motor Speedway. Camcorders which record directly on DVD media are also on the rise. Charlotte is home to the Charlotte Eagles of the United Soccer Leagues and plays host to the annual Wachovia Championship, an increasingly prestigious stop on the PGA Tour. In terms of sales, Digital8 and miniDV recorders dominate most first-world markets. The WNBA Charlotte Sting have played in Charlotte since 1997. As of 2006, analog camcorders are not marketed anymore. The franchise relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana in 2002 after bitter animosity between the team's fans and principal owner George Shinn led to slumping attendance and ill feelings towards the Hornets.

Many consumer camcorders bundle a light version (with limited features.). From 1988 to 2002, Charlotte hosted an NBA franchise named the Charlotte Hornets. A contemporary Personal Computer of even modest power can perform digital video editing with low-cost editing software. The team plays in the Charlotte Bobcats Arena, which opened in fall 2005 in downtown Charlotte. Before the 21st century, consumer video editing was a difficult task requiring a minimum of two recorders. In 2004, Charlotte was awarded its second NBA expansion team named the Charlotte Bobcats. When dimly-lit areas are brightened in-camera or in post-production, considerable noise distracts the viewer. The NCAA football Meineke Car Care Bowl is played annually in December at Bank of America Stadium.

For the sophisticated hobbyist (prosumer), high-end units offer improved optical and video performance through multi-CCD components and name-brand optics, manual control of camera exposure, and more, but even consumer camcorders which are sold for $1000 such as the Panasonic GS400 are not well-suited for recording in dim light. The city has also been home to two Arena Football League teams, the Charlotte Rage and Carolina Cobras. For the beginner, entry-level camcorders offer basic recording and playback capability. Charlotte was home to the World Football League's Charlotte Hornets during 1974 and 1975. Consumer units offer a plethora of I/O options (IEEE 1394/Firewire, USB 2.0, Composite and S-Video), but lack basic manual settings for video exposure. They have been in two other NFC Championship games: in 1996 (their second year) and 2006. Manual controls need space, either in menus or as buttons and make the use more complicated, which goes against the requirement of ease of use. 1, 2004, the Panthers were defeated, 32-29, by the New England Patriots.

Thus, consumer camorders are unable to shoot useful footage in dim light. In Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. For example, good low-light capabilities require large capturing chips, which affects price and size. The team won the NFC Championship of the 2003-2004 NFL season when it beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 14-3, in Philadelphia. As the mainstream consumer market favors ease of use, portability, and price, consumer camcorder emphasize these features more than raw technical performance. The Panthers play in Bank of America Stadium, located in Uptown. Time in post-production (editing) to select and cut the best shots for nice viewing is measured in days or weeks. Charlotte is home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers, which debuted in the league in 1995.

The transfer is done at normal speed, so the complete transfer of a 60 minute tape needs one hour to transfer and about 14GB disk space for the raw footage only - exclusive any space needed for editing. SouthPark has over 125 stores, many of which are unique to the Carolinas, including Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Neiman Marcus, and Kate Spade. All other digital consumer camcorders record in DV format on tape and transfer its content over FireWire (some also use USB 2.0) to a computer, where the huge files (1GB for 4 to 4.6 minutes in PAL/NTSC resolutions) can to be edited, converted, (and with many camcorders) also played back to tape. SouthPark Mall, the region's most upscale shopping center, is located about 5 miles south of uptown. Some recent camcorders record video on flash memory devices (in MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4), Microdrives, small hard disks or size-reduced DVD-RAM or DVD-Rs in MPEG-2 format - but due to the limited size of the recording medium, their uninterrupted recording time is limited. Northlake features a variety of both upscale and conventional retailers. No data from a block on the tape means a block artifact which is visible in the picture, but they can be interpolated from surrounding data like it happens in CD-Players when a read error occurs. Northlake was built to serve the population of rapidly growing north Charlotte and University City, as well as the nearby suburbs of Davidson and Huntersville.

This leads to one of the most significant disadvantages of digital recording - that minor disc errors can lead to corruption of the entire disc. Northlake Mall opened in September 2005 and is located 8 miles north of uptown. Either a certain block of digital data on the tape is readable or not, which means all or nothing. Efforts to reinvigorate the mall and surrounding area are currently being discussed. Analog tapes lose quality slowly over time, "snow" becomes visible, while this does not happen with digital tapes. But while SouthPark has flourished and transformed itself into the region's source for high-end merchandise, Eastland has experienced a general decline over the years with many stores vacating the mall. (Please see the video page for details.) The imager-chip is considered an analog component, so the digital namesake is in reference to the camcorder's processing and recording of the video. Eastland Mall was constructed in the mid-1970s as an alternative to then five-year-old SouthPark Mall; its claim to fame being an indoor skating rink in its central atrium.

Newer camcorders include Digital8, miniDV, DVD, and solid-state (flash) semiconductor memory, which all record video in digital form. Concord Mills has over 200 outlet stores and a 24 screen theater within its nearly one-mile interior radius and is North Carolina's largest tourist attraction. Camcorders are often classified by their storage device: VHS, Betamax, Video8 are examples of older, videotape-based camcorders which record video in analog form. Concord Mills is a sprawling retail and entertainment outlet mall about 10 miles northeast of uptown. All but the most primitive camcorders imanginable also need to have a recorder-controlling section which allows the user to control the camcorder, switch the recorder into playback mode for reviewing the recorded footage and an image control section which controls exposure, focus and white-balance. Carolina Place offers over 1.1 million square feet of retail, and its proximity to the South Carolina border draws many shoppers from the Palmetto state. The third section, the recorder, is responsible for writing the video-signal onto a recording medium (such as magnetic videotape.) The record function involves many signal-processing steps, and historically, the recording-process introduced some distortion and noise into the stored video, such that playback of the stored-signal may not retain the same characteristics/detail as the live video feed. Carolina Place Mall opened in the early 1990s and is located about 12 miles south of uptown in suburban Pineville, North Carolina.

In modern (digital) camcorders, an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter digitizes the imager (analog) waveform output into a discrete digital-video signal. The metro area is also served by a 24-hour cable news channel, News 14 Carolina, available on Time Warner Cable. After scan-out is complete, the photosites are reset to start the exposure-process for the next video frame. Television stations serving the market include:. At the end of the timed exposure, the imager converts the accumulated charge into a continuous analog voltage at the imager's output terminals. The Charlotte television market is the 27th largest in 2005, according to Nielsen Media Research. The light exposure is converted into electrical charge. The dominant newspaper in the region is The Charlotte Observer.

The camera lens projects an image onto the imager surface, exposing the photosensitive array to light. There are also several alternative religious institutions in the Charlotte area, with the Unitarian Universalist Church perhaps being the most prominent and popular. The imager converts light into an electronic video-signal through an elaborate electronic process. Hindus meet at the Hindu Center or the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple. The imager section is the eye of the camcorder, housing a photosensitive device(s). The Charlotte area has five mosques: The Islamic Society of Greater Charlotte, Islamic Center of Charlotte, Masjid Ash-Shaheed, South Musallah, and the Islamic Society of Gastonia. Professional units offer direct user control of all major optical functions (aperture, shutter-speed, focus, etc.). Jewish synagogues (Temple Beth El, Reform, Temple Israel, Conservative, and an Orthodox congregation) are located in Shalom Park on Providence Road.

The optic lens is the first component in the camera-section's "light-path." The camcorder's optics generally have one or more of the following adjustments: aperture (to control the amount of light), zoom (to control the field-of-view), and shutter speed (to capture continuous motion.) In consumer units, these adjustments are automatically controlled by the camcorder's electronics, generally to maintain constant exposure onto the imager. The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America is headquartered in Charlotte, and both Reformed Theological Seminary and Gordon Conwell Seminary have campuses there. More commonly, the optics and imager are referred to as the camera section. Catholic congregations continue to expand with the growth of Latino immigration. Finally, the recorder encodes the video signal into a storable form. Charlotte's Catholic and Jewish population surged during the 1980s when a series of corporate relocations brought thousands of northeasterners into the area. The imager (usually a CCD (charge-coupled device) or CMOS sensor IC on modern camcorders; earlier examples often used vidicon tubes) converts incident light into an electrical (video) signal. In total, Charlotte lays claim to more than 700 places of worship.

The lens gathers and focuses light on the imager. The birthplace of Billy Graham, Charlotte was once known as the "City of Churches." Of those who practice a religion, most Charlotteans are Christian of various Protestant denominations, with (principally Southern) Presbyterians and Methodists being the two dominant denominations in the region. Camcorders contain 3 major components: lens, imager, and recorder. Out of the total population, 13.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. As of 2006, an entry-level MiniDV camcorder fits in the palm of a person's hand, at a price under $300 US dollars. 10.6% of the population and 7.8% of families are below the poverty line. When camcorders were first introduced, they were bulky shoulder-operated luggables that cost over $1,500 US dollars. The per capita income for the city is $26,823.

The evolution of the camcorder has seen the growth of the camcorder market as price reductions and size reductions make the technology more accessible to a wider audience. Males have a median income of $38,767 versus $29,218 for females. The digital nature of miniDV also improved audio and video quality over the best of the analog consumer camcorders (SVHS-C, Hi8.) Variations on the digital-video camcorder included the Digital8 camcorder, and the DVD camcorder. The median income for a household in the city is $46,975, and the median income for a family is $56,517. Its cassette media was even smaller than 8mm media, allowing another size reduction of the tape transport assembly. The city's breakdown by race is as follows:. In the late 1990s, the camcorder reached the digital era with the introduction of miniDV. Charlotte's population is ethnically diverse.

Among the mass consumer market, camcorders gradually replaced still cameras for vacation and travel use. There are 230,434 housing units at an average density of 367.2/km² (951.2/mi²). Throughout the 1990s, camcorder sales had the unintended side-effect of hurting the still camera photography market. Figures from the more comprehensive 2000 census show Charlotte's population density to be 861.9/km² (2,232.4/mi²). Eventually the only major manufacturers marketing VHS-C were JVC and Panasonic, so the format fell into obsolescence. The county's population is projected to reach 1 million in 2010. During the 1990s, the UK market saw Video8 and Hi8 eat into VHS-C/S-VHS-C sales as manufacturers such as Sharp Corporation dropped their VHS-C models in favour of 8mm. As of 2004, census estimates show there are 594,359 people living within Charlotte's city limits, and 801,137 in Mecklenburg County.

Equally important, entry-level VHS-C camcorders were priced less than 8mm units. Other major companies based in Charlotte include Belk, Meineke Autocare, Carlisle Companies, Compass Group USA, and Royal+SunAlliance. But some casual and family users preferred VHS-C because of its shared lineage (and familiarity) with VHS. The following Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the Charlotte metropolitan area:. Serious amateur-videographers preferred 8mm, simply because it was better suited (than VHS/VHS-C) for the task of video production. At 871 feet (265 m), the 60-story post-modern gothic tower is the 23rd tallest building in the United States, and the tallest skyscraper between Philadelphia and Atlanta. The complete dominance of VHS among TV-timeshifters and rental-audiences guaranteed VHS-C an uneasy coexistence alongside 8mm. Thanks to the continued expansion of the city's banking industry, the Charlotte skyline has mushroomed in recent years and boasts the Bank of America Corporate Center, designed by César Pelli.

In most cases, viewers would connect the camcorder to their home VCR, and copy their recordings on to a VHS tape. Their headquarters, along with other regional banking and financial services companies, are located primarily in the uptown financial district. On the down side, since the 8mm format was incompatible with VHS, 8mm recordings could not be played in VHS VCRs. financial center, and both the nation's second largest (Bank of America) and fourth largest banks (Wachovia) call the city home. On the plus side, the 8mm camcorder generally produced higher quality recordings than a VHS/VHS-C camcorder, and the standard 8mm cassette could record up to two hours. Charlotte has become a major U.S. 8mm video represented a trade-off for the consumer. South Carolina.

were even smaller than VHS-C cassettes. North Carolina. 8mm video used a tape whose width is 33% less than VHS/Betamax tape (~12.7mm), allowing even further miniaturization in the recorder's tape-transport assembly and cassette media. The Charlotte metropolitan area, formerly known as the Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury CSA (combined statistical area), extends across 2 states (North Carolina and South Carolina), and includes the following counties:. The HandyCam could be held and operated entirely within the palm of the operator's hand, made possible by the 8mm video format. Due to recent annexations, however, the city's population has grown to 651,101. A year later Sony introduced the first HandyCam camcorder. The population of the City of Charlotte is 594,359 according to the US Census 2004 Estimate.

VHS-C allowed manufacturers to reduce the weight and size of VHS-derived camcorders, although at the expense of recording time. The Metropolitan Combined Statistical Area of Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC, has a population, as of the 2005 census estimate, of 2,067,810. The VHS-C cassette held enough tape to record 30 minutes of VHS video, while a mechanical adapter enabled playback of VHS-C videocassettes in standard (full-size) VHS VCRs. See also: Charlotte metropolitan area. VHS-C was essentially VHS with a reduced-size cassette. A list of all Charlotte neighborhoods. Within a few short years, manufacturers introduced two new tape formats tailored to the application of portable-video: the VHS-C format and the competing 8mm. Many residents were without power for several weeks and cleanup took months to complete.

(Most camcorders were designed for right-handed operation, though a few possessed ambidextrous ergonomics.). Passing through Charlotte with wind gusts nearing 100 mph, Hugo caused massive property damage and knocked out power to ninety eight percent of the population. These camcorders were large devices that required a sturdy tripod or strong shoulders to stably support the camera's bulk. In 1989, the city took a direct hit from Hurricane Hugo. The first camcorders combined the video-camera with an existing full-size VHS/Betamax recorder. of precipitation annually, including some winter snow. In 1983, Sony introduced the first camcorder, followed by Kodak in 1984. On average, Charlotte receives 43.51 in.

While the camera itself could be quite compact, the fact that a separate VCR had to be carried made on-location shooting a two-person job. In July, lows average 71 °F (22 °C) and highs average 90 °F (32 °C). The cassette unit could be detached and carried with the user for video recording. In January, morning lows average around 32 °F (0 °C) and afternoon highs average 51 °F (11 °C). The portable VCR consisted of the cassette player/recorder unit, and a television tuner unit. The city has mild winters and hot, humid summers. Specialized models of both the camera and VCR were used for mobile work. Charlotte is located in North America's humid subtropical climate zone.

Prior to the introduction of the camcorder, portable video-recording required two separate devices: a video-camera and a VCR. Catherine's and Rudisill gold mines. As technology advanced, miniaturization eventually enabled the construction of portable video-cameras and portable video-recorders. Uptown Charlotte, so named because it sits atop a long rise between two creeks, was built on the gunnies of the St. Cameras found in television broadcast centers were extremely large, mounted on special trolleys, and wired to remote recorders located in separate rooms. Charlotte constitutes most of Mecklenburg County in the Carolina Piedmont. Video cameras were originally designed for broadcasting television images--see television camera. The total area is 0.25% water.

. km.) of it is water. This compares to previous technology where they would be separate. (1.6 sq. The camcorder contains both camera and recorder in one unit, hence its portmanteau name. mi.
A camcorder is a portable electronic device (generally a digital camera) for recording video images and audio onto a storage device. km.) of it is land and 0.6 sq.

(627.5 sq. mi. Out of that, 242.3 sq. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 242.9 square miles (629 square kilometers).

Novelist Carson McCullers wrote her best-known work, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, while a resident of the city. Polk(Pineville), independent filmmaker Ross McElwee, humorist Rich Hall, artist Romare Bearden, actress Berlinda Tolbert (of The Jeffersons) and Emmy-nominated actress Sharon Lawrence ("NYPD Blue"). president James K. Famous natives of Charlotte include evangelist Billy Graham, pop music stars K-Ci and JoJo of Jodeci, R&B singer Anthony Hamilton, R&B singer Sunshine Anderson, pro wrestling legend Ric Flair, actor Randolph Scott, U.S.

Most traces of antebellum Charlotte are long gone, and preservationists often struggle to maintain landmarks in the face of modern-minded boosters, a key reason Charlotte is often regarded as a "new" American city despite the fact that it is actually one of the oldest of the nation's larger cities. Charlotte's penchant for looking ahead—a drive for economic development that kicked into particularly high gear during the mid-20th century—has created something of a historical apathy in the city. Today, Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the country after New York City. Another hometown bank, First Union, experienced similar growth, and is now known as Wachovia.

McColl transformed North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) into a formidable national player that, through a series of aggressive acquisitions, would eventually become Bank of America. The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s, largely under the leadership of financier Hugh McColl. The mint was not reopened at the end of the war, but the building survives today, albeit in a different location, and now houses the Mint Museum of Art. The Charlotte mint was active until 1861, when Confederate forces seized the mint facility at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Congress established a branch United States Mint here because of the gold deposits found in the area. In 1837 the U.S. Charlotte's history as a financial center is extensive. Uptown Charlotte is literally and figuratively built on gold mines.

The Reed Gold Mine was the nation's first, and it operated until 1912. The nation's original gold rush was on, and many veins of gold were subsequently found in the area. It was the first verified find of gold in the fledgling United States. In 1799, 12-year-old Conrad Reed went fishing one spring morning and brought home a rock weighing about 17 pounds, which the family used as a doorstop for three years before it was recognized by a jeweller as gold.

Charlotte was an ideological hotbed of revolutionary sentiment, a legacy that endures today in the nomenclature of such landmarks as Independence Boulevard, Independence High School, Freedom Park and Freedom Drive. It was a site of encampment for both the American and British main armies, and during a series of skirmishes between British troops and feisty Charlotteans the village earned the lasting nickname "Hornets Nest" from a frustrated Lord General Cornwallis. Charlotte played a critical role during the Revolutionary War. Eleven days later the same 27 townsmen met to create and endorse the Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of laws to govern the newly independent town.

Though Thomas Jefferson would deny having borrowed content from the Mecklenburg declaration, his 1776 Declaration of Independence featured language similar to the Charlotte document (today there is no generally accepted historic proof of the so-called Meck-Dec, and many doubt it ever existed, yet the date of the Declaration appears on the North Carolina state flag). A copy was sent, though never officially presented, to the Continental Congress a year later. On May 20, 1775, townsmen allegedly signed a proclamation that later became known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. The loyalty to King George and his consort was short-lived, however.

Polk, was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the German wife of British King George III. The village established by Polk, uncle of United States President James K. The intersection of Trade and Tryon is known as The Square. The trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road was named Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina.

The crossroads, perched atop a long rise in the piedmont landscape, is the heart of modern Uptown Charlotte. In 1755, early settler Thomas Polk built a home at the crossroads of an Indian trading path and the Great Wagon Road, which became the village of Charlotte Town, incorporated in 1768. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of Scots-Irish and German descent from Pennsylvania into the Carolina foothills. Route 21, and a second that ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street.

Charlotte was founded in the mid-18th century at the intersection of two Indian trading paths, one of which ran north-south Great Wagon Road, and is followed closely today by U.S. . A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean (shar-la-TEE-uhn). Charlotte is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation and is also the second-largest banking center in the country, trailing only New York City in terms of headquartered assets.

As it is a center of finance, transportation, wholesale distribution, and manufacturing, Charlotte is the metropolis of the Carolinas. It is located in the south-central part of North Carolina, near the South Carolina border. Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte is the county seat of Mecklenburg County^GR6. Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the 20th most populous in the United States.

35°14' N
80°50' W. Latitude
Longitude
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595,101
2,067,810
861.9/km².  - City Proper
 - Metropolitan
 - Density.

Wrocław, Poland (as of 1993). Voronezh, Russia (as of 1991). Limoges, France (as of 1992). Kumasi, Ghana (as of 1995).

Krefeld, Germany (as of 1985). Baoding, People's Republic of China (as of 1987). Arequipa, Peru (as of 1962). National Whitewater Center, state of the art facility scheduled to open in Spring 2006.

U.S. Reed Gold Mine, site of the first gold find in the United States. Paramount's Carowinds, regional amusement park located on the border of North and South Carolina. The Mint Museums, two separate facilities, one dedicated to fine art and the other to craft and design.

Lowe's Motor Speedway. The Levine Museum of the New South. Kings Mountain National Military Park, the site of a decisive Revolutionary War battle, located approximately 30 miles (50 km) west of Charlotte. ImaginOn, cutting-edge educational children's library and theater.

Historic Rosedale Plantation. Historic Latta Plantation, a cotton plantation turned living history farm. Discovery Place, a science museum and IMAX Dome theater. Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, a 111 acre (0.5 km²) botanical garden located just west of Charlotte in Belmont.

The Charlotte Museum of History. Carolina Raptor Center, dedicated to the conservation and rehabilitation of birds of prey. WAXN-TV, Channel 64 (Independent). WUNG-TV, Channel 58 (PBS/UNCTV affiliate).

WWWB-TV, Channel 55 (WB affiliate). WJZY-TV, Channel 46 (UPN affiliate). WTVI, Channel 42 (PBS affiliate). WCNC-TV, Channel 36 (NBC affiliate).

WNSC-TV, Channel 30 (PBS/SCETV affiliate). WCCB-TV, Channel 18 (FOX affiliate). WUNE-TV, Channel 17 (PBS/UNCTV affiliate). WHKY-TV, Channel 14 (Independent).

WSOC-TV, Channel 9 (ABC affiliate). WBTV, Channel 3 (CBS affiliate). 1.66% from two or more races. 3.56% from other races.

0.05% Pacific Islander. 0.34% Native American. 3.41% Asian (including Indians (largely Gujarati), Chinese, and Vietnamese). 7.36% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

32.72% black. 58.26% white. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Providence Day School.

Northside Christian. Charlotte Latin. Charlotte Country Day School. Charlotte Christian.

Charlotte Catholic. Al-Huda Islamic Academy. Charlotte Preparatory School. University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Queens University of Charlotte. Pfeiffer University at Charlotte. Kings College. Smith University.

Johnson C. Johnson and Wales University. Central Piedmont Community College. Wachovia.

SPX Corporation. Sonic Automotive. Nucor Steel. Lowe's.

Goodrich Corporation. Family Dollar. Duke Energy. Bank of America.

Chester County. Lancaster County. York County. Stanly County.

Rowan County. Anson County. Cleveland County. Iredell County.

Union County. Cabarrus County. Lincoln County. Gaston County.

Mecklenburg County. Biddleville came about in the 1870s as result of its proximity to the college, distinctly separate from Charlotte. Smith University, a historically black college, once called the Biddle Institute, where blacks were trained to be preachers and teachers. At the heart of Biddleville is Johnson C.

Biddleville is a neighborhood just west of Downtown. The outer edges of University City stretch into Cabarrus County and it is also home to Lowe's Motor Speedway and the state's largest tourist attraction, Concord Mills. University City is also home to University Research Park, a 3,200 acre (13 km²) industrial park. The primarily suburban University City is the home of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

If autonomous, "University", as it is commonly known, would be one of North Carolina's largest cities with nearly 200,000 residents. University City comprises the northeastern part of Charlotte. Formerly an area of textile manufacturing and mill workers' residences, the area has seen a rebirth as a center for arts and entertainment. NoDa is the city's "arts district" on and around NOrth DAvidson Street, located just north of Downtown.

The area also is home to Providence Plantation and the country club community of Raintree. The Arboretum is situated a few miles southeast of Uptown and developed primarily around the Arboretum Shopping Center. Like SouthPark, Ballantyne has a high concentration of both impressive homes and commercial development. Ballantyne, another upscale area, is a planned mixed-use development that has grown exponentially in recent years and lies in the southernmost part of Charlotte, along the North and South Carolina border.

Demographics have changed much over the years and currently Eastland is home to one of Charlotte's largest Latino communities. Eastland, a neighborhood that developed primarily during the 1960s and 70s, comprises a majority of the east side of the city proper, including the namesake Eastland Mall. can be found here, as well as upscale restaurants The Palm, Morton's, Ruth's Chris, and McCormick & Schmicks. Luxury retailers such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Nordstrom, and Tiffany & Co.

The area's name derives from the fashionable SouthPark Mall, located at the intersection of Sharon and Fairview Roads. SouthPark, located in south central Charlotte, is both an upscale residential and commercial neighborhood. By the 1970s and 80s, it was considered an "at-risk" neighborhood, and has only recently enjoyed a revival that has made it a sought-after, more bohemian alternative to other higher-priced city neighborhoods. Plaza Midwood, conceived as a complement to nearby Myers Park, never quite matured in the same way that Dilworth, Elizabeth or Myers Park did.

Myers Park is largely a product of the building boom of the 1920s. Nolen discarded the original grid street pattern of Uptown and Dilworth and instead planned curving avenues following the area’s topography. Like most early American suburbs, Myers Park was initially a "streetcar suburb" whose residents commuted to town on the electric trolley car. Filled with some of Charlotte's oldest grand houses and streets lined with towering oaks, Myers Park was designed by John Nolen of Boston in 1911.

Myers Park is home to some of the city's most desirable zip codes. Independence Park, the first public park in the city, was created in the neighborhood, and Elizabeth became one of the most fashionable residential areas in Charlotte. Elizabeth was annexed by Charlotte in 1907. Elizabeth began to develop rapidly after 1902, when a trolley line was completed.

Elizabeth takes its name from Elizabeth College, a small Lutheran women’s college founded in 1897 on the present-day site of Presbyterian Hosptial. Centered on East Boulevard, today Dilworth is popular with Charlotte's young professionals drawn to its historic turn of the century architecture and traditional neighborhood feel. Planned largely with a grid pattern similar to the city's original four wards, it was initially designated the Eighth Ward. Dilworth, Charlotte's first streetcar suburb, was developed in the 1890s on 250 acres (1 km²) southwest of the original city limits.

Charlotte's historic trolley also originates in the neighborhood. An area of light industry and cotton mills for much of its history, today its former industrial buildings and mills are loft condominiums, restaurants, breweries, shops, and offices. South End takes its name from South Boulevard, its main thoroughfare, as well as its location just south of Uptown. Johnson & Wales University, the Museum of the New South, and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design are also located Uptown, along with the government district for both Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte.

Uptown is home to the majority of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Bank of America Stadium (home of the Carolina Panthers) and the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. At the center of Uptown is the Square, the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets and the point at which all four wards converge. Today the First and Fourth Wards are largely residential, with Fourth Ward housing the majority of Charlotte's remaining 19th century Queen Anne architecture. Uptown The center of Charlotte is known as Uptown. In the 19th century, Uptown was divided into four political wards.