The big news at the end of the week was confirmation that the Charlotte region is growing at a much faster rate than previously thought — 157 net new residents a day, up from 117 last year, according to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. We’re clearly in the midst of a decade where a dominant story will be how we manage all the growth. So I drafted a little welcome letter for the ones arriving today.
Good evening,
Hope you’re eating pizza. The boxes can wait.
You’re part of a record-setting incoming class of Charlotte regional freshmen. One-hundred fifty-seven of you are arriving each day, way more than we thought a year ago. That makes you special, or maybe not very special. Guess it depends how you look at it.
We should start by saying that the Charlotte region, as defined by the good people who gather attention-grabbing statistics like these, is very large. Some towns will choke at being included with the city. Drive 110 miles from the northern tip to the southern, you’ll cross a state line and find two very different barbecue sauces on either end. From west to east, it’s about 105 miles from the birthplace of Earl Scruggs to the birthplace of Kellie Pickler, with the hometown of the Avett Brothers along the way. That’s a lot of different types of twang.
The main reason to lump us all together is that we share an airport, which also boasts about its growth.
Anyhow, welcome. Or howdy. Or what’s up. We have lots of different ways to say hello here. During rush hour on the highway it might even be a middle finger. No offense. We just have places to be.
Most of you are headed to the county in the middle. Mecklenburg’s the engine of all this growth. About 60 of the 157 are arriving in Mecklenburg each day, or 22,000 a year. You’re joined by about 41 new babies, but you’ll miss out on the 19 or so folks who’ll pass away on the same day.
If even half of you bring a car, that’s 44,000 new tires on our roads each year. If half of you order pizza, that’s 11,000 more pies to toss. Be patient with us while we try to figure out how to fix all that traffic and toss all that dough.
There’s much to learn, but lots of guides. Content for newcomers is king. Just search best this or that, and you’ll find a list. Charlotte’s a fun place to use, and use it all you want. But to really be part of it, you have to chip in. It’s a city of connections, and each one leads to the next.
Some cities demand that you adapt. Charlotte still follows the old rule of book publishing: If you can’t find the book you want to read, write it. If you can’t find the thing you want in Charlotte, make it. Bring your cultures. Bring your food and music and knowledge, and share it.
But listen, too. Charlotte’s been at the center of education issues, societal issues, political issues, economic issues, for generations now. And often history rhymes. Today’s battles over transportation taxes sound like those from 1998. Debates over how much the public should fund pro sports owners’ arenas have been going on for 40 years.
Living in an urban county in the United States in 2025 comes with attention. I think that’s in part because of the demise of media outside of cities. We still broadcast our troubles in Charlotte. Like every city, we have many challenges — we had another tragic stabbing just this weekend. But here’s one hopeful fact: People in Mecklenburg live longer than in almost any other North Carolina county. The average life span here is 79.1 years, about half a year longer than the national average. Use that extra time wisely.
You arrive on an interesting week. School starts Monday, and some of us are walking our kids through the doors of kindergarten. Give us grace if we cry. There’s also plenty to celebrate. Soul Gastrolounge is reopening Monday, after three years away. They had 3,000 reservations within the first 48 hours. I went to a preview with my wife last night, and not only was the food great, she seemed to love me a little more today. It’s that kind of place.
So yes, scope out the small businesses and experiences. You can pick apples on the western edges of our region, and peaches on the eastern. How about that?
I guess this is all to say it’s a good place to be part of, and to contribute to. The best moments, though, are the ones of discovery. When my dad died in 2019, I walked every day in the Evergreen Nature Preserve over in east Charlotte. There’s a makeshift bridge across a swampy bottom there along the trail, and one day I just stopped there and started talking to him. Part of me felt like a kook, but a larger part felt comforted. I still go back to Evergreen to give him big life updates. It’s where I told him I’d become a dad myself.
That’s the charm of Charlotte, I think, knowing that I can be in a city and away from everyone at the same time. And that’s still sort of the charm of the Charlotte region, I guess — you can be in one of the fastest growing areas of the country, but drive a few miles and you can purge yourself from the stresses of all that.
The magic pops up in other ways, too: Maybe a conversation with a new best friend on an apartment porch in South End, or pulling up with a book and a pot of tea at the most peaceful Pauline Tea Bar Apothecary on the west side, or of learning that our favorite mascot Hugo the Hornet was created by the daughter of the guy who created the actual Muppets. Each little twinkle of a moment or drop of knowledge can hook you. And next thing you know you might be like me, someone who’s lived all over North Carolina and visited all 100 of our counties, only to end up here, married to someone who grew up here, laughing on a Sunday morning after a nice date night as we watch our little mutt sprint out the back door, tongue out, heart out, chasing squirrels. He’s 10 years old, and 0-for-a-lifetime on squirrels. But he keeps trying. And that’s a Charlotte thing, too.
So, welcome. Go chase squirrels.
Michael