Charlotte Is One of America's Sexiest Cities

We're sexy and we know it, Charlotte.

According to Playboy.com's newly released (and safe for work) list of "America's Sexiest Cities 2015," Charlotte ranks No. 20. What makes a city sexy, you ask. Well that's what Playboy asked, too, and explains that it's "a combination of hot locals, cool nightlife, a great setting and an undercurrent of desire..."

Making the top 20 of any flattering national ranking is a good thing, I suppose. The top-five sexiest cities, Playboy's research and surveys show, are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco. No surprises there, but those are also some of the country's largest cities. Wonder if there's any correlation between sexy and size? (No pun intended.) If you're curious about the Queen City's "peers," Tampa and Atlanta are ranked 16th and 17th, respectively. And Orlando, at No. 21, gives the Southeast five of the top 25 cities.

This map, from Playboy.com, shows where the sexiest cities are located. 

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Money Magazine Reveals What We Already Know: Charlotte Is the 'Best Big-City Bargain' In the Country

ICYMI, earlier this week, Money magazine published its annual package of stories and rankings comprising its "Best Places to Live in America." Among the 2014 lists is the "Best Big-City Bargains," and coming in at No. 1 is Charlotte, which you likely agree with if you live here. Nos. 2-5 are Phoenix, Fort Worth, Boston, and Chicago. The Time Inc.-owned publication describes its methodology for determining the list:

To create this list of best-value big-city neighborhoods, we ranked places with over 500,000 in population on housing affordability, economic strength, home price forecasts, and livability using data from NeighborhoodScout, OnBoard Informatics, and CoreLogic. Then we looked for promising, well-priced neighborhoods in our top 10 locales.

It highlights two thriving Charlotte neighborhoods in particular: Plaza Midwood, writing, "Just 10 minutes by car from the center of Charlotte, this artsy, bike-friendly neighborhood is an interesting mix of the gritty and the pretty;" and Mountain Island Lake, "Convenient to the soon-to-be-completed I-485 beltway, Mountain Island Lake features pretty, spacious homes." I live in the less glamorous section of the Mountain Island area, but about five minutes north of me is the community Money is referring to, which really is a hidden gem in Charlotte (and maybe in five years I'll be able to afford to live there).

In addition to Best Big-City Bargains, Money, in the October 2014 issue, also profiles the 50 Best Small Cities, Best Places to Be Rich and Single, Top Earning Towns, and Best Places to Find a New Job.

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Two Charlotte Restaurants--5Church and Baku--Made OpenTable's 'Top 100 Hot Spot Restaurants in America'

Today, OpenTable announced its list of the Top 100 Hot Spot Restaurants in America for 2014. Two Charlotte restaurants made the coveted list: 5Church in Uptown and Baku in SouthPark. If you're plugged into the Charlotte dining scene then you likely know both of these places to be local hotspots as well as places out-of-towners are told they must visit. 5Church turns two years old in May and seems to continue to be as popular as it was during its first summer. And Baku has only been open for six months, but has become one of the go-to places in south Charlotte.

According to the press release from OpenTable: The Diners' Choice Awards for the Top 100 Hot Spot Restaurants in America are generated from more than 5 million restaurant reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between March 1, 2013, and February 28, 2014. All restaurants with a minimum number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Qualifying restaurants were then sorted according to a score calculated from each restaurant's average rating in the "hot spot" category along with a minimum "overall" rating.

5Church. Credit: Facebook

Baku. Credit: Facebook

It should be noted that these two Charlotte restaurants are the only restaurants in North Carolina to make the list. I brag all the time about how great Charlotte's dining scene has become (the nightlife scene, too). We have several top-notch restaurants that not only serve great food but also have the decor and ambiance (restaurateurs spend big bucks designing these places) that I would put up against just about any dining hot spot in NYC or L.A.

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Charlotte Is 6th 'Most Bible-Minded' City In America

Around these parts, there's practically a church on every other street, a parkway named after the Rev. Billy Graham, and if you go to a major event in Uptown, such as a Bobcats or Panthers game or music concert, you're likely to encounter some guy on the sidewalk with a bullhorn shouting why you're all going to hell. So it comes as no surprise that Charlotte is ranked sixth on the list of "America's Most Bible-Minded Cities," according to a study released today by American Bible Society and Barna Group.

The Queen City's sixth-place ranking is one spot higher than last year, which was the first year ABS and Barna came together to do this study. So Charlotte, being the can-do-city that we are, must strive to make it into the top-five of America's Most Bible-Minded Cities. The top-five for 2014 are: Chattanooga, Tennessee at No. 1; Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa, Alabama No. 2; Roanoke/Lynchburg, Virginia No. 3; Springfield, Missouri No. 4; and Shreveport, Louisiana No. 5.

The least Bible-minded city is Providence, Rhode Island/New Bedford, Massachusetts, coming in at No. 100 on the list. Just ahead of it is Albany, New York (99) and Boston (98)--more Northeastern populations that are going to hell (I kid, I kid; Jesus saves).

The study examined "a combination of regular Bible reading with belief in the Bible’s accuracy across the top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States." It also points out that of the top 25 Bible-minded cities, only three have a population of greater than 1 million: Charlotte, Nashville, and Dallas. I guess the bigger the city you live in, the more you lack Jesus. And all but one of the top 25 cities are in the South or Midwest, the lone exception being 21st-ranked Bakersfield, California. Click here to read the complete study.

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ESPN.com Analyzes Charlotte Bobcats' 2013-14 Season

Earlier this month, ESPN.com began its 2013-14 NBA Preview, including providing a "5-On-5" outlook on teams from a group of sports analysts. The website has published previews on a pair of teams each day, beginning with the two teams that met in last season's NBA Championship, the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Today, it's time for the Charlotte Bobcats to be placed under the microscope.

The 5-On-5 coverage on the Bobcats--5 sports experts answering 5 questions--is provided by ESPN Insiders Larry Coon and Tom Haberstroh, D.J. Foster of ClipperBlog, Danny Nowell of TrueHoop Network, and Spencer Percy of Queen City Hoops blog. They grade the Bobcats' offseason moves (average grade given is a C), give their suggestions for the biggest question facing the team this season, pick the most intriguing player, make a bold prediction, and predict how far they think the team will go during the 2013-14 season.

The preview provides some pretty good critiquing of the Bobcats. There's plenty of scrutiny--pros and cons--of MJ and company's decision to sign free agent Al Jefferson to a three-year $40.5 million contract over the summer. Jefferson, a 28-year-old, 6'10" power forward/center, averaged 17.8 points and 9.2 rebounds last season for the Utah Jazz. If you're a Bobcats fan, you won't be happy that none of the analysts expect Charlotte's team to come close to making the playoffs this season (do you?). But they offer a little optimism for what could lie ahead in the 2014 NBA Draft, which is expected to be one of the best draft classes in years and is when the Bobcats could potentially have three first-round picks. Click here to read the Bobcats preview.

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Raleigh the Fastest-Growing City In U.S.; Charlotte 5th

The two largest cities in North Carolina continue to be among the fastest growing in the country, in terms of population percentage increase. This week, Forbes published its list of the 10 Fastest-Growing Cities In the U.S. (and the 10 Slowest-Growing), with Raleigh ranking as the fastest growing and Charlotte coming in fifth. In between them, Austin, Texas is ranked second, Las Vegas is third, and Orlando is fourth.

Forbes explains how it analyzed the data, which was recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Some of the cities' growth have been impacted by economic factors such as the housing market and job sectors. The cities' populations are grouped into their respective metropolitan statistical areas--MSAs encompass the populations of the smaller surrounding cities and towns. So for Charlotte, the MSA includes Gastonia and Rock Hill, among others. According to Forbes:

No. 1: Raleigh, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area
2012 population: 1,188,564
Growth since 2000: 47.8%
Growth since 2011: 2.2%
Rank in 2011-2012: No. 3

No. 5: Charlotte, NC-SC
2012 population: 2,296,569
Growth since 2000: 32.8%
Growth since 2011: 1.7%
Rank in 2011-2012: No. 9

Forbes ran a bland photo of Uptown Charlotte's skyline. They should've hit up my buddy, photographer Jon Strayhorn of Media Arts Collective, to get a great shot like this.

Cleveland ranks as the slowest growing U.S. city, with Detroit, not surprisingly, coming in a close second, followed by Buffalo and Pittsburgh. All four of these cities have decreased in population since 2000.

Charlotte has ranked high on the fastest-growing cities lists since I've lived here. And over the past year, all it takes is a drive through neighborhoods like South End and Plaza Midwood to see the many new apartments being built, and in south Charlotte where subdivisions are being expanded and/or entirely new ones are being constructed with hundreds of houses (evident in this July 2012 article I wrote for Charlotte magazine).

Rapid population growth is why it's important that a city like Charlotte is forward-thinking in its city planning, particularly as it pertains to roads and public transportation (i.e. light rail and streetcar), as well as job growth and the types of industries city leaders try to lure here.

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World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes—8 Charlotte Ballers

Forbes has published its annual list of The World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes, ranking sports figures based on the money they've raked in over the last 12 months, between June 2011 and June 2012. Boxers take the top two spots: Floyd Mayweather Jr. at No. 1 with $85 million and the guy people have been wanting him to fight for two years now, Manny Pacquiao, at No. 2 with $62 million. Rounding out the top five are Tiger Woods at No. 3 with $59.4 million, LeBron James at No. 4 with $53 million, and Roger Federer at No. 5 at $52.7 million.

Forbes explains that the earning figures it compiled include salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, licensing, and endorsement income. So there are a number of ways athletes become filthy rich. All of Mayweather's $85 mil came from what he made in the ring, considering he owns his own fight promotion company, while $45 mil of Federer's $52.7 mil came from endorsements, so he made most of his fortune away from the court.

The business magazine also points out that 30 NFL players made the list of 100 highest-paid athletes, which is more than any other sport, but an anomaly this year because many NFL players, it reports, had bonuses delayed until the summer of 2011 that normally would have been paid in March due to the NFL lockout. Plus, several players had their 2012 salaries converted into signing bonuses and paid out in March to alleviate team’s salary cap issues. As a result, of those high-earning NFLers, four are Carolina Panthers: defensive end Charles Johnson at No. 15 with $34.4 million, linebacker Jon Beason at No. 56 with $21.4 million, running back DeAngelo Williams at No. 66 with $19.9 million, and center Ryan Kalil at No. 71 with $19.4 million (the NFL's highest paid center).

Charles Johnson, photographed with a kid at his football camp last week, is the highest paid athlete in Charlotte over the past year and No. 15 in the world. Credit: @randywattson

Also in relation to Charlotte, there are four NASCAR drivers on the list who call this area home. Dale Earnhardt Jr. at No. 23 with $28.2 million (making him NASCAR's top-earning driver thanks largely to $15 million in endorsements), Jeff Gordon at No. 42 with $23.6 million ($10 million in endorsements), Tony Stewart at No. 47 with $22.3 million ($7 million in endorsements), and Jimmie Johnson at No. 53 with $21.5 million ($7 million in endorsements). It's also worth noting that three of these four drivers, with the exception of Stewart, are a part of the Hendrick Motorsports team.

So, there are a total of eight Charlotte-area athletes on the list via the Panthers and NASCAR (but no Charlotte Bobcats). As I often say, there's a lot of money in this town.

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Durham One of 'Best Cities for Singles,' Asheville One of 'Worst,' Charlotte Neither

Kiplinger, a leading publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, which in recent years has become best known for the annual city rankings it publishes, has placed two North Carolina cities on a couple of its recent lists. Durham is No. 9 on the list of 10 Best Cities for Singles, while Asheville is No. 8 on the list of 10 Worst Cities for Singles. It's interesting how Kiplinger describes its methodologies. At the heart of it, it doesn't seem to be much about heart at all, but rather about money.

Here's how the Best were determined:

"Finding the best cities for singles goes beyond simply identifying the places with the highest percentage of bachelors and bachelorettes. Financial factors count, too. After all, you’ll want to meet someone who can afford to date, right? To put together our list of best cities for singles, we took into account income and living costs. The cities that made the final cut boast household income levels well above the Census Bureau average of $49,536. The cost-of-living score -- derived from Council for Community and Economic Research data -- indicates essential costs, including rent. A high score is acceptable as long as it’s offset by attractive incomes and a strong dating pool..."

You weren't with me shooting in the gym. [Image source]

And how the Worst were determined:

"Landing on our list of worst cities for singles doesn’t necessarily make a city a bad place to live. Far from it. Many of these cities are great for couples, families or retirees, and many offer enviable amenities, from warm weather to low living costs. What these cities don’t offer are deep pools of financially attractive singles. Like it or not, when it comes to dating, money matters -- at least to a degree. So while love might ultimately conquer all, a steady paycheck conquers the here and now -- the tab for dinner and the like."

This all reminds me of a memorable line from I Think I Love My Wife: "You can lose lots of money chasing women, but you will never lose women chasing money."

Topping the list of best cities for singles, strangely enough, is Ann Arbor, Michigan. Notables on the list are Los Angeles at No. 5 and New York at No. 8. Topping the worst is Yuma, Arizona. Notably, all of the worst cities for singles are either in the South or Midwest. Interesting.

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Carolina Panthers Rank Middle of the Pack In List of NFL's Most Valuable Teams

Forbes published its annual list of the NFL's Most Valuable Teams yesterday, the day before the 2011 NFL season officially kicks off. I look forward to reading these rankings each year and even though media coverage of the spring-and-summer-long NFL lockout reminded us daily that the National Football League is essentially a cash cow, it's still great to see how the numbers break down.

Not surprisingly, the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable team for the fifth straight year, worth $1.85 billion, according to Forbes. I was surprised, however, by where the Carolina Panthers rank: No. 15 with a value of $1 billion. In a league comprised of 32 teams, that puts the Panthers in the middle, so I'm surprised that Charlotte's team is ranked ahead of teams that have been around longer and that are in bigger cities, such as the Atlanta Falcons, ranked No. 27 with a value of $814 million.

Panthers rookie Cam Newton throws a wristband to fans after a preseason game.
Via panthers.com.

Rounding out the top-five most valuable NFL teams for 2011 are the Washington Redskins (No. 2, $1.55 billion), New England Patriots (No. 3, $1.4 billion), New York Giants (No. 4, $1.3 billion), and New York Jets (No. 5, $1.22 billion). The Panthers are the last team valued at $1 billion or more--numbers 16 through 24 are valued at more than $900 million each, then the teams dip to the $800 million range, and in the caboose is the Jacksonville Jaguars, ranked No. 32 at $725 million.

If you'll recall, the Panthers and the Jaguars began playing in 1995 when the NFL expanded to what was then a total of 30 teams. The Jaguars have been the slightly more successful team on the field, winning 14 more games than the Panthers over their 16-year histories. But the Panthers are clearly more successful off the field, with a value that places them $275 million above the Jaguars.

The aforementioned paragraph is my assessment. Click here to read a full analysis of the list by Forbes editor Kurt Badenhausen. And click here for the slideshow of the most valuable teams.

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North Carolina Is a Gas-Guzzling State

In North Carolina, as if we don't pay some of the highest gas taxes in the nation, which is why gas here is consistently about 20 cents higher than a few miles south of the state line, we're also some gas-guzzling people. In a recent study by Forbes, they ranked "America's Most And Least Gas-Guzzling Cities." Some of the cities ranked are listed as metropolitan areas, and topping the list as burning up the most gas is Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. Coming in second place: Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill. And not to be left out, in sixth place is Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point. So North Carolina cities take three of the top six slots.

Time to start carpooling again.

"The cities and suburbs of 'The Triangle' are close enough that people don’t think twice about driving from one to the other. Yet in doing so, the average household racks up 21,800 miles per year. Assuming an average 20.3 miles per gallon, that means burning through 1,074 gallons per year, about $4,200 at current prices," Forbes writer Christopher Helman says.

"North Carolina does not fare well in the rankings. Close on the Triangle’s (Tar)heels comes the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill region, with an average household gasoline demand of 1,061 gallons. In sixth place, the average household in North Carolina’s Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point metroplex spends $4,000 for 1,017 gallons per year," Helman continues.

If our state government and department of transportation ever needed any more reasons to complete Interstate 485 in Charlotte and to build the proposed high-speed rail between Charlotte and Raleigh, they have it.

Rounding out the top-five Most Gas-Guzzling Cities is Atlanta in third place, Nashville in fourth, and Monmouth-Ocean Counties, N.J. is fifth. Meanwhile, the least gas-guzzling city, unsurprisingly, is New York, where many households don't even own cars. Click here to see the full list.

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Knicks Are NBA's Most Valuable Team, LeBron Catapults Heat to 7th, Bobcats Rank 25th

Forbes recently released its annual list of the NBA's Most Valuable Teams. The headlines jumping out from the list are that the New York Knicks have overtaken the Los Angeles Lakers for the number one spot, valued at $655 million and $643 million, respectively, and that LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach has given his new team the Miami Heat the largest increase and his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers the largest decrease. The Heat are now in seventh place, valued at $425 million, up by 17 percent from last year. The Cavaliers are valued at $355 million, a whopping 26 percent drop in one year, essentially having lost one-fourth of their value. Guess we know why Dan Gilbert was so angry last summer--he knew his pockets would soon get a lot lighter.

The Charlotte Bobcats rank about where they usually are on the list, at 25th with a value of $281 million. That's a 1 percent increase from last year and that's even more of a positive when you consider that 11 of the NBA's 30 franchises saw their values decline. Coming in slightly short of being a statistical tie with the Bobcats is Charlotte's former team, the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets are ranked 26th, valued at $280 million, and saw a 5 percent increase.

Team owner Michael Jordan speaking at the Bobcats Town Hall Meeting last fall. Photo from Bobcats.com.

The Bobcats' value of $281 million is only a little more than the $275 million Michael Jordan reportedly purchased the team for last year. But it should be noted that in describing how it determines team values, Forbes states that "our valuations sometimes differ from the amount teams have recently sold for. Our estimations are based on the team’s current economics (unless ground has been broken for a new building) and do not include the value of real estate." If you consider real estate regarding the Bobcats, the city of Charlotte owns Time Warner Cable Arena, which opened in Uptown in 2005, but the team operates and maintains the building and receives most of the revenue. This is why professional sports franchises usually covet publicly financed arenas and stadiums, though it can often be a tough sell to the public and politicians, which is why the Hornets left Charlotte, when the city wouldn't build them a new arena in the early 2000s.

I predict the Bobcats' value will increase by more when next year's list comes out. The franchise seems to be on the upswing in securing corporate sponsorships, such as its announcement earlier this month that the team had added Duke Energy as a new sponsor. Many analysts attribute Jordan's star power--number 23 still lights up a room and you'd be surprised how many CEOs want to be next to him.

For the complete list of NBA team values, according to Forbes, click here.

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Charlotte Neighborhood One of '25 Most Dangerous'

WalletPop, an AOL site, has released its list of the 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods for 2010. The list was generated by using research from a company that tracks data on neighborhoods and cities, and from FBI data from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies. The end result, Chicago's West Lake Street neighborhood, 60612 zip code, ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood in America. Charlotte's North Tryon Street neighborhood, with a 28206 zip code, ranks 11th.

As the study points out, neighborhoods were ranked instead of cities, because "even the cities with the highest crime rates can have relatively safe neighborhoods, and thus it is less useful to generalize an entire city." I think that makes perfect sense, because all cities have their "bad" parts of town, but it's not always a reflection of the entire city.

In ranking number one, the Chicago neighborhood has a violent crime rate of 257 per 1,000 and your chances of being a victim there within a year are 1 in 4. That's head and shoulders above the second most dangerous neighborhood, Cleveland Ohio's Covill Avenue, 44104 zip, with a violent crime rate of 165 per 1,000, and the chances of being a victim there within a year are 1 in 6. Rounding out the top five are neighborhoods in Las Vegas at third and fourth, and Atlanta's Carter Street, 30313 and 30314, neighborhood is fifth.

Charlotte's North Tryon Street neighborhood has a 109 violent crime rate, and your chances of being a victim there are 1 in 9.

Other relative neighborhoods on the list are one in North Charleston, 13th; one in Winston-Salem, 16th; and Atlanta has four neighborhoods on the list at fifth, seventh, 17th, and 22nd--more than any other city. Las Vegas has three and they're all in the top ten.

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Living in Charlotte Can Be a Little 'Stressful'

A new study released today ranks the stress levels of America's 50 largest metropolitan areas. Conducted by Portfolio.com and Bizjournals (which are both owned by Charlotte-based American City Business Journals), the study analyzed 10 factors to compute its rankings: unemployment, income growth, poverty, deaths from circulatory-system diseases, amount of sunshine, unhealthy air, robberies, murders, commuting, and housing costs. When you total it all up, Detroit, not surprisingly, ranks as the most stressful city in America.

With number one being the most stressful and 50 being the least, Charlotte ranked 18th. We were middle of the pack in most of the individual categories, but we did place second worst in change in metro per capita income, -5.68 percent, only behind Las Vegas's -6.17 percent. But Charlotte fared well in the all-important stress-level category of average commuting time to work at 25.11 minutes, compared to New York City's 34.55 minutes and Washington D.C.'s 33.23 minutes.

The Top 10 Most Stressful Metropolitan Areas in America are:

1. Detroit
2. Los Angeles
3. Cleveland
4. Riverside, CA
5. St. Louis
6. New York City
7. New Orleans
8. Chicago
9. Birmingham
10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale

Raleigh places an impressive 47th, meaning it's not very stressful at all to live in North Carolina's capital. Salt Lake City takes home the coveted prize of least stressful city at 50th.

Click here for more on this study.

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Charlotte a Top Divorce City

We love hard in Charlotte. But we also love to split up, according to Men's Health. In its June issue, the magazine ranks 100 U.S. cities by prevalence of divorce. The higher a city is ranked on the list, the more common divorce is there. Cheyenne, Wyoming (where?) is the divorce capital, landing in first place. Rounding out the top five are Las Vegas (not surprised); Billings, Montana; Reno, Nevada (so that's two in the top five for the state where prostitution is legal); and Little Rock, Arkansas. Charlotte is ranked sixth.

The city ranking last on the list (100), which means married couples tend to stay together, is San Jose. And, surprisingly, next on the list where divorces are least likely to occur is Columbia, South Carolina (99).

Men’s Health used several factors in its study: frequency of divorces, stringency of divorce laws, percentage of the population who’s broken up, and the number of licensed marriage and family therapists.

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Brooklyn Decker No. 2 on Maxim's Hot 100

Charlotte/Matthews native Brooklyn Decker has placed second on Maxim's just-released Hot 100 list. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover beauty was edged out by Katy Perry, who takes the number one spot. Rounding out the top five are Avatar actress Zoe Saldana, Gossip Girl star Blake Lively, and actress/sex symbol Megan Fox.

This is just the latest of achievements for Decker, who's currently filming a new movie called Just Go With It, which also stars Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, and Nicole Kidman. Decker's character is caught up in a love triangle with Sandler and Aniston's characters.

Decker on the set of Just Go With It.

Click here for the full Maxim 2010 Hot 100 list.

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Charlotte's a 'Healthiest Housing Market.' Or Is It?

Lists come out all the time, ranking cities in everything from best places to live to those with the fattest people. But when it comes to cities lists that involve financial and economic data, people really take notice, especially in an economy like this. Yesterday, an AOL News article listed the Top 10 Healthiest Housing Markets for 2010. The Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord metro area ranks third on the list.

Yay! Hooray! But before you alert the boosters and the city leaders send out press releases, read the brief description it stated about our market.

"Last year housing prices in this financial center (Wachovia and Bank of America) were already stable, incomes were up and new household formation was among the highest in the nation. With an unemployment rate around 5 percent, the area is projected to add 2 percent more jobs this year."

Wrong! "With an unemployment rate around 5 percent..." Uhh, maybe that was our unemployment rate in 2000 because it's certainly not in 2010. The latest report from the N.C. Employment Security Commission states that the unemployment rate in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord area is 12.8 percent (109,789 residents were unemployed in January).

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Raleigh Is 'Smartest City;' Charlotte 16th

Earlier this week, TheDailyBeast.com released its rankings of "America's Smartest Cities," from first to worst. The popular news and blog site ranked metropolitan areas--the cities and their suburbs--of 1 million people or more, which gave them 55 in all. So being ranked number one means your city is the smartest, and being ranked 55th means your city is the dumbest. Raleigh, North Carolina wins the honor of being ranked America's Smartest City.

In creating the rankings, The Daily Beast divided the criteria into two halves: half for education, and half for intellectual environment. The education half encompassed how many residents had bachelor’s degrees (35 percent weighting) and graduate degrees (15 percent). The intellectual environment half had three subparts: nonfiction book sales (25 percent), the ratio of institutions of higher education (15 percent), and the percentage of eligible voters who cast ballots in the last presidential election (10 percent).

About number-one ranked Raleigh-Durham, which has a metro area population of 1,578,527, The Daily Beast writes: "Raleigh-Durham has just about every intangible useful in attracting and developing a smart populace: It’s a university hub, including two of the nation’s elite schools (Duke, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and North Carolina Sate University), and those schools led to one of the nation’s great technology incubators (Research Triangle). On top of that, Raleigh, as the state’s capital, attracts engaged political minds, as well."

Break out the foam fingers, Raleigh is number one.

Rounding out the top five on the list of smartest cities are San Francisco, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Denver.

Charlotte, with a metro area population of 1,701,799, ranked a not-too-shabby 16th. "Charlotte, home of Bank of America and Wachovia, may be taking a recessionary licking, but its above-average citizenry positions it to bounce back," The Daily Beast surmises. "Charlotte scored high in bachelor’s degrees per capita, but its strongest showing was in the voter-participation category. A commitment to civic duty shouldn’t come as a surprise from a patriotic city like Charlotte. British Revolutionary War General Charles Cornwallis was so put off by Charlotte’s nationalistic fervor that he called the city 'a hornet’s nest' and unwittingly became the only 18th-century military figure to name an NBA franchise."

Other notable rankings: New York, 13th; Chicago tied with St. Louis for 24th; Los Angeles tied with Pittsburgh and Richmond for 27th; Greensboro tied with Jacksonville for 37th; and Las Vegas at 54th: "A city that prides itself on sin performs predictably for each of our intellectual-based criteria."

And arriving in the caboose is Fresno, California at 55th. "The race to the bottom wasn’t even close. The largest city in California’s San Joaquin breadbasket, Fresno, had deficiencies across the board. College education (less than 20 percent of the local population have four-year degrees), graduate studies, academic institutions (not much besides Fresno State), book purchases, voter engagement—it ranked in the worst 5 percent in almost all of our categories. Problems with gangs and crystal meth tend to deter the best and brightest."

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Charlotte Makes List of Affordable Cities for Dating

Charlotte has ranked in the top ten on another "Most" list, this time for "Most Affordable Cities for Dating," according to a list released yesterday by Match.com. Below are the details from the press release.

Pittsburgh tops this year's list with a casual dinner and two movie tickets costing $77.80. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the same date in the most expensive city on the list, Los Angeles, comes in at $126.06.


The following list uncovers the top 10 most affordable cities for dating in the United States based on research conducted by Match.com:

1. Pittsburgh - Dating is a steal in the Steel City.
2. Detroit - A night at the drive-in in the Motor City won't break the bank.
3. Sacramento, Calif. - When it comes to cheap dates this place is the capital.
4. Phoenix - The desert heat won't dry up your bank account.
5. Indianapolis - The Indy 500 isn't the only thing that gets hearts racing in Indianapolis.
6. St. Louis, Mo. - The Gateway to love doesn't have to be expensive in St. Louis.
7. Tampa - St. Petersburg, Fla. - With such cheap date prices, residents practically live like buccaneers in this Florida city.
8. Orlando - Daytona Beach, Fla. - Another reason this is the "happiest place on Earth:" romantic dates that won't deplete your checking account.
9. Houston - Everything is big in this Texas city, except the cost of dating.
10. Charlotte, N.C. - Guys in North Carolina have a lot to smile about--Southern belles and inexpensive dates.

Click here for more info on the study, including Match.com's tips for recession proof dating.

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Charlotte One of the 'Healthiest'

Charlotte frequently makes "Best..." or "Most..." cities' list, usually ranking high in favorable categories. It can be attributed to the great quality of life here. The latest list finds Charlotte placing tenth in a ranking of "America's Best Cities" by Outside Magazine.

You're probably like "What's Outside Magazine?" but it's an established publication that focuses on the outdoors with topics ranging from travel to fitness. This "best" list ranks cities based on which are considered the healthiest—physically, mentally, and economically.

The magazine says it determined its list by starting with the 100 most populated cities in America, using public data to rank them on factors like cost of living, unemployment, nightlife, commute time, and access to green spaces. Then it took the 28 cities with the highest overall averages and compared things like the percentage of the population with college degrees, income level in relation to home prices, and weather. And lastly, it rated each of the finalists on a scale of 1 to 5 for quality and proximity to biking, running, paddling, hiking, and skiing. After adding it all up, it had its top ten.

Click here to read its description of Charlotte.

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NASCAR's Most Valuable Teams

As it does each year, Forbes released its list of NASCAR's most valuable teams yesterday. It comes as no surprise that each of the top ten teams is based in the Charlotte area, but if you've never seen this annual list before you might be surprised to see how much these teams are worth. Actually, it's really all about the top two.

Hendrick Motorsports--home to Gordon, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., and Martin--is ranked number one for the umpteenth consecutive year, with an estimated value of $350 million (a 4 percent increase from last year). Roush Fenway Racing is valued at $270 million, but that's a 14 percent decrease. Beyond them, no other team is even close to $200 million.


Even though the article points out NASCAR's declining TV ratings and what has become obvious--the negative effect this economic recession is having on the sport, largely because of lost sponsorships--it reveals that the rich (teams) keep getting richer: "Fighting for a bigger slice of a shrinking pie have been the sport's most valuable teams, which continue to consolidate power at the top of the Sprint Cup Series standings. To date, all 13 races have been won by five of the sport's most valuable teams."

Click here to read the full article.

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