The crime index for Optimist Park is quite a bit higher than the national average.

Charlotte is a huge city with several distinct neighborhoods and districts. The Fourth Ward is an up and coming neighborhood where many young professionals choose to live. Inside the 277 Freeway, which wraps around the southeastern edge of the city, the streets are organized in a grid, making commuting and finding your way around rather easy, especially for recent relocators. If you do not have a car, or would like to avoid using one, we recommend staying in Center City.

Crime rates have decreased about 50 percent in the pat few years. Many people in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte have taken an active part in reducing the crime rate by participating in crime watch programs.

Charlotte is home to an impressive array of fun and educational museums. The Charlotte Museum of History, located on Shamrock Drive on the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, showcases unique, interactive exhibits that highlight Charlotte's rich history. The Mint Museum of Art is the oldest and most prestigious art museum in the state, boasting 81,000 square feet of American, European, Pre-Colombian, and Spanish Colonial ark work, as well as one of the largest collections of porcelain and ceramic art. Discovery Place is another Charlotte gem, located on North Tryon Street. Here visitors can explore the planetarium, simulated rainforest, aquarium, activity rooms, and many science-based exhibits including anatomy, physics, natural science, and human machinery displays. Some other Charlotte favorites include the Afro-American Cultural Center, the Backing Up Classic Auto Museum, the Levine Museum of the New South, and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design.

Featured on the Food Network, Charlotte's Penguin Drive-In serves up the biggest, tastiest, and juiciest burgers in town. Located on Commonwealth Avenue, this popular and tiny local dive boasts a lively atmosphere with a friendly and quirky staff and an excellent jukebox variety. Try the Southern Style burger- a hand-formed, freshly cooked patty slathered in cheese, chili, cole slaw, onions and mustard, or one of Penguin's famous hand-dipped corndogs. And don't forget some hush puppies and fried pickles! Penguin's also offers delicious vegetarian options like their tasty homemade black bean burger and grilled homemade pimento cheese served on Texas toast. With only a dozen or so tables, you can almost always expect a wait, but as anyone who has tasted Penguin's mouth-watering eats can tell you- it's worth it!

An ideal weekend in Charlotte could begin with a trip to the McDowell Nature Center and Preserve for a nature walk, or a drive down to Lake Norman for some boating and fishing. After some fun in the sun, let your inner explorer loose at one of Charlotte's many museums like the Mint Museum of Art, the Charlotte Museum of History, or Discovery Place. If you have kids, be sure to bring the family down to Carowinds theme park for some cotton candy and amusement rides. Or for some more adult fun, head to Old Mecklenburg Brewery for a tour and tasting.

Based on safety, quality of education, and presence of other children in the community, Charlotte is not a very good place for families. With a crime rate of 101 per one thousand residents, Charlotte has one of the highest crime rates in America. The school system is slightly better than the safety situation; the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District provides public education to Simi Valley students, and it is rated better than 48.7 percent of North Carolina school districts and 38.7 percent of school districts in the US. In addition, Charlotte is full of single people in their twenties and thirties, meaning it's not as family-oriented as other cities in the country.

Probably not. Unlike much of North Carolina, the City of Charlotte invested a significant amount of money in its public transit system, which now consists of three modes: light rail, bus, and trolley. The LYNX Blue Line is a fast and efficient way to commute from Uptown to southern Mecklenburg County, with many stops at major Uptown destinations in between. The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) provides bus service to the Charlotte area, but it's not the quickest way to get around. Riders can transfer from LYNX to CATS or vice versa within 90 minutes of ticket issue. Lastly, the Charlotte Trolley operates on the LYNX line between the South End and Uptown.

The living expenses in Charlotte are 2 percent lower than the US average, compared to the other cities of the country. Huntersville to the north is 12 percent more expensive than Charlotte, and Harrisburg to the northeast is 7 percent more expensive than Charlotte. To the southeast, Mint Hill is 3 percent more expensive than Charlotte, and Matthews is 9 percent more expensive than Charlotte. Pineville to the south, however, is 1 percent cheaper than Charlotte, and Belmont to the west is 3 percent cheaper than Charlotte.