North Charleston: A Great Place To Live, Work, & Play
The North Charleston Coliseum broke ground in North Charleston in 1991 and opened in 1993 followed by the opening of the North Charleston Performing Arts Center and the Charleston Area Convention Center in 1999. The North Charleston Coliseum, Performing Arts Center and Charleston Area Convention Center - known as the Bourne-Summey City Center Complex - are owned by the City of North Charleston and managed by ASM Global.
Incorporated in June 1972, North Charleston has quadrupled its population and increased more than tenfold in area. Smart growth has led to North Charleston becoming South Carolina’s third largest municipality, right in the heart of the Lowcountry.
North Charleston promotes a blue-collar lifestyle with walkable communities and sustainable living. Not only a terrific place to live, but as South Carolina’s retail leader, North Charleston offers the best shopping in the state from retail hubs to small neighborhood boutiques. A great place to work and especially play, whether at North Charleston’s Coliseum/Convention Center Complex or by the scenic Riverfront Park at our historical Naval Base Memorial.
We continue to drive the State’s economy as the epicenter of business development, offering a business friendly community, rich with incentives to allow companies to compete on a global scale. Our young, highly skilled workforce attracts diverse industries, such as aerospace, automotive, aviation, bioscience, defense, renewable energy, financial services, and information technology. North Charleston is where businesses flourish.
North Charleston was recently awarded the National League of Cities Award for Municipal Excellence, Home Depot Foundation’s Award of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development, was recognized by Cottage Living Magazine as being home to one of the nation’s Top 10 Neighborhoods, by Men’s Journal for one of the nation’s Top 30 ‘Coolest Neighborhoods,’ and by Green Builder Magazine as being home to one of the nation’s Top Green Developments.
The city is also home to the Charleston International Airport (CHS) - a joint civil-military airport operated by the Charleston County Aviation Authority under a joint-use agreement with Joint Base Charleston. It is South Carolina's largest and busiest airport; in 2018 the airport served nearly 4.5 million passengers in its busiest year on record. The airport is approximately 12 miles (19 km) northwest of downtown Charleston and is served by American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United, Alaska, Allegiant and Frontier airlines. British Airways offers seasonal international service to London Heathrow. It is also home to the Boeing facility that assembles the 787 Dreamliner.
We invite you to explore North Charleston. You will discover the people, places, and things that make our city a great place to live, work, and play.