Right...because when people talk about population they mean city limits only...
Charlotte's city limits population(~800k) is a little less than double Atlanta's(~450k), but Charlotte is more than double in area at 298 sq miles versus Atlanta's 132 sq miles.
Atlanta is a much larger city than Charlotte in pretty much any way you slice it, save for the technicality of those living in the city limits themselves.
Larger in metro population by a little more than double and much more of an international city.
The Globilization and World Rankings Research institute ranks cities as
Alpha++ vastly more integrated into the world economy than other cities(only New York and London)
Alpha+: complement London and New York City by filling advanced service niches for the global economy.
Alpha and Alpha-: cities that link major economic regions into the world economy.
Beta: cities that link moderate economic regions into the world economy.
Gamma: cities that link smaller economic regions into the world economy.
Suffiency level: cities that have a sufficient degree of services so as not to be obviously dependent on world cities.
Atlanta is an Alpha- World city along with: Boston DC, Miami, San Francisco, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beunos Aires, Dublin, Instanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Munich, New Dehli, Prague, Seoul, Stockholm, Taipei, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich
Charlotte is a Gamma+ World city along with: Baltimore, Bristol, Phoenix, St Louis, Tampa, Adelaide, Australia; Cologne, France; Durban, South Africa; Georgetown, Cayman Islands; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Islamabad, Pakistan; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Lahore, Pakistan; Osaka, Japan; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; San Salvador, El Salvador; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Zagreb, Croatia.
I haven't been to Charlotte in years, I look forward to a trip in the future, but Charlotte, like every other moderate sized city in the south, is not Atlanta, and that's not a bad thing, I'm sure you love your city for many wonderful and personal reasons just as I love mine, but let's not lose proper perspective.
At any rate, I don't think the size of either city has much to do with their struggles or your getting ahead of them, I think you guys are just doing a better job.