Exit 25 is representative, not necessarily unique. Opportunities for lucrative new development -- and, surrounding them, burgeoning new communities -- lie at crossroads across the Charlotte region. Here are a few of the spots where developers, planners and urban analysts predict big booms over the next decade:

Exit 33: Upcoming extension of water and sewer lines from Mooresville and construction of Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, a $44 million hospital, will draw commercial and residential growth to this I-77 interchange. Traffic problems at Exit 36 will hasten development.

Speedway Boulevard: At 1.4 million square feet, the planned Concord Mills mall will provide more shopping space than SouthPark, Eastland or Carolina Place malls. The Charlotte Motor Speedway is one the region's biggest tourist attractions. And residential development has already flowed to the area around I-85 and southwestern Cabarrus County.

The Arboretum: Already thriving, the opening of Interstate 485 will bring more residential and office development to neighborhoods around this booming retail complex.

Clear Springs: The Close family is building a neo-traditional urban village near the intersection of I-77 and S.C. 160. There's little development at this Fort Mill interchange now, but Clear Springs will eventually be home to close to 20,000 people. Stores and offices will follow.

Earnhardt Boulevard: Restaurants and motels have been built at the interchange, and less than a mile away, the Copperfield shopping center is flourishing. Residential development is spreading nearby in north Concord.

I-485 at Independence Boulevard: Central Piedmont Community College is building a new eastern campus, retail development continues to boom and residential development has spread across the Union County line.

I-485 at Prosperity Church Road: Mecklenburg County leaders want to create an urban village of shops, offices and on-street parking that could someday house 10,000 people.

Ballantyne: This planned community on the southern tip of Mecklenburg County will include a corporate park, shopping, schools and homes for, eventually, more than 15,000 people.
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