Moving to South Carolina (Charleston, North Charleston: homes, neighborhood, preschool)

[SRCthatsme]

I can't wait to leave the yankee behind! We're in Moorestown and vacay-ed at the jersey shore all our lives. Thanks so much for the encouragment OleTomCat, the process of finding the right spot and oppty can get overwhelming.

The Charleston area seems really nice... Mt Pleasant is on my list of potentials and has been for a while! Thanx for that confirmation RelocatingMom!

I'm trying to figure out now if there are any areas near to that Charleston/beach region that are more rural, where you could find affordable acreage...? I guess I'm looking for our elusive perfect recipe of space to breathe, active outdoor lifestyle, good schools, culture, and business oppty. (Wait a minute let me get another drink... ha, ha)

[SRCthatsme]

I found a site with Charleston real estate and the surrounding areas - it appears that a few acres in/near Charleston and the beach is attainable...but its hard to really tell what the listings I am looking at are worth, without having knowlege of the area values.... Need to be able to ride (horses and dirtbikes)

[pcamps]

Originally Posted by notabubba

Moved here 7 years ago from the Jersey Shore. Love my home and my land (4 ac.) but It's gotten that I don't even want to go out anywhere except in my yard. Live just west of Summerville in Cottageville. Country living is quiet
and relaxed but.........I have observed a whole lot here in the country. I'm glad I was educated up north, grew up there and experienced a lot.
BTW- Met a lot of folks around here and also bartended for under the table cash while out of work for a long time!!!

Restaurants suck, service and food.
Produce is second rate
Education is bad (50% HS graduation rate)
Road signs bad (if there is one without bullet holes)
Grammar, punctuation and spelling atrocious.(schools bad)
Jobs are treated as charities or social clubs not businesses by employees.
Very homogenous (you're either White Anglo or Black)
Anyone with a pickup truck, ladder and cell phone is a contractor.
You'll make half of what you made up north if in same business.
'Good Enough' means the best they can do/make/build.
Yes Sir or Ma'am doesn't cut it, it's what you do, not say.
Having all your junk displayed on your front lawn must be Southern Pride.
A meth lab might be right next door.
Getting a piece of your parents land so you can slap a used trailer on it
and getting married/pregnant in your teens is more important than an education.
Sun and algae ruin home roofing shingles.
Don't trust a contractor with a cross on his business card.
Gas,food,new cars cost about the same anywhere.
Few small beaches (hell Jersey has 120 miles of beaches!!!)
Azaleas,lattice and pine trees get boring.

BUT...........
Weather is almost always sunny (70 again today!)
Pool is open in early May til Oct.
Property taxes affordable
No car inspection
No tolls everywhere
No damn snow/ice/slush/salt...
NYC/NJ 12hrs. and close to Florida 3hrs.
No traffic out this way
No helmet laws
Fresh air out here
No jets flying over every 2 minutes.
Spanish moss looks cool.
Camellia blooms in Jan. are cool.
Historic sightseeing is fun.
Sparking up the outdoor firepit is OK.
Building what you want on your own land is American.
So is hunting and shooting on your own land.
I like the frogs and anole lizards.

Let's face it, I moved here for freedom from the socialist northeast. It's
not the same place I was raised (back home). I can see some of it coming this way,though.
It's a tradeoff no matter where you move to. Write it all down and weigh the pro's and con's, guess it depends what you're looking for... or in my case what I was wanting to get away from.
PS- I wouldn't go back for anything!
PPS- Still haven't found a good pizza in seven years!

If you want good pizza it will be a bit of a drive , but the House of Pizza in Orangeburg is excellent . We always stop there on the way back from the in laws in Aiken, and by a few extra for the freezer . You won't be disappointed.

[pokrplr]

I find it funny that most or all of us northerner's miss good pizza! Its the #1 thing I read the most.

Still really like:

a) benito's in MTP
b) italian bistro in s'ville/knightville

[pcamps]

Originally Posted by pokrplr

I find it funny that most or all of us northerner's miss good pizza! Its the #1 thing I read the most.

Still really like:

a) benito's in MTP
b) italian bistro in s'ville/knightville

Yes the Italian bistro in Summerville makes rather nice pizza . I'm on a diet so no more talk of pizza thanks

[SRCthatsme]

pscamps thanx for the post-paste! I missed that - must have been skimming through the "leone" sections there with his rants...

I was trying to get an idea of what something more rural would set us back. Or a few areas to research? Something where its a little bit more of that country feel yet still near to the beach. It's hard to know what's what without being familiar with the areas and their schools, although I've been researching that too.....here in NJ good land is such a premium, you'll pay a fortune for nothing -- or it's really far out or undesirable.

anyhow now who's ranting!

[OleTomCat]

Compared to NJ beachfront property here is cheap.....

I depends on what you want, do you want to be close to the beach and still have some acerage, try 17 north of Charleston around Awendaw very pricey but close to the ocean.

If you don't want to be that close to the ocean try out around Ridgeville.

[SRCthatsme]

thanks for the suggestions OTC, i spent yesterday researching Awendaw real estate. yes we do want land that is close to the beach, so I thought Ridgeway would be a little far out? Awendaw was a little pricey, lots of listings 1mil plus - but there were a few more modest, interesting listings there. better to buy the worst in the best neighborhood, than the best in the worst neioghborhood, right? at least when your husband's a talented builder...like mine...

[OleTomCat]

Awendaw is very pricey. You can look out a little further as well, or inland a little. Awendaw has the national forest butted right up against it. It is very Rural out there.

[Theresejenkins]

No I don't live in a shack.

Yes, I have been (and family owns) a Hawaiian penthouse.

Yes, I have been to California and can't stand it.

No, I do not eat at the Noisy Oyster, etc.

You are a foul human being with obvious communication issues if you feel it is proper to speak to someone you do not know with such disrespect. We are all entitled to our opinions, and YES - $1k for property tax bill / year.

Get over your bittnerness, better yet, get out of this area.

Originally Posted by Leone

Tax bill 1K a year in Mount Pleasant, what do you live in a shack? I pay $3700 a year and $500 for flood and I am inland.

Have you been to a Hawaiian beach, a West coast beach? No comparision.

Did you have a new house built?

Golf courses are a dime a dozen here. Whoopie. I have one in walking distance in my subdivision. BY the way everything is a subdivision, in a subdivision.

It is hot AND humid. First part of summer is nice, after that it is so hot, trees and plants turn to fall colors in July. Bugs. You have to give heart worm all year round to your animals because of the mosquitos. Fire ants...termites. You need annual pest terminators.

I just pulled 4 dead frogs from my side motor pool cleaner this morning and 3 dried and dead in my garage and one dead on my a/c unti.

No one said the people weren't friendly. Sure they say, Yes, sir..Miss Mary...Mr. this and Mrs. that. They talk about the weather, attend church...matter of fact one on every corner. With so many denominations makes one wonder what kind of community is it really. Divided? Does one need 100 churches in a 1 mile radius?

Businesses push to see how much non-locals will pay for a tree, a pool, anything..The cost of our pool went up 10K!!!..10K in 6 months. $250 for A palm tree. Their excuses gas went up, the price of sand is up...product in demand as they run to the bank with your check the same day you wrote it.

Beach, food...hot weather is that all there is to boast of?

To sum it up the locals are wise...money wise. Any one here prints up a business card and say hey I am...a builder, an electrician, I install hardwood floors...don't listen to Bob I know better. I had to have 20K worth of hardwood floor tore up and replaced because some one forgot to lay a moisture barrier.

And if anyone thinks this is the best place, than they haven't been anywhere and no, NYC isn't everywhere Miss Jenkins. Been there too.

My complaints are just a small portion of my experience.

Where do you eat? Gilligans, Noisy Oyster, Outback, Greasy Fingers? A pallet isn't required there.


The place is growing so fast, the suburbs, the houses the businesses and schools can't keep up.

Actually it is quite a dirty place as a whole. There are nice areas dwontown, along the coast..Hilton Head but most not. Over grown sidewalks, roads littered, junk yards on what once was a rural road is now a commuting road.

It is a swamp with landfill here. Period

It is evident your experience vastly differs from mine...so...no need to make it out like I am a liar. So really, Miss Jenkins be honest yourself and especially to the folks out there. Perhaps in your four years you haven't got out much and just stay with the five miles of IOP. Get out more so you can really give an honest critique.