Moving to South Carolina (Charleston, North Charleston: transplants, rent, crime rate)

[RiWrites]

Leone is the perfect example why southerners have problems with people who come from other places. First of all, did you do research on the area before you moved, because obviously you didn't do it. If you had, you would have found out that there are marshes etc around South Carolina. If you want swamps come to Florida and see the Everglades.

As for the critters go to NYC where you get rodents and roaches in the million dollar apartments not to mention the expensive restaurants.

In your posts you have insulted people who either chose to live in Charleston or were born and raised there by all your complaining. I love living in the south because the people here are kind and nice and we don't need a whiner like you. You are just a very angry man with issues who should have just stayed where he was. But then you probably complained about that place too.

As for any racial divides, I haven't encountered any. If you treat everyone like you want to be treated you won't have problems.

So Leone pack up and leave and make room for someone who will appreciate Charleston.

[goosecreeker]

I have moved at least once every five years, sometimes twice a year, since I was little. I've lived in LA, Santa barbara, san diego, Florida, AZ, NYC, upstate NY, Martha's vineyard, you name it. I have stayed in Charleston for 10 years. There has to be something good about the area. Yes there are bugs, not as many as Martha's Vineyard or the adirondacks. I rarely get bit in Crowfield. There are bad builders everywhere. People are more apt to complain than compliment. that is human nature.

[Leone]

Now let me get this, I insulted?

Who did I insult? The lack of honesty and integrity of contractors? The quality work performed? C'mon now, not the bugs? I insulted the Palmetto Mascot?

Homework on a city? One can only do so much research, economy, crime and etc. But the business side of a place is only is found through business dealings.

Newcomers, beware as a consumer is all I was ever saying. "Who cares, I'll ripped you off, there is another moving in right behind you" is most contractors' attitude.

It was you and everyone else who turned into a drama theatric post. I complained about fair days work for a fair days pay.

It is like any other place, warts and all never making the top 50 liveable cities in the USA for that matter. It is just a place, a spot on the map. Nothing special. Call it home, call it temporary spot, it is just another place.

Take my post with a grain of salt. Least now you are talking about the real area, swamps, roaches and etc. not just about the dangling Spanish Moss and the phrase ya'all. And just think I could be your employer when you arrive.

[Dave-O]

I have nothing against Leone. It is unfortunate that he has had a bad experience here. He sounds like a person who is very particular and who perhaps did not do as much homework as others have prior to moving here.

I just relocated my whole family here to Mt. Pleasant from Seattle, WA. I have no regrets. I've traveled to all points on the globe over the last 15 years or so and believe me, there is no perfect place. I've found plenty of good restaurants here in the low country (and plenty of not so good ones), plenty of friendly people, nice beaches within a short distance of my "subdivision", lots of great places for the family to ride bikes, etc. There are many nice areas for boating and fishing also, and the downtown Charleston area with the history, shops, etc., is great.

We wanted a subtropical climate and realized ahead of time that this meant gators, bugs, snakes, etc. We discoverd that in our research and prior visits. My daughter loves the geckos and my son loves watching the gators, ospreys, and egrets in our two ponds out back--go figure!

My neighborhood and those surrounding it are beautiful. The schools our kids in are large but pretty good for the south. The colleges here are excellent (MUSC, COC, Clemson).

If you don't mind some humidity and hot temps. during the Summer, then I would highly recommend people come on down here and check this out. And the comments about Daniel Island? My business partner lives there and I've visited many times. It is a very well-planned community with great people and amentities. It is expensive, but those who live there and with whom I've spoke suggest it is well worth it.

As far as selecting service providers, I suggest leveraging the local realtors here and/or friends who already live here. I've had great luck so far with landscaping, A/C maintenance, and pest people. I got all of them through referrals from other happy customers. There are bad apples in any city--you just need to weed them out and ignore them.

Well, that's my feedback to anyone considering moving to Charleston. Good luck!

[ECX]

Dave-O - You have gators in your backyard??? Isn't that a little dangerous??? I am considering a move to Summerville next year with a 6 & 8 yr old... Wild gators in backyards does pose a concearn... how prevelant are they in these "comunity" ponds and such?

[DJShymansky]

Gators can potentially be found in any standing water, i.e. ponds, lakes, canals, etc. They're not all 10-feet long and angry though. The bigger ones go where the food is, i.e. fish, turtles, wildlife, generally not neighborhood water runoff ponds.

Just exercise caution around areas of standing water.

[Luvsdabeach]

This evening my neighbor came over to tell me a man got his arm bite off by a 12 ft alligator out at Short Stay. Her being a nurse, she tried to help slow down the bleeding. They flew him to MUSC, then the wildlife guys came and shot the alligator to cut it open to get the guys arm out of the gator. They put it on ice and sent it to MUSC. Just heard on the news the guy was snorkeling when the alligator bite him so chances are he never saw the gator.

I see alligator's all the time in the lake in Crowfield when I'm walking. If you don't bother them they won't bother you.

[Dave-O]

Originally Posted by ECX

Dave-O - You have gators in your backyard??? Isn't that a little dangerous??? I am considering a move to Summerville next year with a 6 & 8 yr old... Wild gators in backyards does pose a concearn... how prevelant are they in these "comunity" ponds and such?

ECX. From what they tell me around here, when a gator gets about 3 ft. long, they call the gator patrol and they remove them to the everglades or some place where they can live. The only thing I've heard about around here relative to gators is small pets being snapped at. Common sense is if you have a dog, get a fence. That's what we did. And the gators hibernate in the off season.

[RiWrites]

Unfortunately, people are moving into the gators habitate.

I am glad they do that in South Carolina because they don't remove gators here until they become a nuisance here in Central Florida. On the local news they had a story where a neighborhood was shocked when they pulled a 12 foot gator out of a retention pond. For me, I only swim in a pool but not before I check it first. They found one in a woman's pool and she said she usually jumps in first but something caught her eye on the bottom of the pool. It was a 5 ft gator.

[meks]

I was talking to a guy earlier today that has a friend that was there when that tragic event happened. They all saw the gator ahead of time, including him.

The gator was out there in plain site for a longgg time before he went out in the water.

He was 10 ft away from a gator warning sign and almost enticing the large gator, ahemmm here's your sign dude... he's lucky to be alive, that lake is full of gators and everyone knows it.

I guess he thought gators don't mess with people, I can't for the life of me understand why he'd go into the water where there's a 12ft gator only a few yards away and think he would be OK

his friends also said he was noodling, which is an old fashioned way to fish snorkeling sticking your hand in dark underwater holes hoping for a large catfish to gulp you arm down so you can pull him out... well large beavers and alligators also frequent these holes, and either can kill you

he wasn't the sharpest tack in the box

there's only been two gator attacks in the last few decades that I can remember, and no there isn't an abundance of water front property in Summerville so there isn't many gators here

this area is called Summerville because back before penicillin when malaria was rampant on the coast the wealthier people would come AWAY from water during the Summer inland to another area to get away from all the mosquito's so they wouldn't get sick with malaria... hence the name "Summer"ville

the Ashley river snakes it's way into Summerville so the large ships could sail into Dorchester park to bring supplies and trade etc ... Summerville is a very old town, my own relatives came here several hundred years ago