relocate to Charleston? (Mount Pleasant, Summerville, York: transplants, for sale, real estate)

[relocator]

Hello - my fiance & I are looking to move from NH to the charleston area. We'd like to be outside of the city in more of a "country" setting. Hoping to find an area w/ that offers real estate w/ a little land while still being within 30 min to coast & maybe 20-30 min to charleston. Any recommendations of areas to look into?

Also can anyone give us a "feel" of what Charleston is like: friendliness of people, basic politics of area, median age & relative activity levels, job market....etc.? It's tough trying to get the real feel of a city through the internet - so hoping some natives/locals can help us here thanks

[AprilMayBe]

Go to www.traveladvisor.com and click on FORUMS and South Carolina or even North Carolina to view the ones talking about moving to the Carolina's. It's incredible how many people you'll see online from New York, New Jersey and New England area all moving there. You learn a LOT on this site, quite a lot of interesting information that you'll be able to use for your search of where and what area to live in. It's a real eye opener and quite a useful site for posting questions, joining it or just learning from it while you're reading it. Again, it's www.traveladvisor.com and click on FORUMS and either South Carolina or North Carolina sites have a lot of people that have the exact same question as you, I highly recommend that you go to this site.

[Carolinaguy]

Finally, a Charleston potential! As a native Charlestonian, I may be a little biased, but I'll go on anyway Charleston is growing rapidly, so now is an optimum time to move. I highly recommed the East Cooper area (Mount Pleasant, Daniels Island), James Island/Johns Island, or Summerville. These areas are distanced about 10-20 miles from Peninsula Charleston(Downtown) and all have great residential areas, convenient shopping options and even better schools. The cost of living in Charleston can be expensive, after all, Lowcounty living has become desirable for many people over the last several years. However, there are several good real estate agents,that will get you the best home for your money, without paying $1 million dollars for a nice home.
Charleston is consistently voted the most polite city in America by several magazines, so our southern hospitality is real and alive in 2006! Take the drive down I-26 east, catch a Citadel football game, walk on The Battery near the Charleston harbor, talk a walk on the new Cooper River Bridge, stroll down King Street for light shopping or sit down at a restaurant for one of many Charleston delicacies like Shrimp-n-Grits being a favorite. I think you'll love it here, most transplants do. Hope this helped

[winston]

Originally Posted by relocator

Hello - my fiance & I are looking to move from NH to the charleston area. We'd like to be outside of the city in more of a "country" setting. Hoping to find an area w/ that offers real estate w/ a little land while still being within 30 min to coast & maybe 20-30 min to charleston. Any recommendations of areas to look into?

Also can anyone give us a "feel" of what Charleston is like: friendliness of people, basic politics of area, median age & relative activity levels, job market....etc.? It's tough trying to get the real feel of a city through the internet - so hoping some natives/locals can help us here thanks

Alright, You have probably heard from several so-called locals, now here is the straight dope. I am 40 and a native of Mt. Pleasant and Awendaw and I have been a Realtor since 1991 and a licesened Captain since 2003. This is a great place to live if you are a trust-fund baby or incredibly good w/ a budget, otherwise, you will be working your ass off to enjoy the pristine beaches and creeks and sounds. Call me at 843-224-5436 or e-mail at winstonwhite@prucar.com

[relocator]

wow - 2 completely flip sides of the coin regarding life in/around charleston area (from Carolinaguy & Winston). I do appreciate the feedback, even though i dont' seem to be any further ahead in my quest to narrow my choices/options Sounds like the only way to REALLY know if it's possible to live there is visit! either of you think i'd be better off pursuing NC - as a remedy to the high priced Charleston area? - what about Myrtle beach? - thanks again. - relocator

[dwaters]

Originally Posted by relocator

Hello - my fiance & I are looking to move from NH to the charleston area. We'd like to be outside of the city in more of a "country" setting. Hoping to find an area w/ that offers real estate w/ a little land while still being within 30 min to coast & maybe 20-30 min to charleston. Any recommendations of areas to look into?

Also can anyone give us a "feel" of what Charleston is like: friendliness of people, basic politics of area, median age & relative activity levels, job market....etc.? It's tough trying to get the real feel of a city through the internet - so hoping some natives/locals can help us here thanks

Try checking out Wadmalaw Island, especially Fox Fire Road off Bears Bluff. There are some nice properties for sale. One is 5 acres, 2 wells, fenced, pole barn. An elderly couple has lived there many years and just put up a for sale sign. Not sure what the house looks like. It is not mentioned in the ad. Wadmalaw is about 30 minutes from downtown, 30 minutes to Citadel Mall, etc.

[dwaters]

They are asking $225,000 for the 5 acres on Wadmalaw.

[mckenzie]

Charleston has been voted the friendliest city in america a few times. I love Chas. but it growth has made it expensive. Many natives have had to buy homes in Summerville.
Unless you have money you may have to choose between acreage and convenience to Chas. and beaches. When I say Chas. I mean the peninsula.
Surrounding areas have access to beaches but may be a bit of a drive. I lived 7 miles from the beach but at rush hour I couldn't get there in 45 minutes.

[blooshoo]

with 526 up and going its not that hard to get from any on place in charleston to the other. but to be the closer you get to the beach the more money youre looking to spend, and nothing jumps to mind being both close to the beach and country like. moncks corner makes me think country but thats a good hour away from the beach and downtown. and all the beach towns(folly, james island ect) are pretty dense in population.

A nice medium would maybe be west ashley, they got some nice suburbs springing up around 61 and bees ferry, though im betting property is pretty high there. and traffic around rush hour is pretty bad up 61. I dont go down to mt. pleasant often so i can't offer you a honest opinion of that.

stay away from north charleston . anyway I've lived here a long time and can give you my biased opinion on any place you are interested in. I love this city over any other ive lived in, and it feels friendly and laidback like a small town but while having everything you could find in a city

[helix139]

i lived on johns island and love it.