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Is West Ashley about to grow into possibly the next Mt. Pleasant? I have heard yes and that it is getting a new shopping center that is supposed to be bigger and better than what Mt. Pleasant has and that if wanting to get a house cheap that will be worth alot later, this is the place. I have also heard that West Ashley is lacking and will always be. I have even heard it called "West Trashley". Any help on this would be great....looking to move to Charleston in next few months and looking at 3 areas. West Ashley, Mt. Pleasant and Cainhoy.
If you are considering moving and purchasing a home in the Charleston area, the cost and size of a home that you would like/need and whether schools are important will dictate to some degree whether West Ashley, Cainhoy or Mt. Pleasant might be the best option. I have always been a strong supporter of Mt. Pleasant because of it's location, good schools, relatively low crime rate, shopping, restaurants and geographic diversification of it's residents. Cainhoy is somewhat isolated with light industrial complexes surrounding the new communities. The test scores of the elementary and middle schools are quite low.
To answer your original question, yes, WA stands to be the next hotspot since Mt. P has really grown, with resulting growing pains. The town of Mt. P has basically put a cap on housing permits in the recent years, and many residents are starting to feel that the town is full.
The city of Chas is working on approval and annexation in WA for a subdivision, Long Savannah, that would add a city park, a county recreation park, and 3,900 homes! Currently, just a few miles closer to the urban center, Carolina Bay is being built WA with 1,500 homes. That is over 5,000 homes that will be built in the next 5 years. WA has been called "West Trashley" primarily by many who live in Mt. P, only because it has older areas than Mt. P...WA was the original site of one of the first settlements in the US, after all. The crime in this section of the city is low, there are plenty of schools that have good to excellent ratings, and the area has the largest mall in the metro area. As you said, more developments are being built for additional shopping and restaurants. I highly recommend moving to my old stomping grounds!
While Cainhoy is the "last frontier" of the city of Chas, it is still largely undeveloped. You would still have to drive in considerable traffic to Mt. P or the north area for most of your shopping and dining needs. While Daniel Island does have some amenities, it too is relatively new...DI/Cainhoy will probably become one of the premier centers of commerce in the Chas area in about 10 years.
Ive been in North Charleston for over 40 years, and If I had to move it would be to West Ashley. I like it there. The LAST place I would live would be Mt Pleasant......................
Smithrep...all areas are great areas, it just depends on what you are looking for. I have lived in WA, Mt.P, and DI...they each have unique qualities.
to help with the pricing part of the question...
median $/square foot in WA - $106 & $108 (2 different areas of West Ashley)
median $/square foot in Mt.P - $138 & $157 (same)
the tendancy is the closer to Downtown Charleston, the higher price
To answer your original question, yes, WA stands to be the next hotspot since Mt. P has really grown, with resulting growing pains. The town of Mt. P has basically put a cap on housing permits in the recent years, and many residents are starting to feel that the town is full.
The city of Chas is working on approval and annexation in WA for a subdivision, Long Savannah, that would add a city park, a county recreation park, and 3,900 homes! Currently, just a few miles closer to the urban center, Carolina Bay is being built WA with 1,500 homes. That is over 5,000 homes that will be built in the next 5 years. WA has been called "West Trashley" primarily by many who live in Mt. P, only because it has older areas than Mt. P...WA was the original site of one of the first settlements in the US, after all. The crime in this section of the city is low, there are plenty of schools that have good to excellent ratings, and the area has the largest mall in the metro area. As you said, more developments are being built for additional shopping and restaurants. I highly recommend moving to my old stomping grounds!
While Cainhoy is the "last frontier" of the city of Chas, it is still largely undeveloped. You would still have to drive in considerable traffic to Mt. P or the north area for most of your shopping and dining needs. While Daniel Island does have some amenities, it too is relatively new...DI/Cainhoy will probably become one of the premier centers of commerce in the Chas area in about 10 years.
Excellent post! I agree...West Ashley (West of the Ashley) has wonderful older neighborhoods with a lot of character and charm and also has upscale new neighborhoods. It is centrally located so that within 15 minutes you can be downtown Charleston, to a beach, or to major shopping centers and malls and Tanger Outlet. I am very partial to Shadowmoss Subdivision which has beautiful homes (and NOT cookie cutter), large yards, mature trees, tennis, golf, walking paths, etc. I live on Johns Island in the country, but if I were to move, it would be to West Ashley or back to James Island. I am a 28-year resident of the Charleston area so I have seen many changes take place. West Ashley has always been a good place to live and raise children.....as is James Island. Good luck in your decision making.
We just purchased a property in West Ashley. It is in a cookie cutter subdivision (at least this area of it) buuut....we had a very limited budget.
Of all the places we looked, West Ashley looked like South Carolina to us.
I currently live in the Chicagland area. All the places short of downtown, and the beach communities, look just like suburbs here in the midwest (yes, diehards, there are exceptions) until you get over to Johns Island and West Ashley.
We loved the island feel of Johns Island, and the feel of West Ashley is just what we were after. The higher your budget, the better it gets.
For us, it was only one choice, West Ashley.
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I agree...West Ashley (West of the Ashley) has wonderful older neighborhoods with a lot of character and charm and also has upscale new neighborhoods. It is centrally located so that within 15 minutes you can be downtown Charleston, to a beach, or to major shopping centers and malls and Tanger Outlet. I am very partial to Shadowmoss Subdivision which has beautiful homes (and NOT cookie cutter), large yards, mature trees, tennis, golf, walking paths, etc. I live on Johns Island in the country, but if I were to move, it would be to West Ashley or back to James Island. I am a 28-year resident of the Charleston area so I have seen many changes take place. West Ashley has always been a good place to live and raise children.....as is James Island. Good luck in your decision making. 
