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You gave it a shot
....and just fyi: though I did research the area, found Charleston has a overall higher cost of living than I expected...
Best wishes!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiGator
We moved here in mid 2011 for a job I got with Boeing. I'm still with Boeing and love my job. The pay is not the great windfall many of you may have expected it to be, but the company is great to work for. Too bad finding a position out of this area has been so far unsuccessful for me. However, due to several things, including but not limited to the cost of living, taxes, horrendous roads, and the strain of maintaining a house here (we rent) and leasing out our home in florida we have decided to cut our losses and head back to Florida before High School starts up again next school year (this coming Fall). We are waiting until then mainly because we want our child to finish-out school this year and because our lease here and our tenant's lease in Florida both expire in the July/August timeframe.
Born and raised in the deep south I find the people here to be very friendly in person and remind me of back home. The climate is great, gas is a little cheaper, and the history here blows me away. However, what I can't handle is the cell-phone-glued-to-the-ear-while-driving driving problem many drivers have, the outrageous personal property taxes on vehicles (for us almost $2500 a year for us), the decrepit road conditions (Dorchester Blvd for example), high automobile/motorcycle insurance, the onesey-twosey of businesses (Apple Store, Joanne's Etc, Krispy Kreme Donuts, etc), and the blatant rudeness and disregard towards motorcycle riders. I don't appreciate being run off the road by a driver next to me, or cut off by someone who doesn't know what a turn signal is used for, or by someone too engrossed in a phone call to care about other drivers around them, or whose phone is apparently surgically attached to their head while I'm out on my motorcycle, minding my own business, following the law, and clearly visible to anyone within 1/2 a mile of me. I wear a safety vest and helmet at all times when I'm on my Harley - mainly for self preservation but also for safety.
While no place is perfect, and I have lived and traveled all around the world during a 30-yr military career, I have a heck of a time justifying here any longer than necessary. I'm getting nowhere and feel like I'm taking 2 steps forward and 3 steps back every month. Electricity and water are really overpriced for our budget. We have had our heater/air conditioner in the house we rent here turned off since October and yet we STILL got a bill in January for right at $200. Yes, you heard right, we did not turn on our central heat during the winter because the price of electricity to heat a 2000 sq ft house is too much to handle. Thank God for heating blankets and space heaters. We STILL have our AC unit off - ceiling fans work just great for us. We'll see how the next month goes before turning the AC on.
The biggest mistake we made was not researching the area adequately enough before moving. While this place may be great for many of you it's just not right for us. We have no ill feeling. We have just decided to go back to an environment and area we are more comfortable with living in and go from there. I really wish this would have worked better but it hasn't.
Bad drivers, for all reasons, are everywhere. I don't even bat an eye at cell phone junkies anymore because it's part of American culture now. What I don't understand is people going 55 in a 65 over the Edwards bridge in the fast lane (and they have a SC license plate). Will someone please explain this!?!?!
Also, that clock on your DVD player, microwave, and coffee maker are draining your electricity. Albeit, not as much as if they were on, but you should just google how those little things add up.
Having an SC plate is meaningless. Just yesterday, I was driving down St. James in Goose Creek on my way to Publix because I no longer shop at Wal-Mart due to the homicidal tendencies I get in the parking lot when I leave that store...ANYWAY, I was in my truck (2011 Ram 1500 Quad Cab) and was driving next to a newer F-150 Quad cab with nothing in front of us. I saw a little old lady in a Crown Vic stopped waiting to make a left at the corner of St. James and Gainsborough. She waited and waited and just when both big trucks were RIGHT on top of her, she turned in front of u. I slammed the brakes, the F-150 slammed the horn. She had SC plates...
Having an SC plate is meaningless. Just yesterday, I was driving down St. James in Goose Creek on my way to Publix because I no longer shop at Wal-Mart due to the homicidal tendencies I get in the parking lot when I leave that store...ANYWAY, I was in my truck (2011 Ram 1500 Quad Cab) and was driving next to a newer F-150 Quad cab with nothing in front of us. I saw a little old lady in a Crown Vic stopped waiting to make a left at the corner of St. James and Gainsborough. She waited and waited and just when both big trucks were RIGHT on top of her, she turned in front of u. I slammed the brakes, the F-150 slammed the horn. She had SC plates...
Maybe the little old lady moved here more than 90 days ago?
Our neighbors have Indiana plates and have lived here awhile. They've lived next to us for about 9 months and lived in this apartment complex for a year or so before that. My friend moved here from California less than 9 months ago and has SC tags just because of when she purchased that car.
I used to work for a guy who drove around with GA plate until he got in a wreck. He HAD to give the cop his real address (John's Island) and the cop wrote him a "fix it" ticket for not having his car registered here. Apparently whatever county he lived in in south Georgia had lower car tax and cheaper insurance rates.
Where in NY? The roads are usually rated D+ up there and it's terrible. So much more attention to SC roads than I'm used to!
Well, I drove from SC to Long Island and from LI to Westchester, so I experienced it all! Brooklyn and Queens, I think, take the cake for the worst roads in the area. Jersey roads are no picnic, either.
I don't ride anymore because of what you have experienced, even when I did ride I tried to stay to the rural areas but the idiots in the 4wheeled tanks (SUVs) would never see you....
I have a large motorcycle that I am running straight pipes without baffles and I still nearly get run over...
My bike has been parked for over three years now....
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