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I live in West Ashley and don't have much confidence in the new mayor. Sorry.
Then again, I didn't vote for him. In fact, I didn't vote for mayor at all as I have a blue trash can because I live in the county, not the city, and could not vote.
I love living in West Ashley. We live in Outer West Ashley and don't have to have flood insurance. Our neighborhood didn't flood at all. The elementary school and high school we're zoned for are both excellent (high school's reputation has improved in the past few years, I feel like). The middle schools... eh, but that's a tough age for kids in general. Orange Grove Charter school has a great rep, but you have to get in. We're child-free, but we keep up with this because we might want kids someday, and for resale value of our home.
The commute out here can be pretty crazy. If you're travelling in off-peak hours, it's not so bad. I work from home, but my husband will work different hours, or hit the gym before work to avoid the rush hour traffic. We like West Ashley and it has everything we need, although the Whole Foods and a better mall will be nice if those things ever happen.
Yeah you have to qualify your answer.Why do you love it? Do you work downtown, do you have kids in the schools, are you retired?
We tried Summerville -- way too far out for us. It was our first choice, meaning it has some redeeming qualities but we realized -- for us, our personal preferences, it wouldn't work.
There are nice people all over the greater Charleston area....so after that it becomes about a lifestyle choice...and none is better than the other just different.
Family employment is right here in Summerville at this point, with a need to commute into Chas 1 or 2 times per week, with flexible hours. It wasn't quite so convenient when we first moved here, however.
We still have one kid at Summerville HS; the other graduated last year and is now in college here in SC at almost no cost, which was a WOW! for us.
We are living in an area of mainly old timers who are gracious and VERY caring neighbors, who have never treated us as Yankee outsiders, EVER.
We gravitated to Summerville intially due to the town's overall *feel*, downtown area and historic homes (we are old architecture nuts), as well as the school system.
As much as we appreciate that the commute is an issue with many, even if having to do it daily, it's a piece of cake compared to what people deal with in the NYC metro where we spent the last 20 years before our move.
And 40 minutes to a gorgeous beach is nothing to us.
So hey, I wasn't making any type of statement, other than my appreciation for living here. I think it's obvious that peoples' preferences are purely subjective, and I was voicing mine.
I think you're missing the picture Ziggy. There's a lot that can change for the better in WA. Sure, you aren't going to do much to beautify the car dealership strip but that's just one strip on one thoroughfare. The rest of 17 and 61 and 7 have lots of potential. There's not much need for more large parks in inner WA but there's room for more small parks, dog parks and the like. Note the new Northbridge Park at the end of the rt 7 bridge and the new West Ashely Bikeway fishing pier. There's Charlestowne Landing and the new County Park right next door, Lenevar Park, a soccer field and dog park behind the Old Food Lion not to mention the Greenway itself. There's a decent supply of public space already and even more farther out in WA with the big West Ashley Park.
The Citadel Mall revitalization could be (should be) done in a big way and will be the financial base for that area to clean up and grow much more vital than it is. The rt 17 Harris Teeter and accompanying revitalization of that shopping center (with the Coburg Cow) has been very successful and I still think Doschers will be transformed into something like a Whole foods, Lucky's Market, etc. Same for the old Food Lion site. The rumored Harris teeter in the Barnes & Noble shopping center (displacing Office Depot) will be another much needed upgrade to an underutilized shopping center and will add incentive for the shopping center across the street (Total Wine) to improve as well.
As all of this happens, watch the classier restaurants/shops come in and piggyback on the economic vitality of those centers. Just look at what's in Mt P for an idea of what kind of places will fill in. And of course as that all happens the surrounding neighborhoods will go up in value, and clean up as a result. It's all too close in to Charleston (and especially the medical center side of things with the West Edge plan) for it to be ignored. It won't all happen next week but I'll bet that in 10 years you'll look back and say, "Wow I remember when WA was a bit shabby".
The biggest challenge is managing traffic. It would be nice if they could redo 17 the way they did in Mt P so traffic would flow more smoothly but that's a tough nut to crack. I don't know what's in the works on that score.
Just my thoughts.
Great points LocalHero, I feel the same way. There's so much potential and I think Riley got it started. Look at Mt. Pleasant just 15 years ago. It's come a long long way if you've been here awhile you'd know.
I do think maybe all of the effort has been centered on downtown and maybe Daniel Is. for the pass few years, so now it's WA's time. I think too if the rest of the donut holes in WA and JI would come into the city it would help. We need to be 'one' community and work together. The public service districts did a great job in developing those areas, but nows the time to come together and we can make things better rather than having duplicate services. Saves money too.
Negative of Hanahan is proximity to Rivers Ave & seedy Remount Road. I like the town itself around Divine Redeemer Catholic School, but not the coming & going to I26 from same.
Look at Mt. Pleasant just 15 years ago. It's come a long long way if you've been here awhile you'd know.
I remember when Towne Center opened when I was in high school. People said no one would drive that far north to shop. That was back when Citadel Mall was still *the* mall in Charleston...
Family employment is right here in Summerville at this point, with a need to commute into Chas 1 or 2 times per week, with flexible hours. It wasn't quite so convenient when we first moved here, however.
We still have one kid at Summerville HS; the other graduated last year and is now in college here in SC at almost no cost, which was a WOW! for us.
We are living in an area of mainly old timers who are gracious and VERY caring neighbors, who have never treated us as Yankee outsiders, EVER.
We gravitated to Summerville intially due to the town's overall *feel*, downtown area and historic homes (we are old architecture nuts), as well as the school system.
As much as we appreciate that the commute is an issue with many, even if having to do it daily, it's a piece of cake compared to what people deal with in the NYC metro where we spent the last 20 years before our move.
And 40 minutes to a gorgeous beach is nothing to us.
So hey, I wasn't making any type of statement, other than my appreciation for living here. I think it's obvious that peoples' preferences are purely subjective, and I was voicing mine.
I agree. I live in Ladson (North Charleston).
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