What is West Ashley like? (Charleston, Mount Pleasant: how much, houses, established neighborhood)

[pamptrecy]

There are lots of reasonably priced houses in West Ashley. Is it a nice area? Is it like Mount Pleasant or Summerville? Is it close to everything? How is the traffic? Thanks!!

[emilybh]

It is like an older Mount Pleasant that isn't quite as crowded. There is LOTS of shopping; LOTS of Restaurants; neighborhoods are older and more established; the shopping is more spread out and shopping centers aren't as glitzy. One thing West Ashley has is more spectacular views of downtown Charleston just because it is physically closer to Charleston than Mt. P is. West Ashley is a little farther away to the beach than Mount Pleasant is to Sullivan's Beach or Isle of Palms or James Island is to Folly Beach, but if you live close-in to downtown in West Ashley, it is only a few extra miles to Folly Beach than it is if you live on James Island. Also if you live close-in in West Ashley, such as in Old or South Windermere, you are MUCH closer to downtown Charleston than you would be if you lived in Mount Pleasant -- so close you could walk in fact.

[Jim3310]

West Ashley is a big place.
It does not 'wrap' around Charleston, it spreads out towards the south.

I'm interested in the 'reasonably priced houses' you have found. There are sections that may explain that pricing.

Emily is right in her description from her point of view. It changes as you move further out. This may explain the pricing.

Give us some more info & we'll let you know where you stand.
jim

[pamptrecy]

We actually like older more established neighborhoods. Does that mean bugs though? Is West Ashley an area that floods? When I do searches there are 3 choices for West Ashley: inside to Ashley River, outside to Rantowles and rural ravenel hollywood. What are the best areas for families or is West Ashley not a good place? What are the schools like? Is it close to naval base where DH would be working? Mt. Pleasant seems a little high for us. Maybe a little crowded too. I'm not really a city person. I grew up in the country and I don't want to be in the city. Hope this makes sense. Thanks!!

[emilybh]

I may be wrong but I think the closer you are to marsh areas the more bugs there are. If you are near a marsh where there is also a lagoon there may be alligators. The closer you are to the harbor or ocean, I'm guessing, the fewer the bugs.

I think of West Ashley as being split in half by Rte 17. On the south side is Wappoo Creek -- the ICW. On the north side there are more marshy areas to the east along the Ashley River. There are perfectly nice neighborhoods on this side and inland in the vicinity of the Citadel Mall but I happen to like the other side better. As with Mount Pleasant, the closer homes are to downtown, and the less time you have to spend in traffic on Rte 17 the more expensive the homes in West AShley are going to be.

You can't have it both ways if you live in West AShley. James Island on the other hand has its own bridge/connector that goes directly to downtown so you can avoid the traffic on 17 altogether. James Island also has neighborhoods with affordably priced homes that have a rural feel to them yet you are never more than a 5 minute drive or so to Folly Road and shopping and restaurants and never more than a few more minutes to downtown. You also are only a few miles from Folly Island and Folly Beach.

If you choose rural West Ashley, you have no choice but to endure the traffic (which isn't bad all the time) to get to downtown and it will take longer to get downtown than from James Island. Also if you don't need to get downtown, there are plenty of stores etc on the main thoroughfares in West Ashley. But you'll have a longer drive to the beach.

[marndt]

Lived in Sandhurst for 2 years... loved it... Very close to DT and shopping. Perfect... Some of the homes in the back have marsh views of the Ashley River.

[ExCMHer]

My in-laws live in the part of West Ashley that is close to the Paul Cantrell Blvd exit off of I-526. There are a lot of convenient grocery stores, restaurants, and shops out that way. It's a very suburban lifestyle.

Unless you work downtown, you probably never need to go there. You could just go downtown whenever you had friends visiting from out of town who want to do the tourist thing. It's fairly similar to living in DC in that regard.

My mother-in-law works downtown, so it must not be that much of a burden to come down SR-61 and catch Highway 17 into downtown Charleston. They also attend church downtown, and I've gone with them whenever we've been in town to visit. We get in and out relatively easily on Sundays. I've never been there during the week to see how much of a hassle it is first-hand.

[DJShymansky]

It's fairly similar to living in DC in that regard.

Except the commute is no more than 20 minutes from the farthest part of West Ashley to downtown Charleston, the traffic's -never- as bad as DC, and the population of West Ashley compared to a DC suburb is probably smaller by a factor of 10.