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With thoughts of moving down from Central NY, I'm doing some research on the Summerville and Bluffton areas. I have seen that Summerville is a bit larger and next to Charleston, Bluffton might be a slight more expensive (housing, general cost of living) and closer to HH and Savannah. I would assume that Bluffton would be closer to the coast as well but feel free to correct any misconceptions I have. And, yes, a visit is being planned to see both areas first hand so I do know how invaluable that would be.
Given all of that, anyone have other thoughts on comparing the two cities (culture, activities, etc)? Any and all thoughts would be welcomed and appreciated! Thanks for your time!
Summerville is much larger than it appears. It has a different feel than Bluffton but its hard to describe. Definitely older area. Bluffton is closer to the coast. Getting to Folly Beach right now from central Summerville would be 50 minutes - and that's with easy Sunday traffic. Okatie (outer Bluffton) to HH Beach right now is 28 minutes. From "central" Bluffton to the same beach is about 20.
Summerville has more "culture" as its older and has an actual downtown, but its still not as strong as Lowcountry culture can be and is still at the end of the day a typical mid-size southern sunbelt city. Charleston is much larger than Hilton Head so you'll have more amenities in the metro, but being up in Summerville, they're not going to always be a breeze to get to. Bluffton has less traffic in general, but also has one main highway in and out and it backs up pretty bad during beach season. But traffic is traffic.
Aren't you retired and/or over 50? Personally Summerville is great for families, but what with you being older and with the criteria you posted in the last thread, I still feel the two Florida places would be a better bet.
But in regards to Bluffton vs Summerville, I would go with Bluffton, or at least go closer to the coast such as West Ashley. Didnt you also mention something about golf? More options in Bluffton/HHI. Charleston is the most cultured and developed of them all. If you did Bluffton, Charlestons an easy 2 hours away.
Cost of living will more than likely be cheaper no matter where you go than where you are now. Neither place is going to be incredibly different. Also keep in mind Summerville is basically in 2 counties. So it also depends on which side of Summerville you're talking, but still, not a major difference.
Yes, I am retired (AND over 50 - lol) but I have some serious reservations about FL and as I'm looking for these discussions, I happily lay out a few but, by all means, feel free to counter them if you think I may be mistaken. First, the huge influx of people into Fl worries me a bit. I know what the traffic was there 10 - 15 years ago and I know what it's like now. I can only imagine what it will be like in another 10 years. Is SC growing as well? From what I understand, it is. However (and, again, from what I read), not nearly at the pace that FL is. Secondly, as the current folks on the West Coast will tell you, red tide is much more of an issue in FL than in SC. There's no income tax but according to my numbers, the increase in property taxes and general cost of living almost make that a wash. Another SC plus is the culture. It seems to me that FL (at least the areas I've had the pleasure of visiting) is turning into a giant tourist trap and I'm just not a fan of that.
There's certainly no definitive answer made yet and FL is hardly totally off the table but, at least in my mind, SC seems to be winning the race. That said, I do appreciate your thoughts and questions. It certainly helps!
Yes, I am retired (AND over 50 - lol) but I have some serious reservations about FL and as I'm looking for these discussions, I happily lay out a few but, by all means, feel free to counter them if you think I may be mistaken. First, the huge influx of people into Fl worries me a bit. I know what the traffic was there 10 - 15 years ago and I know what it's like now. I can only imagine what it will be like in another 10 years. Is SC growing as well? From what I understand, it is. However (and, again, from what I read), not nearly at the pace that FL is.
There's certainly no definitive answer made yet and FL is hardly totally off the table but, at least in my mind, SC seems to be winning the race. That said, I do appreciate your thoughts and questions. It certainly helps!
Thing about FL influx is everybody is not moving into the same part of the state, unlike states like Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, Idaho, etc. I personally have not felt Florida feel that crowded outside of South Florida, which you are not considering. Traffic is traffic. Tampa, Jacksonville, Charleston, Savannah, Greenville, Orlando can feel crowded even though they're all different sizes. And people love to complain about the traffic in all of these cities (people act like Woodruff Rd in Greenville is worse than I10 in Los Angeles). Traffic is traffic.
You being retired, you have no obligation to sit in commuter traffic, so traffic shouldn't be a huge concern of yours imo. All of these cities I dont see you having much a problem driving to the grocery store at 2pm or going to the golf course at 1030 am or grabbing a dinner at 730pm.
Yes SC is growing - top 10 - and like FL, its growing in multiple areas vs one area, which takes pressure off. But the numbers make the actual living feel overblown. I live in a county of 1.5 million people, with another 2.6 million people to the N, S, E, and W, and yet it still takes me 20 minutes to get to everything, which is about the same as when I lived in Charleston and when I would visit HHI. It does not feel like I'm in a county of 1.5 million. You see that number and say "goodness that's so crowded!", but then you live in it and realize...its really not.
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Originally Posted by WeaserP
Secondly, as the current folks on the West Coast will tell you, red tide is much more of an issue in FL than in SC.
Yes I'm on the west coast. Yeah there's red tide episodes, but in general the water is fine, and it is much clearer than in SC. SC water is mostly brown/murky because of the silt and sand, but FL water is bluegreen. Look at the color difference between Charleston Harbor and Biscayne Bay. SC may not have red tide, but it does have water issues as well. 40% of SC beaches tested as unsafe at least once in 2018. But again, vast majority of the time, you can go to the beach in both states and have no problem. I haven't heard anyone complaining at the Gulf beaches recently. The red tide and bacteria issues are not enough to diminish the amenity of having beaches. I would be more worried about storm surge than red tide and bacteria. Also regardless of if you're in FL or SC, you're probably not going to go to the beach as often as you think.
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Originally Posted by WeaserP
There's no income tax but according to my numbers, the increase in property taxes and general cost of living almost make that a wash.
It all depends on where you are. You can't blanket two states and compare COL as a whole, which I know people love to do. Believe it or not, there's plenty of places in California and NY that are cheaper than SC.
Living in Miami will be much more expensive than living in Bluffton, but yet COL in Jacksonville is actually cheaper overall than Bluffton, even though Jacksonville is much, much, much larger. (If you were working you'd probably get paid better in Jax too). Florida feels like 3-4 states crammed into one. South Florida has absolutely nothing in common with the Panhandle. They don't even root for the same teams. COL will vary.
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Originally Posted by WeaserP
Another SC plus is the culture. It seems to me that FL (at least the areas I've had the pleasure of visiting) is turning into a giant tourist trap and I'm just not a fan of that.
Big misconception. Didn't you say youve been to Bradenton? There's absolutely no tourist traps in Manatee County other than the beach. The rest is local-driven development. Tampa has more culture than anywhere in SC other than maybe Charleston. Miami is probably the most culture rich city on the entire east coast outside of NYC. You can debate Boston and Philly. Either way it's top 4. Orlando is actually very nice and is a functioning city outside of Disneyworld/Universal/Seaworld. Orlando has a booming core and the city of Winter Park gets very high marks - higher than Summerville and Bluffton. St Pete has a very distinct mashup of art and beach culture and has one of the best downtowns in the southeast. St Augustine is the oldest city in the country has an old town culture similar to Charleston and Savannah. The Panhandle also has a distinct Gulf culture, and even the interior cities have a noticeable feel. FL definitely does have a lot of culture-less, soulless, mass produced subdivision places, but I'm not suggesting you move to any of those so it doesn't really matter.
Like I said Charleston has a definable, rich culture, enough to where it was able to get flights to London, but Summerville does not really. Bluffton really does not, especially considering most of Bluffton is new. HHI has a great island culture, but its also built around tourists, which you say FL does too much of.
Hopefully this helps clear some things up. I'm commenting because im familiar with all these places, so I feel I can give an honest perspective. I'm like half your age, but hopefully my perspective can still help! I love both SC and FL and you can't go wrong with either for what you're looking for. If SC is still your leader, I personally would give Bluffton stronger looks than Summerville, simply based on the criteria you gave before.
Wow, great response, J. I sincerely appreciate the time and the opinions. You bring up some very solid points and these are precisely the things that are important to me to consider. Sure, there are some things that are inherently subjective but I think I am getting most of the points that you're making. Specifically, I will back down (and meant no offense) to Floridians. I've been to a number of areas in FL (St Aug, Jacksonville, Daytona, Deltona, Orlando, Tampa, Bradenton, Sarasota, Naples, etc.) and have had wonderful times but I would have to argue that going out Manatee or Cortez to the Bradenton beaches does run you into "tourist alley". I'm not sure I would like to move there though and that could be a result of my Upstate NY upbringing. Very honestly, if we didn't get 10' or more of snow every winter and it didn't last 6 months every year here, I would tell you that this could very possibly be the best place on the planet. We're <5 hrs from Toronto, NYC, Philly, Pittsburgh, Boston, the Finger Lakes, the Adirondack mountains, legendary Vermont skiing, etc...Upstate really has a LOT of benefits but I think a LOT of people (many who I know in fact - lol) would consider Upstate NY one stop short of Satan's Lair. It is what it is to some extent and I think we can all agree on that.
Again, thanks for all the thoughts and I invite more if you have additional thoughts. Keep 'em coming, sir!
Wow, great response, J. I sincerely appreciate the time and the opinions. You bring up some very solid points and these are precisely the things that are important to me to consider. Sure, there are some things that are inherently subjective but I think I am getting most of the points that you're making. Specifically, I will back down (and meant no offense) to Floridians. I've been to a number of areas in FL (St Aug, Jacksonville, Daytona, Deltona, Orlando, Tampa, Bradenton, Sarasota, Naples, etc.) and have had wonderful times....]
Daytona is the FL equivalent of Myrtle Beach. I wouldn't suggest anyone move to Daytona, personally. Naples is very nice, but not what youre really looking for. Deltona is what you call soulless, I wouldn't suggest anyone move there either. Sarasota could fit, but it's closer to a Naples than a Bluffton.
I wouldn't suggest you move to Tampa or Jacksonville city - not because theyre bad - they just don't fit your criteria. But: the cities around them do. Southern Jax is not much different than Bluffton as I said in the previous thread. And you didn't offend anybody, I'm just trying to squash misconceptions.
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Originally Posted by WeaserP
but I would have to argue that going out Manatee or Cortez to the Bradenton beaches does run you into "tourist alley". I'm not sure I would like to move there though and that could be a result of my Upstate NY upbringing.
I'm not sure where in Bradenton you typically hang out, but going from Brandenton to Bradenton Beach/Anna Maria/Longboat, whether Highway 64 or 684, is a pretty standard coastal city drive. It's not full of traps. The biggest "trap" place you'll find on the west coast is Clearwater Beach, which is an hour north.
Other than that, there's nothing in Tampa Bay thats "full of traps" on the coast. It's all standard beachfare like you'd find in Hilton Head or Charleston (Folly Beach/Isle of Palms). The only discernable difference between St Pete Beach in FL and Folly Beach in SC is the waves.
But like I said, either works. If SC is what you feel, you can't go wrong, though there will be less New Yorkers, if that matters. I still say Bluffton over Summerville. Just don't expect to be at the beach every day.
We are from Florida and have lived in a 55+ active adult community here in Summerville, SC for about 2.5 years. The way we made our decision was a very thorough online search, followed by visiting the locations that most appealed to us.
It was helpful to create a list of the top 'Most Desired' things we were looking for in a new locale. Our lists were narrowed to the five most important items and that's how we made our decision.
Northern Summerville is in Berkeley County. The area is growing rapidly--but so are the amenities. Roadwork is being planned or has already been done. A hospital is 10 minutes from us, with a Medical University of South Carolina hospital being built several minutes away. Two large shopping centers are being built minutes from us. Costco and an additional supermarket are coming--also minutes away. The interstates are nearby(I 26 takes 10-12 minutes to reach and I 95 is about 30 minutes away).
Being retired means that we can avoid early morning and afternoon rush hours. The beach is 45 minutes away and Charleston is only 35 minutes from here.
Our community has many residents formerly from NY, NJ, PA, OH, WI and we all blend well with our southern born and bred neighbors. Being from upstate NY, you could be comfortable among them.
The people here are kind and thoughtful. When they ask you about your day, they maintain eye contact and actually want to know. Drivers make way for you to enter traffic lanes. People really do pull to the right side to allow ambulances to pass.
When my husband recently needed hospitalization and surgery, we found the nursing staff to be outstandingly attentive, caring, and compassionate. During this time, I couldn't get home to feed and walk our puppy during the afternoon. Our neighbors took turns doing this for us and were eager to help. Yes, these are little things, but the composite is what life is all about: mental and physical well-being.
South Florida's taxes, insurances, and medical costs helped push us out of the state. In SC, all of these are far less and offset the state's income tax.
As a Florida native, I've lived in south Florida, Tampa, Gainesville, and frequently visit friends in Jacksonville. Knowing what I do about these cities, I'd still choose Summerville as my retirement city.
Do your research, create your list and prioritize it, visit each location. You'll figure it out once you've done it all.
Over 50 and retired you will find Bluffton to be more to your liking then Summerville. That said, Summerville is closer to the center of attraction of Charleston.
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