Summerville (Charleston, North Charleston, Myrtle Beach: for sale, real estate, houses)

[jody3978]

I apologize in advance if this is a repeat of past questions...
We live in connecticut and are considering a move to the Charleston area. I came across Summerville while looking at houses on realtor.com. It looks charming. I have already determined the schools are good. I am interested in things like the commute to Charleston. My husband will *hopefully be working there. He is an IT guy (web, database development, manager, etc) so if you know of any job openings in the area, that would be great too. He has been scoping out alot of the well known job search sites, but we are not sure of any local papers or that sort of thing. Also, how far is Summerville from the beach and/or boat launch? Are there any areas to avoid house hunting in or subdivisions that you know are not good? We are not sure if we will do new construction or buy a newer home. We know we want to live in a subdivision with lots of kids (we have 3 little boys). Is there alot to do with kids in Summerville? sports and that sort of thing? I checked out the summerville website and the Y looks pretty nice as does the ball field and playground. How about preschool? any advice there? Will it be hard to get my son in if we are not down there within a few months? HOw about grocery stores, walmart and that sort of thing. We are used to having them within 5-15 minutes and I am just curious if that will be the same.
Thank you all sooo much in advance for any advice.
We will be visiting the area in mid august and are super excited to get the ball rolling.

[DJShymansky]

I think once you visit Summerville the majority of your concerns will be set aside. There are some fantastic family-friendly neighborhoods in the area that you really shouldn't miss when you come down. Most, if not all of them would be inside 15 minutes to major shopping and amenities in downtown Summerville.

As to the commute to downtown Charleston, it could be 25 minutes without traffic or up to 1hr+ during rush hours. To the beaches, again 40 minutes is average, but there are plenty of boat launches along the Ashley River between Summerville and Charleston.

As to local job prospects, try the following resources to help get you started.

Charleston City Paper - Charleston - Food | Music | Events | Arts | News
Charleston News, Cars, Homes, Jobs, Real Estate, Weather, Business, Sports and Shopping. News and Information for the South Carolina LowCountry
SCIway.net - South Carolina Information Highway - SC

[ah090206]

We live in Summerville and love it here. DH grew up in Mt. Pleasant (I'm sure you read about it as well in your research of Charleston) but enjoys living in Summerville more because it has more of a downtown feel. He is also in IT...and commutes to downtown Charleston (about 45min-1hour both directions.) The beaches (IOP, Sullivans Island, and Folly) are also about 45 min-1 hr away.

We live in White Gables and there are a TON of kids. Its a planned community with smaller lots, but many common areas (parks, pools, etc.) Its a growing area and they just built a new Publix (the best SC grocery store in my opinion) around the corner. I'm not a big fan of the S-ville Walmart (its old and always super busy.) We have all of the major stores as well (Target, Lowes, Pier 1, TJ Maxx, Kohls, etc.) There are a lot of other kid friendly neighborhoods in the area.

It is difficult to get into preschools around the area, so you may want to start calling around if you are sure you are going to move. I've heard good things about Oakbrook Child Development, St. Lukes Lutheran, and Bethany UMC.

[ah090206]

Correction to my post above...we like living in S-ville because it has more of a small town feel...NOT downtown feel :-) Two very different things!

[tjtrimeloni]

Thanks to Waccamatt for keeping me accountable for my action. I will be a better blogger because of it. I apologize for my inappropriate post of yesterday, especially to my colleagues who frequently provide excellent information in each of their posts without compromising their integrity and the spirit of this forum.

[svilleshopgirl]

Hi, i have my own home for sale in jedburgh. it is on 1.76 acres and is 3000 sq ft. , 5bdrm, 2.5 baths. the school system is great where i am. the high school is opening this fall first year. my home is less than 30 min from dntn charleston, and 10 min from summerville amenities. horse farm right behind my home(upscale one) not smelly. just thought id let you know. i can email pics if you like. or call me at 843-460-8764

Originally Posted by jody3978

I apologize in advance if this is a repeat of past questions...
We live in connecticut and are considering a move to the Charleston area. I came across Summerville while looking at houses on realtor.com. It looks charming. I have already determined the schools are good. I am interested in things like the commute to Charleston. My husband will *hopefully be working there. He is an IT guy (web, database development, manager, etc) so if you know of any job openings in the area, that would be great too. He has been scoping out alot of the well known job search sites, but we are not sure of any local papers or that sort of thing. Also, how far is Summerville from the beach and/or boat launch? Are there any areas to avoid house hunting in or subdivisions that you know are not good? We are not sure if we will do new construction or buy a newer home. We know we want to live in a subdivision with lots of kids (we have 3 little boys). Is there alot to do with kids in Summerville? sports and that sort of thing? I checked out the summerville website and the Y looks pretty nice as does the ball field and playground. How about preschool? any advice there? Will it be hard to get my son in if we are not down there within a few months? HOw about grocery stores, walmart and that sort of thing. We are used to having them within 5-15 minutes and I am just curious if that will be the same.
Thank you all sooo much in advance for any advice.
We will be visiting the area in mid august and are super excited to get the ball rolling.

[jody3978]

thank you for the replies. They are very helpful!!!!

[BarbiK]

Hi - With our upcoming move out of the area I just started searching around on the net for people who may be interested in moving here. Who knows when fate might step in!

We live in Coosaw Creek which is a gated golf course community in North Charleston (almost in Summerville) that also happens to be in the highly coveted Dorchester II school district. Coosaw Creek is the premier nieghborhood in North Charleston with large lots, beautiful homes and ammenities (pool, etc) and easy access in all directions - to Summerville up the road or downtown Charleston just down the highway. With the housing slump our neigbhorhood is not as expensive as it used to be so it's a great time to get in... The oldest houses were built in the early to mid-90s. Ours was built in 2005 on a beautiful lot right on the golf course. We haven't put it on the market yet and hope to not have to. We have children too and live on a friendly street with lots of other kids.

Anyway, if you're interested I would be happy to send you pictures.
Good luck,
Barbara

[Donna1995]

Jody,
My husband and I bought a home in Summerville in May. We settle in August. We had never been to Charleston or any of the surrounding areas. We love Summerville. We are from Maryland and the housing here is so expensive as well as I am sure Connecticut is. I have a really good realtor that has been so helpful to us that for several months sent us listings. I did all my homework on which area I was interested in long before we went down there. Summerville is very charming. It is not that far away from any of the beaches and not that far from Myrtle Beach for a weekend trip. The shopping seems to be about the same as it is here in Maryland. Also I read on one of the web sites I went to that in August there is a commuter bus that is going to start running from Summerville to down town Charleston. Good luck in your home search.
Donna

Originally Posted by jody3978

I apologize in advance if this is a repeat of past questions...
We live in connecticut and are considering a move to the Charleston area. I came across Summerville while looking at houses on realtor.com. It looks charming. I have already determined the schools are good. I am interested in things like the commute to Charleston. My husband will *hopefully be working there. He is an IT guy (web, database development, manager, etc) so if you know of any job openings in the area, that would be great too. He has been scoping out alot of the well known job search sites, but we are not sure of any local papers or that sort of thing. Also, how far is Summerville from the beach and/or boat launch? Are there any areas to avoid house hunting in or subdivisions that you know are not good? We are not sure if we will do new construction or buy a newer home. We know we want to live in a subdivision with lots of kids (we have 3 little boys). Is there alot to do with kids in Summerville? sports and that sort of thing? I checked out the summerville website and the Y looks pretty nice as does the ball field and playground. How about preschool? any advice there? Will it be hard to get my son in if we are not down there within a few months? HOw about grocery stores, walmart and that sort of thing. We are used to having them within 5-15 minutes and I am just curious if that will be the same.
Thank you all sooo much in advance for any advice.
We will be visiting the area in mid august and are super excited to get the ball rolling.