How is West Ashley? (Mount Pleasant: renting, sex offender, living)

[pcamps]

lmao laugh my ass off and roll around floor laughing my ass off.

In all seriousness most neighborhoods where you can buy a home for around $200,000 plus you are not going to go to far wrong . Obviously there are always exceptions.

The Dorchester County schools have a good reputation.

Most neighborhoods have community pools.

I also think most neighborhoods are family friendly.

[pcamps]

there are good neighborhoods and bad ones everywhere. you need to actually read what is being discussed instead of assuming you have htings figured out.

I think you you need to read what you are saying before starting to post , because you certainly do not come across as being fair in you assessment on anywhere that you do not like.

Why not give some factual reasons why you do not like certain areas ?

Why don't you for instance let us know why you don't like West Ashley so much as James Island ?.

Why don't you let us all know , what James Island as to offer that West Ashley doesn't ?

We may just understand about your negative comments then.

[wildwoodflower]

i think i did. i mentioned west ashley has more traffic, feels more crowded and fast paced, alot more city noise and overall is not as clean in many areas as james island. i also feel alot more stressed out while in west ashley then i do in other area do to the traffic noise, etc. but this doesn't bother some and it is certainly is not the worst in the area compared to areas like north charleston.. i also mentioned there are more crime reports to west ashley. i am not saying james island doesn't have any of these problems. but i am simply saying that is seems to not have nearly the same amount on the exterieor layer. also, the annual school report came out, and some WA schools did not fair as well as some in JI or Mt P . somehting important for families to consider when looking at individual neighborhoods in these areas. again, these are my frst impressions of the areas after a few months of frequenting them. i like both west ashley and james island for their own reasons. but overall, i would not choose to live in west ashley. i think if you go back and actually read what i wrote. i did provide my reasons in each thread... not just this one.

[fqtravlr]

I swear I am not pouring gasoline on an oil fire here! Just a few observations... Folly Rd was poorly designed and is virtually incapable of being expanded due to the close proximity of privately-owned structures. Why so close to the road? Well, the road has already been expanded beyond the original two lane access to the beach cutting through farmland. I can't help but think eventually Charleston County will want to expand Riverland Dr to absorb the traffic issues facing Folly Rd. And there goes the last of the rural element on James Island. There are some fine communities on james Island, just as there are in the WA. (South Windermere and the Crescent are part of WA and you can't jump the Cut to claim them) While I wouldn't mind living on James Island, I find the commercial setting to be losing blood rapidly, as it seems there are empty stores everywhere. There are a good many WA as well, but it seems the revitalization is taking shape better along Savannah Hwy and 61. Stopped by Gene's the other day and was glad to see this old establishment doing well and serving some good food. Just across the intersection, you will find Pearlz, which we were happy to see, also served some delicious food. Of course, that is right down from the Italian restaurant I found through this site, and we will definitely be going back there.(I forget the name, but I know where it is).
James Island has the Country Club of Charleston, the Charleston Municipal Course, and the James Island Yacht Club. West Ashley has the Outboard Motor Club. I ain't much for sailing, personally.
The best schools in the area are found neither in the WA or on Jim Isle. They are in Summerville District 2 and Mt Pleasant.

[mrpeatie]

Well- West Ashley and what it is like varies greatly by the area. I actually moved from Mt Pleasant to West Ashley specifically because of traffic and wanting more of a neghborhood with businesses/restaurants at hand. And I had lived inside of 526 in Mt P so its not like I was having to drive in from 41. I am two stop lights from downtown and love being able to get in and out. I also have to go to N Charleston some because of work and can get there very quickly in the morning (the afternoon is a little bit of a crapshoot.)

Also the Italian restaurant listed above is probably Al de la- and it alone is worth moving to this area. Love it!!! I am guessing the cute houses are in Carolina Forrest/Byrnes Downs/Avondale which is where I live. (if they were Old Windemere I think they would jump up in rent.) It is very safe and I have walked the area very late with no issues. And the areas we are closest to off of Magnolia are actually neighborhoods of black professionals with a couple of ministers, a councilman and a state senator so don't let people convince you that the entire run of Magnolia is the same as the one area that has had a couple of problems. I had a lovely door to door security salesman make that pitch recently and for some reason my blood went to a boil after some of the insinuations he made.

I will say that I prefer close in WA or far out WA (as long as it is not off 61). The in between area is where some of the traffic is absolutely horrendous. Down the road- finishing 526 will hopefully ease up a lot of the 17 traffic inside of 526.

We have a tennis and skate board park across from the post office, ball fields and a pool on Playground Rd (and yeah- it is not the greatest pool but the one off Sam Ritt is better) and out off Glenn McConnel there are baseball/soccer fields galore. We also have two greenbelts that I have never heard of any problems on.

The close-in neighborhoods tend to be zoned for the St Andrews Math/Science Elementary school which is a good school. That is actually where 2 of the Mayor's grandkids will be going (I live about 5 houses from his son.) Orange Grove is also a pretty good elementary school and Northgate, Wespanee, etc that feed into it are nice areas with houses from the fifties/sixties. There is the a magnate creative arts elementary school off Wallace School Road (pretty much 100 yards from the corner of Sam Ritt and 61.) Good school/horrible location. The Middle school of off 17 past 526 is a very good school but not what my area would go into. While the WA schools are not across the board strong like MT P- they are fine and have a much more diverse population (not just race but income/background/etc.) Top students do just as well as at other schools there are simply more students falling into the lower levels.

I think the tyranny of Mt Pleasant/ DD2 have the good schools argument is starting to wane. And from the latest school report cards it looks like James Island HS is on the rise while the Dorchester 2 schools are hitting a bit of a slide. When JI went Charter I had two friends working for the school district who told me that the status/ability to adjust curriculum would pay off big and it looks like it is beginning. I would actually prefer JIHS to any of the Wando, West Asley or DD2 schools because I am not a fan of huge high schools. Enough students to field sports teams and offer the full slate of AP courses is great but at a certain point it seems like they are herdign cattle.

I'll also add Edgewater park to the list of great WA neighborhoods- wouldn't like the traffic but the views are beautiful.

[kallistix]

mrpeatie has given you the best information possible. This is a very comprehensive look at West Ashley.

Schoolwise - West Ashley covers a lot of area, and as such so do the schools. Children are bussed in from poorer areas like Ravenel to WA schools. It doesn't mean that the schools are bad. There are going to be good schools & bad schools, but in general, the schools are good. My cousins are very happy with their children's elementary school, which I think is Orange Grove Elementary.

Neighborhoodwise - I like Avondale better than any other neighborhood in the Charleston area. If I could afford a home in Brynes Downs, I would jump at the chance. There are lovely restaurants (A le da, for example) and cute shops. It is close to Playground Road and all the amenities it offers (parks, playgrounds, and the pool). The community center on Playground offers a lot of classes for kids - karate & such.

I personally like West Ashley much much much much better than Mt. Pleasant. But I hate Mt. Pleasant, so to each their own.

[KarynO]

Originally Posted by kallistix

mrpeatie has given you the best information possible. This is a very comprehensive look at West Ashley.

Schoolwise - West Ashley covers a lot of area, and as such so do the schools. Children are bussed in from poorer areas like Ravenel to WA schools. It doesn't mean that the schools are bad. There are going to be good schools & bad schools, but in general, the schools are good. My cousins are very happy with their children's elementary school, which I think is Orange Grove Elementary.

Neighborhoodwise - I like Avondale better than any other neighborhood in the Charleston area. If I could afford a home in Brynes Downs, I would jump at the chance. There are lovely restaurants (A le da, for example) and cute shops. It is close to Playground Road and all the amenities it offers (parks, playgrounds, and the pool). The community center on Playground offers a lot of classes for kids - karate & such.

I personally like West Ashley much much much much better than Mt. Pleasant. But I hate Mt. Pleasant, so to each their own.

What's to "hate" about Mount Pleasant?

[kallistix]

It feels sterile & prefab to me.

[c99]

What's with the negative comments about people's opinions? Let them be. Each to his/her own. I thought this was a forum by which to share ideas, opinions, etc. One can disagree, yet still be kind.

I like James Island because it feels close to everything. Downtown, West Ashely, Mt. Pleasant are easily accessible from James Island. My experience has been that as long as one doesn't *have* to travel on Folly Road during peak times that the traffic and traveling is fairly decent on the island. It's an easy drive down Folly during off peak times. Great to visit the beach in the summer during the week after work.

I don't care for West Ashely due to the cookie cutter feel to a lot of the newer neighborhoods. Some of the older neighborhoods are adorable, but are in the midst of some less desirable areas. Same goes for much of Mt. Pleasant. The boom equation in Charleston was - mow down forests, slap down some roads, institute irritating and sometimes ridiculous covenants and fees, erect cheaply constructed houses and charge a lot for them.

To be fair ... there are only a few areas on James Island that I like as well. One of the downsides to Jim Isle are plethora of old homes predating the lead paint restrictions. The plus side is a lot of folks have remodeled them. However, one can still find homes in neighborhoods with larger yards and without covenants (also some drawbacks). But at least you don't have to deal with the covenant fees. Another negative of James Island is the expensive insurance. Most of the area is in the Windpool zone 2 and much of the area is in a flood zone - some of them rather expensive. West Ashely (to the best of my knowedge), isn't in the windpool, which means less expensive homeowners insurance.

James Island is definitely not without its problems, but that could be said about much of the greater-Charleston area. Crime, crime and more crime is my biggest complaint about all areas. For some reason criminals & sex offenders seem to flock to our area. I checked zip codes of areas in other states where I've lived previously and sometimes there is not one registered sex offender listed. That's definitely not the case around here. Who knows really what is going on with crime in Mt. Pleasant. One has to call the police department to get very generalized information. It almost seems like info is being brushed under the rug (maybe to keep home prices up??). At least the city of Charleston (somewhat) publishes their information.

Take a look at crime stats for Charleston CrimeWeb.net - Home (Mt. Pleasant doesn't participate for whatever reason) and the sex offender database. When I was searching for a house (on a break for now) I mapped sex offenders in the area from the database. There is a large concentration of sex offenders in West Ashley (and in most areas of Charleston, James Island, and even areas of Mt. Pleasant).

Check for yourself:
Sex Offender Registry (SC database)
National Sex Offender Registry (results displayed on a map; not sure of accuracy)

Here's some more data re: sex offenders in the area by zip code according to http://www.familywatchdog.us/
(as an aside, I am *fairly* sure I have the zip code/city pairs correct; and, this is not all the zip codes in the area (I don't think I included any peninsular Charleston))

James Island
29412: 48 offenders (75 non-mappable offenders)

West Ashley:
29414: 141 offenders (23 non-mappable offenders)
29407: 295 offenders (152 non-mappable offenders)
29449: 27 offenders (9 non-mappable offenders)

Johns Island:
29455: 32 offenders (4 non-mappable offenders)

Mt. Pleasant:
29464: 93 offenders (91 non-mappable offenders)
29466: 34 offenders (4 non-mappable offenders)

[USCJoe]

In looking at the SC Sex Offender Registry for Mt. Pleasant, zip code 29464 I see 34 offenders. 29466 has 17 unless I am reading the figures incorrectly.