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Young professionals moving to Charleston area, seek information about West Ashley, where to meet young professionals, fun activities, nightlife, convenient to shopping/entertainment
After months of reading about the Charleston area, different apartment complexes, and looking at a variety of pictures, I finally visited the area last week!
I have to say I was overall pleased with the area. My friend lives in Summerville so I resided there, but made trips daily to either downtown, James Island, Mount Pleasant, or West Ashley. The only real concern that I have for the area is the amount of traffic. Perhaps this was an issue because my friend lives about 10-15 minutes from I-26/ I-526, but it seemed that it took at least a half hour to get ANYWHERE that we wanted to go (even places that didn't seem far, still took us a half hour). Does this seem like a problem for anyone who lives around this area? I mean I suppose you get used to it, but geez, I was not expecting every road to be a 6 lane highway, even the non - highways." Living in the north, I guess I had a false stereotype that the south was not as built up as it is. But then again, these are all suburbs of Charleston, and a city is a city, anywhere you go.
I have one more question for you all, if you would. We spent the entire week apartment hunting and looking at the areas of James Island, Mount Pleasant, and West Ashley. We really liked many of the apartment complexes that we visited, though it seemed that they were all missing a little something, so they were all kind of on an equal level in our opinion. However, we were able to find a "favorite" for each location (i.e. a favorite in West Ashley, a favorite in Mount Pleasant, etc.) We are leaning toward the Abberly right now, in West Ashley. This seems to be the best that we can get for our money (though it does lie right next to the highway, and the living rooms are a bit small...). Anyways, does anyone know about this area? Does it seem nice? convenient? fun? We are both young professionals, 23/24 years old. We are looking for areas that we can meet more young professionals, hopefully.
Anyone have any advice? Opinions? Ideas? I would really appreciate it!
Charleston is a city where people come from all over to work. At 4pm...all those people start to leave work and go home. Given the limited number of outlets from the city there are a few major thoroughfares...4 & 6 lane roads. Evidently you took those everywhere you went. The only way through Mt. Pleasant is 17 so it has multiple lanes. You could get to James Island by going through Jonhn Island, but that isn't normally the case coming from Summerville. Speaking of Summerville, it takes 50-55 minutes to get from there to Mt. Pleasant. Charleston should be about 35 minutes. Of course this all depends on traffic.
By the way...did you pass the 526/26 interchange between 4:30 & 5:30 in the afternoon? That'll explain the need for a multiple lane highway.
There are many parts of the south that have small roads. Charleston does as well, but it's also a busy town that has lots of commerce. The major roads are just that...major. Once you get here you'll find those small roads you desire. There are plenty.
Yes..I agree. Charleston's traffic is all about timing. I can get from my house to the airport in less than 20 minutes or..at the wrong time it can take 45+ minutes.
The traffic is one thing we really didn't take into account when we moved here . Leaving home at the wrong time can make a 30 minute journey turn into a 1 hour journey, or more if there's an accident.
My wife and I loved Cobblestone Apartments near Goose Creek, off exit 199. Brand new, and in a very upcoming area with all the retail construction going on. We ended up renting a home at the last minute instead, but Cobblestone was definitely first on the list in this area. Good luck!
After months of reading about the Charleston area, different apartment complexes, and looking at a variety of pictures, I finally visited the area last week!
I have to say I was overall pleased with the area. My friend lives in Summerville so I resided there, but made trips daily to either downtown, James Island, Mount Pleasant, or West Ashley. The only real concern that I have for the area is the amount of traffic. Perhaps this was an issue because my friend lives about 10-15 minutes from I-26/ I-526, but it seemed that it took at least a half hour to get ANYWHERE that we wanted to go (even places that didn't seem far, still took us a half hour). Does this seem like a problem for anyone who lives around this area? I mean I suppose you get used to it, but geez, I was not expecting every road to be a 6 lane highway, even the non - highways." Living in the north, I guess I had a false stereotype that the south was not as built up as it is. But then again, these are all suburbs of Charleston, and a city is a city, anywhere you go.
I have one more question for you all, if you would. We spent the entire week apartment hunting and looking at the areas of James Island, Mount Pleasant, and West Ashley. We really liked many of the apartment complexes that we visited, though it seemed that they were all missing a little something, so they were all kind of on an equal level in our opinion. However, we were able to find a "favorite" for each location (i.e. a favorite in West Ashley, a favorite in Mount Pleasant, etc.) We are leaning toward the Abberly right now, in West Ashley. This seems to be the best that we can get for our money (though it does lie right next to the highway, and the living rooms are a bit small...). Anyways, does anyone know about this area? Does it seem nice? convenient? fun? We are both young professionals, 23/24 years old. We are looking for areas that we can meet more young professionals, hopefully.
Anyone have any advice? Opinions? Ideas? I would really appreciate it!
Part of the problem getting around the Charleston area is that many neighborhoods, due to being "water locked," don't have the luxury of alternate routes. North Charleston runs mostly along I-26 and parallel Rivers Av. James Is. has Folly Rd., Mt. Pleasant and West Ashley have US17. These arteries tend to get backed up during weekday peak hours. However, the traffic is nothing compared to the BQE or LIE. At least around here they do most of the road construction at night, whereas in NY it always seemed to be during the day, including rush hours.
I would suggest renting a place in an area suitable to your lifestyle. Bare in mind that you'll be spending lots of time in the car so it's best to minimize the gas usage and mileage as much as possible. We bought a place in Park Circle, which is convenient because of its close proximity to I26/526, which puts us 15-20 min. to just about anywhere we need to be in the area.
For your purposes, however, it seems that a neighborhood like South Windermere in West Ashley or Hampton Park on the Peninsula would be the best places to look to rent. There seem to be lots of young professionals in those areas. In this housing market, you might also find an entire house to rent relatively inexpensively (by NY standards).
NUVal makes an excellent point that the infrastructure is dictated by the lay of the land. There are pinch points that lead to the traffic ills that plague the Charleston area. Many ideas have been cast onto the table as to how to alleviate these issues, but major changes are always slow to come, especially in a community such as ours, where we have been overwhelmed with the population increase. I personally would welcome a rail line from Summerville to Charleston, but there are issues in that since the existing rails are owned by various freight lines who are reluctant to relinquish their control over the tracks. As previously stated in the thread, it is all about timing. I am fortunate to miss most of the traffic flow due to my hours.
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