My experience apartment hunting... (Charleston, Summerville: condo, how much, houses)

[CharlestonHelp]

Originally Posted by automated

I'll say this for the people- outside of NYC (the real center of the universe), I've never met people more conceited about where they live.

That's funny, you sound pretty conceited to me. Face it, Charleston will never live up to "your" expectations. I sincerely believe that life is what you make of it, and hence your negative attitude more than likely follows you around wherever you go. How do you expect to even live in this small city with such a negative cloud over your head? You're never going to find what you want that way. Again I ask...how long have you been in Charleston? Give it a chance, it can be a bit clicky (sp).

Originally Posted by automated

The close mindedness I've encountered from some of you on this thread does not inspire confidence.

Now that is funny. Ignorance is bliss, because you are one of the most close-minded people I've met on here. I shouldn't even waste my time writing this, because you'll come back with yet another retort, and not give things a chance. Quit wasting my time, our time, and most importantly (not really) YOUR time.

[StarryEyedSurprise]

Hi, automated. I recently moved here (one year ago) from in and around NYC myself. Just to clear up some things, since I do know where you're coming from.

Originally Posted by automated

Coming from the East Village, we found Charleston a bit scary crime-wise, which is saying something...

Keep in mind that those statistics that mention the crime rating are per capita. Also, it's pretty much focused on North Charleston. Now, NYC may feel safer to most, since it was "Disneyified" in areas like Times Square, and since many feel safer in crowds - but Charleston IMO is nothing like NYC in the pre-Giuliani days.

As for what you're looking for - I'll admit, I wish there was more of that sort of scene here too. Lots of tourism, lots of gorgeous homes, but not so much in between (from what I've seen). We've been saving up to buy for a while - planning on kids, and from what we've seen of the schools here, we are suburban bound as a result - so we don't get to hang out in downtown very much. Honestly, I hope that it might happen eventually. Who knows, maybe when the "uptown" gets revitilized, a comfortable niche for you will develop. However, I've found that as a 30 year old woman, all I find myself doing downtown is going out to dinner, and strolling the streets and battery. If there are other things to do (other than tourist-based things), I'd love to find out about them.

[automated]

That's funny, you sound pretty conceited to me. Face it, Charleston will never live up to "your" expectations. I sincerely believe that life is what you make of it, and hence your negative attitude more than likely follows you around wherever you go. How do you expect to even live in this small city with such a negative cloud over your head?

My expectations come from what people told me about the city. I'm not sure why you're ignoring all the nice things I said about the place. Being a great place to raise a family, having great food and relatively inexpensive suburban homes close to the beach, these are all good. But the glass is not as full as the locals make it out to be. There's a lot of life downtown on weeknights, but it's all tourists. So it makes an honest assessment tough. And I'm not afraid to try to build a scene; before coming down I thought I could live downtown and still have enough money left over to fund some adventures, through a good party at a bar for the local weirdos. But the downtown is too overpriced to allow those people to hang around past college, like they do in many other cities, especially those with colleges within the urban area. So I apologize for thinking that maybe Charleston could provide this for me and expressing disappoint upon realizing it couldn't...

[CharlestonHelp]

Originally Posted by automated

But the glass is not as full as the locals make it out to be.

Subject to your opinion, correct?

Originally Posted by automated

There's a lot of life downtown on weeknights, but it's all tourists.

I respectfully disagree. Sure, if you're going to the market or on East Bay St, Meeting St (the tourist area) it is. That's why I asked how long you've been in Charleston. It's easy to find places that are not tourist spots after you know where to go.

Sorry about ignoring all the nice things you said. I just assume it might be a culture shock from living in NYC (or Austin?) and moving here. You know, no public transportation, no world culture, smaller town (means clicks (sp.)). Hang out downtown and you'll find some really cool people from NY, Miami, CA, etc. This is what Charleston is, love it or leave it.

[Kman0010]

I now see your point about the student areas of Charleston in general. I think the College has tried its best to solve the student housing problem, but I think it has become obvious that the College really has nowhere else to grow. This can be evidenced by the fact we are building wherever our surface parking lots used to be.
Having lived downtown for the past three years, I admit I have seen some rather less than spectacular apartments but downtown but there are a few gems few and far in between. A lot of the area north of Calhoun, including upper King St. has really grown in the past few years. For example, in the last year or two new restaurants have been popping up throughout this area like Fuel, Shine, and Lucca. I never thought I would see the day when there was a restaurant on Bogard street. I do agree however that there is not much more to do downtown than eat, drink, and walk around.
Hopefully one day you may find what your looking for here but one thing you must realize about Charleston that change in any way is very slow.
I currently am a student at CofC and after living here for quite some time I have grown to really enjoy the city. It is quite different from any other city.

[OleTomCat]

I do know the market, my wife is a school teacher.

Houston is a great area for what you are looking for and they have alot of teaching positions....

If you are not happy here keep looking, when you find something else go for it.....

[drshang]

automated,

My assumption is, eventually, you'll find your niche in Charleston. I don't know what it's like to live there (heck I live in Los Angeles which is a couple worlds away in distance and culture to Charleston, but I've been to Charleston many times and have some family that lives there and spends time there so I fly there one to two times a year). People tell you it's a great place to live because tons of people in the NE want to move there, but have trouble findings jobs since there really is very little corporate presence there relative to the size of the city, and what presence is there produces low wages relative to the cost of living.

There are certainly parts of Charleston on the peninsula that can be and should be gentrified to include a bit of an edgier, more urban type of culture that the city needs in order to keep recent graduates and attract younger people to what industry and corporate presence the city does have. For as upscale as certain parts of DT Charleston is, there is a lot of it that is still cruddy and can be and should be, and my guess is will be, improved in the next decade or so as demand to live near downtown increases.

It's a growing metro, and will at some point make the transition from "tourist village" to "metropolitan area" whether locals or long time residents like it or not. This, of course, comes with positives and negatives.

[automated]

Houston is a great area for what you are looking for and they have alot of teaching positions....
TomCat-
I teach college, it is a whole different market. New job postings were down 40% of compared to last year. It is really unprecedented. Students are afraid to accrue huge amounts of debt in an uncertain job market, and those who do want to go are having difficulty getting loans. If I could work anywhere, I'd stay in NYC and not move south. No offense to anyone of course, I just like where I've been living.

CHelp:
It's easy to find places that are not tourist spots after you know where to go.

Tell me where, I'll check it out. We've been here a week. In most cities, nightlife runs Thurs-Sat. I'm looking for anything alternative. My girlfriend wants to dance, and not to top-40 music or country. Music-wise, I like what I like and hope I can find it here. In this respect we're both very close-minded. A lot of what we've seen is just very typical pop/radio music. There seem to be a lot of good, non-Starbucks coffee shops around, which is a huge positive and will let us meet people.

I've got a tenure-track job, which means we're looking to stay for a while. This is an interesting job for a school and department that is on the rise, one that allows me the freedom to teach what I want and really build some interesting courses.

And to give a quick update on my search: We almost bit on a large 1BR on Broad St way above our range, but the owner would not allow a couple to move in. The place was beautiful, close to campus and safe, a rare combo. I saw another apt on Spring that had an awesome tower with a 360 degree view, within our range, but the apt felt very vulnerable and the neighborhood didn't seem safe. To give some people credit: We had a wonderful experience with an agent we were hooked up with through this board; despite her best efforts we couldn't get anything to materialize downtown. We also dealt with some great people out on JI. The brokers that handle downtown and the college area seemed really snobby and disrespectful, which was disappointing given that many people told us we are ideal tenants. We did meet some property owners in the Spring St area by MUSC who were great, just had stuff that was priced higher than we could afford, and again, the neighborhood was a bit sketchy. JI is close enough that I can take the bus downtown to work if I don't feel like driving (once it cools off), and it's cheap (or free?) to CofC staff.

Unfortunately the bugs down here love me- I counted 18 bug bites, my partner has been bit myabe twice...

Drshang-
People tell you it's a great place to live because tons of people in the NE want to move there, but have trouble findings jobs since there really is very little corporate presence there relative to the size of the city, and what presence is there produces low wages relative to the cost of living.

One broker (originally from NJ) pretty much told us the same thing- not to expect the COL to change that much from NYC, other than rent, car insurance, and other more periphreal expenses. The restaurants are actually comparably priced in the mid-range (NYC has some really cheap and good food, so we never pay $50 for an entree).

[OleTomCat]

Ok, that is a little different, what is your specialty?

Are you a PHD?

$50.00 for an entire meal for two is about average around here...

[SFWoman]

Quote "My girlfriend wants to dance, and not to top-40 music or country." Well, there's a huge salsa community - google salsa Charleston and the sites will come up with lessons/parties, etc. There's also Argentine Tango - a free class at MUSC on Tueday nights (again, google argentine tango charleston and you will get the details. If you look, you will find it....I did!