Charleston neighborhoods (North Charleston, Summerville, North: property, offer, recreation)

[Darcysells4u]

I agree you really would find Mount Pleasant a better fit. I also do not think Folly Beach was the place for you. Isle Of Palms is much more family oriented.

I hope you give Charleston a second look. Hamlin is a lovely area. We have sold many homes in The Sound" area. You sound like the perfect neighbors. I live in Park West and love it here. Please give a second chance.

I think your Realtor needed to give you some better advice. :>)

[S2000]

So it is safe to say it is nicer north of Charleston rather than South toward Hilton Head?

[S2000]

Hmm reading up on MT Pleasant. Check this community - Brickyard Plantation is an award-winning community in the heart of Mt. Pleasant. The neighborhood has it all for year-round enjoyment: Boat ramp onto Horlbeck Creek, boat storage area, Olympic size swimming pool, and two smaller pools, play park, soccer field, and basketball court, 5 lighted tennis courts, club house, and an active social committee.

[SCBeaches]

When you go back to visit, drive through Mt. Pleasant during work traffic hours and you will see why many locals refer to it as Mt. Congested. I have not crossed the new bridge over to that side in 2 years. Also, look closely at those "seemingly perfect" town square communities which are meant to simulate the utopian small town feel of the Cleaver era. Believe me, it's not there any more than it's anywhere else.

As for Johns Island having the closest access to Folly Beach...most of us actually go out to Beachwalker County Park on Kiawah Island, which is wide, clean, and a great place to hunt for shells.
In defense of Folly Beach, however, your experience at the Holiday Inn on Folly Beach was not indicative of the true spirit of Folly. Parts of it are more "artsy/hippy", parts (the Washout) cater to the young surfing crowd, and parts attract more families (the County Park).

We are all looking for something different and I moved from a gated community out to Johns Island on several acres of land for the peace and quiet. Traffic is still at a minimum, people are friendly, roots are deep, and there is no phoniness or pretentiousness here. I love it!

[mLeeTaylor]

It sounds like you will want to be close to the small airport that is in the North Mt Pleasant area. You will want to check out the private schools in that area of course. There are some very nice subdivisions along highway 17 north. You will find the price range you are in. I am a Realtor and I occasionally work that area. Quite frankly, I would personally look slowly at the homes in the "Old Mt Pleasant" area. You will know you have found the area when you locate "The Old Village Post House Restaurant". This is probably the most romantic area around and the best place to safe harbor your money.

PS: I have a three page 150 year old phone book of the area if you think it will be of any help.

[timbrennan]

You folks have been great. The advice on where to go near Folly Beach is helpful. I KNOW there is no way our time there could be indicative of all of Folly Beach. Darcy, I did not mean our realtor for the trip gave us bad advice. We only had one half day to go around with her (and know she had friends in town, Memorial day weekend crunch, etc) and a few phone conversations for her to get to know us. She showed us examples of the area she lives and works and they helped us to discover the area is not exactly for us. Eliminating wrong locations is valuable.

I will take the advice of checking out the traffic. But I'm going to bet it can not be more than we are used to up here when half the year it is slow because of weather and the other half because of fixing the roads from all the weather effects.

One thing that is difficult to uncover is where are the great schools? I'd live in a hut and give the kids a great school experience over living in a castle and hoping for the best. I know our current school is ridiculous. In Kindergarten our after school program offers Mandarin Chinese, violin, jewelry making, soccer or a choice of about a dozen other options. The high school boasts 99% of the student graduate and go to college - a high percentage to Ivy league type schools. Sports are strong though the class size is only about 90 kids a grade. Traditions are a high priority and students are required to develop public speaking skills at an early age with student speaches to the entire school as part of the 8th grade cirriculum. It is part of a network of 4 similar independent schools in the area.

Is there any similar school in the Mt. Pleasant area? I know if I were moving to Cleveland, I would be hard pressed to find our school, Hawken, by searching the internet. Since my online searches are falling flat, I thought I'd ask everyone here.

We like the area, but it will come down to schools as the deciding factor, so any tips would be helpful.

[gimme it]

I've done some research on the area, and the best private schools seem to be Porter Gaud and Ashley Hall( all girls). Porter Gaud may the school that meets your family's needs.

[lorismith]

Originally Posted by mLeeTaylor

It sounds like you will want to be close to the small airport that is in the North Mt Pleasant area. You will want to check out the private schools in that area of course. There are some very nice subdivisions along highway 17 north. You will find the price range you are in.

I live in Charleston National subdivision which is right across from the Mt. Pleasant airport. We have friends with private planes that use this airport! BTW, Charleston National has a gated community on the water named Victory Point.

FYI, they are building a huge hospital next to the airport within the next 4 years.

I may be selling my home within the next month! My husband may be relocated.

Bishop England is a catholic high school which is excellent. My children attend Christ Our King school, which is k-8. This school is also excellent.

The school for my area is a primary school for grades k-2 called Laurel Hill Primary; the elem. school is Pinckney School for grades 3-5 then Cario is the middle school.

Hope this helps!
Lori

[piper444]

I live in Charleston National, which is right across the street from Mt. Pleasant Regional Airport where I have a plane and do some instruction. It has a 3700' runway and a GPS and VOR-A approach.

Charleston National is a beautiful subdivision and the homes are all quality-builds, most of the homes being built from the mid-1990s and later. It has a pool, tennis courts, and is a golf course community. There's also Ravens Run, a gated community with pools, racquetball courts, their own island for cookouts and camping, lots of water for fishing and other water sports, and has a private grass strip. The homes are beautiful and usually run near a million. Let me know if you are interested and I'll send you some MLS links to some representative properties from there and a few other places.

[Charleston native]

OK, all of you have continuously promoted Mt. Pleasant, but may I suggest that you also look into properties in West Ashley. Mt. P is nice, but the west of the Ashley is within the Charleston city limits and is very family friendly. Granted the closest beach is Folly, but if you drive through Johns Island, you can reach a county beach, open to the public, on Kiawah Island. It's kind of a local secret.

I grew up West Ashley, and there are some older places and newer places to live.