moving to summerville,SC (Charleston, North Charleston: hair salon, apartment, rentals)

[OLDBEAN]

Hello everybody, This is my very first attempt at this, so please bear with me.
My husband and I are new retirees, living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Two major items are requiring us to move from this area, Hurricanes and the overcrowding of everything. We have had recommended to us Summerville, SC, from my reading of the web sites, Summerville appears very nice.
I have a couple of questions in this early stage, Does SC have a State Income Tax, and next, has anyone had good experiences with a moving company. We are not intending to buy a property, we would be long term renters, possibly near a golf course???
Nice meeting with you all.

[salatheel]

Yes there is an income tax. 7% I believe. Summerville is nice but growing very fast. Good luck!

[scjj]

Coming from Ft. Lauderdale to Summerville might pose somewhat of a culture shock. Please do not make the decision to move to Summerville based solely upon looking at a website. Summerville IS growing, but it is still very much a "country" type town especially when you get closer to the rural areas, poverty is evident. We came here 3 years ago and finding a new home in the 300+ range was a bit of a challenge, they just didn't have that many. We are finally starting to get a better selection of housing in the area and more is coming, but everything here moves extremely slow. The main shopping center in town is not even complete and it was started over 3 years ago!

We have our traffic problems in certain areas, mostly where Summerville and North Charleston come together. Most of the people here work out of the county and commute into North Charleston. Of course, compared to Ft. Lauderdale, it will probably seem like a cakewalk to you. There are plans for thousands of new homes to be built here in the coming years, and I mean thousands in the double digits. If you ask the locals though, they will tell you that is has been overcrowded here for the last 20 years!

With that being said, Summerville is still a decent place to live with a very quaint downtown, which is unique in this day and age, with appealing little local restaurants. We even have an original corner pharmacy with a working soda fountain and a local old time barber shop. We have several golf courses, so hopefully your quest to live on one of them shouldn't be too much of a problem. We have an annual Flowertown Festival in April that lasts 3 days and attacts more than 250,000 people to the area. It is held on Main Street and there is a variety of food and craft vendors. The location is fantastic, going into downtown Charleston for sightseeing or dinner is only a 30-40 drive. We have several beautiful beaches to choose from in the area and the Tanger Outlets are set to open this week in North Charleston with over 90 new stores. Good luck on your decision!

Here is a link to tax info: http://www.coastalcharlestonrealesta...ropertytax.php

[Team Mom]

SCJJ,

Can you share with me where the new shopping center is going in? I think this was our greatest suprise on our visit a few weeks ago. We found great housing communitities we liked, but little nearby shopping.

Here in our area in No. CA-- neighborhoods are walking distance from some kind of mini strip with a dry cleaners, coffee shop , video store, grocery store (a few we saw there were closed), or hair salon. So we were quite suprised. We drove a long time before finding lunch one day that wasn't KFC or other FF. Probably mostly because we didn't know the great local spots. We never thought of ourselves as really caring about shopping, but it was unexpected to wonder about.

Do most people just drive into N. Charleston for shopping? Are there plans for more?

We are not against driving, it's just different than what we're used to. I'm thinking it might not be a bad thing. Perhaps that's exactly why you all are more laid back and rested than us in the West or North with commercial everything at our doorstep. One of the things we look forward to leaving behind.

Different culture, but I think I like that idea!

[scjj]

The newest shopping center is Azalea Square where the Target and the movie theatre is located. There is another rundown shopping center on a corner off of Berlin G. Myers Parkway that is supposed to be getting revamped. The signs have been there for what seems like forever. I know at least a good 6 months or more. (Like I said, slooooow.) What is going in there I have no idea, but I hope it is something good. You can only get so much from a Target or a Kohl's and it is getting old.

Shopping has been my biggest complaint since moving here, the other is the lack of restaurants. The good local ones are located in the downtown area mostly on Main Street. You might have missed them though, since our downtown is basically only a block long. The others are mostly over by Azalea Square, but there are a few here and there throughout town. Mostly your chains like Applebee's with some sandwich shops thrown in between. The best ones are downtown, you will learn which ones. Rumor has it though that Summerville is going to explode and more is on the way. Keeping my fingers crossed.

As far as walking to places to eat and shop, that is not really practical around here. Most places you are going to need a car. However, there are a couple of neighborhoods coming that are currently in the planning stages that will be mixed use neighborhoods. Meaning, these neighborhoods will be self contained with their own shops and restaurants.

Yes, North Charleston, particularly the Rivers Avenue area is where most people have to go to get to the closest mall and other stores such as Old Navy, Best Buy, etc. There is also The Citadel Mall in West Ashley, which has your typical mall stores. The new Tanger Outlets are opening in North Charleston. They are located out by the airport and the Charleston Coliseum where there is already a new Sam's and a new Walmart. So, as you can see, driving to shopping areas is something that you will find yourself forced to do. That's the price you pay for living in a small (for now) town I guess.

[scjj]

Don't take it so personally. You have your opinion and I have mine. Sorry, but it should not take 3 years to complete a shopping center. In my opinion, that is slow. No need to get so defensive, really.

[Lowcountry Girl]

As you can see, I had already thought about that, and yes, this still being America you have the right to your opinion...I deleted my post. I am sorry that you couldn't let it go...I did...Have a nice evening

[scjj]

Umm, I cannot delete my post, it is too late. It's not a matter of letting it go, it's a matter of timing. Either way, no hard feelings.

[AmznGrace]

Hi there - We just moved to Summerville about two weeks ago and are thrilled to be here. We moved from the VA/Wash, DC area.

To respond to a few of your questions:

1. I believe the state income tax is 5%, however, the state allows for each county to tack on another 1% if they so choose. Both Charleston and Dorchester Counties rate is at 6%. We realized this because in VA it is 5% and now we are having a bit more money taken out each pay period. (I'm considering it a quality of life tax!!) If I'm wrong, please someone point me to current tax information. It is possible that I was looking at an outdated source and I can't find the link now.

2. Shopping -- Yes, you have to drive to shopping, decent restaurants, etc, unless you want to live in downtown Charleston where there's GREAT shopping and WONDERFUL restaurants within walking distance. (Very expensive, too, and no golf courses around). Having said that, though, there is decent shopping within a short driving distance in and around Summerville. Azalea Square is very nice and convenient and pretty much one stop shopping between Kohls, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, et al. The new Tanger Outlet will have a bit more upscale shopping; from Summerville it will be about a 15-20 minute drive down I-26.

3. Restaurants -- While we haven't really scoped-out the nicer restaurants/cafes in the Summerville area as of yet, we have no problem driving the 30 minutes to IOP, Shem's Creek or downtown Charleston to have a great meal. So worth the drive!! We are not the Appleby's, Sticky Fingers kinda family (even our kids enjoy a good meal), so we really don't mind driving.

I would like to, however, know of decent restaurants/cafes in the Summerville area, so if anyone can share their favorites, that would be much appreciated.

4. Golf -- In Summerville there are several golf courses/communities. One such is Legend Oaks and the builders in that community are David Weekly, Beazer, Saucy Burbank and Executive Homes. Of those, the Beazer homes are the lesser expensive ones, but they do build a nice home.

Good luck and I hope this was helpful. Grace

[AmznGrace]

Originally Posted by OLDBEAN

We are not intending to buy a property, we would be long term renters, possibly near a golf course???
Nice meeting with you all.

Woops - I just reread your post and see you are interested in renting. Ok, we are temporarily renting in a new apartment community called The Legends at Charleston in N. Charleston about 15 minutes from two golf courses in Summerville. The Legends is a gated apartment community VERY convenient to shopping, but yes, you have to drive. You can learn about the Legends by going to unitedresidentialproperties dot com.

Or, there are many home rentals as well.