Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm 30, don't have kids. Live with mu GF. I moved here a year ago. Places like lex/irmo/NE are way more suburbia then what we were used to and way to far away. Traffic isn't really an issue, but driving 30-40 minutes to town was way more time in the car then was wanted. If that's what you are looking for, I can't see going wrong in any of those places. If I were to do it all over again, I'd likely choose FA as it seems the general trend is to move out to the suburbs at a earlier age here or at least that's where most of our friends of similar age live....
I've lived in both areas and here's my take, from a transplants perspective:
NE is more racially mixed but economically level middle class community, and there are some very decent neighborhoods in the area. The Summit is a big development there but kind of a mixed bag. Within a few miles of the Sandhill shopping center, though, (which is pretty nice, BTW) you'll find lots of newer, affordable neighborhoods. You've also got a good size population of military living in this area due to it's proximity to Fort Jackson. For the most part it feels friendly and welcoming, but there's kind of an underbelly to it that you need to be aware of. It is more transient with lots of newcomers to the area and a little rough around the edges.
Forest Acres, where I worked for a year, is kind of a pocket in the city of Columbia but it's a nice pocket. It's more established, more "Columbia" and for that reason might be tougher for an outsider, IMO. Natives in Cola will be friendly and polite but if you don't have roots here sometimes it can be hard to break into some social circles. FA has some decent amenities around the intersection of Trenholm Rd. and Forest Dr. but that's about it. And you don't have to drive too far in any direction to get into some dodgy areas.
Lexington is a mix of new and old South Carolina. It's grown very fast over the last ten years and it's worked hard to catch up. The 378 corridor is getting busier each year adding more and more development. Although Lex is kind of spread out, it does have more of a community vibe because it's separated geographically from the rest of the metro area. It's also racially mixed but you'd never know it because it has such a segregated feel. Most of the nicer neighborhoods are almost exclusively white, but that's not to say that I've witnessed any racial animosity since I've been here - I haven't. Strangely, though, I tried out several churches after moving here and in nearly every case I saw only white folks. The only exception to that was Harvest Church on Sunset, which is a really nice non-denominational Christian church. The racial mix tends to cut along economic lines here too with good neighborhoods vs. bad neighborhoods and crime rates change accordingly. The safe areas are usually very safe although Lexington overall is pretty low on crime. Lexington is very family friendly and the schools are very good in Lexington 1. The Governor's kids still go to school here, so that should say something.
I just signed a lease after an exhaustive search of the Columbia area. Forest Acres was on our list, but quickly fell off after we checked the electric bill on each property we went to. Utilities were easily double in all of the properties we looked at in Forest Acres when compared to newer developments in Irmo and Lexington. Make sure you check this if you don't want to pay $400 a month. The houses are older and not energy efficient which can blow your budget if you aren't careful. Just call the electric company (mid carolina or SCE&G and ask for a quote on the property you are looking at.
I just signed a lease after an exhaustive search of the Columbia area. Forest Acres was on our list, but quickly fell off after we checked the electric bill on each property we went to. Utilities were easily double in all of the properties we looked at in Forest Acres when compared to newer developments in Irmo and Lexington. Make sure you check this if you don't want to pay $400 a month. The houses are older and not energy efficient which can blow your budget if you aren't careful. Just call the electric company (mid carolina or SCE&G and ask for a quote on the property you are looking at.
Good point. If you're referring to house rentals this is definitely something to consider. After my buddy (he's in the Army there) went through several houses in FA and NE, he settled on NE off of N. Brickyard. The older homes in FA were of 50's and 60's construction, mostly, and while nice had little in the way of updates, to include windows and insulation.
I ended up in Irmo. Lexington was high on the list, but I wanted to be in the Oak Grove area and rentals were non-existent.
To me a high utility bill for a house that is under 1400 square feet is over $300-$400. And that is the amount I was being quoted in Forest Acres. Maybe they had a meth lab in there, who knows. I'm quite happy with my $150 bill.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Lexington vs Northeast Cola
