Lexington Irmo vs. NE Columbia for a relocating family

[settlepa]

We live in Lexington. Part of the reason there is so much traffic is Lexington One schools are so good, plus my wife is 4 min. from work so I guess the traffic is worth it. Any good area will have traffic.

[April K]

Another vote for Elgin! We moved to Elgin almost 3 years ago and LOVE it. Very safe, nice, good schools for the state, and conveintent to most anything. Nice neighborhoods, big yards, and there are still trees.

We have lived in Columbia, Irmo, and NE. Irmo is nice but a good bit of traffic. NE we could not wait to move out of. We were in NE for 5 years----there is a problem with traffic, crime, and Gangs---yes, even in the nice neighbothoods.

[pminct]

Living in Elgin, what is the big city you would work in? How long of a commute is it?

Thanks.

Patty in CT

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by pminct

Living in Elgin, what is the big city you would work in? How long of a commute is it?

Thanks.

Patty in CT

You would probably work in Columbia. I have an employee that works in Elgin and she has about a 35 minute commute to downtown Columbia.

[poeticjustice]

I would not recommend the Forest Acres area if schools are a big factor. Richland One school district has gone through three superintendents in five years and it shows. The schools are in great need of help! NE (Richland Two) have great schools as well as Lexington school district. Lugoff schools are pretty good. Camden schools are not so good. Camden is a historical town, very quite, not much to do for kids or adults. Very boring!! Camden, Lugoff, and Elgin are very safe towns. The crime rate in Columbia has really grown over the past few years.

[waccamatt]

There are good schools in Richland District One and there are also some not-so-good schools. Dreher High School and its feeder schools are some of the best in Richland One and AC Flora is good, too. I haven't seen this high crime rate that is mentioned and I live in the inner city.

[blocknlot]

The Irmo, Chapin, Lexington area offers a lot of activities for the family. High rated Schools, Fantastic Lake Murray Access with 600 miles of coastline, Saluda River Access, Many State and National Forests and on top of everything else if you chose the Irmo/Chapin side of the lake you have easy access to Lake Murrays two largest marinas and if you chose you can live about 10 minutes or more from the Columbiana Mall and shopping area yet still live in the country.
Add to this, depending on exactly where, you can live as little as 22 Minutes to the Columiba Airport and about the same to the City of Columbia.