Quote:
Originally Posted by greensousth
hi - about 30 minutes commute. Ideally we would like an equestrian community but I believe the one in Camden is too far and too expensive.
Are there stables or horse boarding in the area? Maybe a riding club? It would be great to hook up with other riders.
We are not church people. Is there a town that has organizations or meeting places (coffee shop, nice bar) for us to meet others? We are in our 60's and relatively liberal. My husband is in IT and I have a home-based business.
We enjoy dining out and going to hear music. I like hiking in nature preserves or parks.
Am I in for a big culture shock moving from Metro Atlanta to SC? My husband is also being considered for a job in Charlotte.
I know my request is kinda vague - I'm not looking for info on subdivisions etc, just info on general areas or towns.
thanks in advance.
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Hi,
My father used to work out at that plant in Hartsville. It will be different than Atlanta for sure. But if you consider you will only meet a small number of people even in Atlanta and you can meet just as many in Hartsville or Florence, it isn't that big of a difference. You will also have a better opportunity to see the same people out and about in these two towns at the mall or restaurants than you do generally in a big place like Atlanta.
A friend of my father's used to commute to Camden from the plant. Camden is more of a horse town than Hartsville and Florence but I think that you can find equestrian communiies in all of these towns.
I'd probably recommend living in Hartsville north of the lake, or commuting to Florence, which is 45 minutes or so. There are a lot more places to eat in Florence than Hartsville but Hartsville probably has enough for many people to get thru the work week and it is one of the nicer small towns in SC with the lake and little COker college giving it a vibe of sorts. SOme really affluent people live north of the lake in Hartsville and I think that school is pretty solid.
We lived in Florence on the west side of town, not that far from Darlington, in the Whitehall neighborhood. There is also one a little closer called Kelly Farms and probably some older and newer ones around there that I don't know the name of. I think there is a fairly new one, 10 years old or so, called Old South Planation near Kelly Farms but with a Timmonsville address and I think it is an equestrian oriented neighborhood.
Florence has a decent size mall for a town of its size and many of the chain restaurants and stores, as well as some decent local restaurants like Percy and Willies. People in Florence tend to hang out at Apple Annies and Redbone Alley in the 5 points area and there are other clubs/ hot spots in town that I am not aware of. I think Apple Annie's has live music and there is a bar next to it that has some pretty big regional bands come thru time to time. You are also only 1 hour from Myrtle Beach and people go to MB all the time. Florence is kind of west Mrytle Beach in a lot of ways, but a lot more affordable for housing and light traffic.
Hiking in town, you could go to Jeffries Creek Park near the Florence COuntry Club which is a wide creek and it is pretty nice out there. They also have a trail through town where an old railroad track has been that people now walk on called the Florence Rail Trail. You also have Lee State Park over in the Bishopville area closer to Hartsville that has some good hiking trails and camping opportunies. Lake Marion down in Santee is about 45 minutes straight down interstate 95 for boating and fishing. There is also a Sandhills Nature Perserve Park up north of the Robinson Plant.
Florence has a nice city park called Timrod park and it is the most active park for tennis in the state from what I have seen since I left and lived in other cities in SC. Tennis is one of the best ways you can meet people in Florence, outside of church. They have tennis lesson at Timrod Park and you can also take them at Florence Country Club, which would be a good club to join to meet some people as well, or one of the other clubs like The Traces or Oakdale. There is also a brand new private tennis center on the west side of town with numerous clay courts.
Florence has very good fitness clubs, including a YMCA, one affialited with the hospital called McLoud fitness center, and another one called Fitness Forum in the downtown area. You can lift weights, play basketball, racquetball, indoor pool, aerobics, and probably other stuff. This would be one of the better ways to meet people too. The hospital one and the YMCA also have a nice walking track outside.
I think there is a Florence Newcomer's Club, if you google for it you should find a website for it. I don't know much about it b/c I imagine they have some meetups for new people to meet some long time residents and socialize so it could be fun.
Church isn't a bad thing to try to even if you aren't religious because a lot of people go just for the social aspects of it.
Let me know if you need any more info. Florence is a pretty nice town and I appreciate it more as I get older. It doesn't have a great downtown area but looks like they are trying to revamp that now and they have some downtown weekend parties there now with some live music, I think.
Another subdivision you could look at is Vintage Place on Hoffmeyer road in Florence. I would probably buy in there if I worked at that plant, which I interviewed with back in 2003.
This old thread
Florence in pictures has some pictures of Florence if you want you want to get a taste of what it looks like.
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