VT vs SC (Columbia, Sumter, Marion: power lines, crime, house)

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

It does get hot in Columbia, but if you factor in the heat and the humidity I think Charleston and Savannah are more inhospitable during the summer. The most miserable place I've ever visited during the summer is Houston.

I've lived in the Lowcountry and Columbia definately has hotter summers. The coastal breeze keeps it a bit more tolderable in Savannah and Charleston. Greenville/ Anderson have rough summers too.

[deibu]

I have to worn you on the cockroaches. My ex, whose parents moved here from rural Pennsylvania, asked about them as well. Yes, they are very definitely here. And they are big. We have Palmetto bugs. They can be 2-3 inches long. And, they can fly! An exterminator can rid them from your home (mostly), but they are all over the place outdoors in the summertime. Not trying to scare you though. They are harmless, and you will get used to them very quickly.

[Akhenaton06]

The humidity in DC during the summer can be downright brutal.

[justNancy]

I don't come to these boards to argue, but there's always someone who wants to anyway. Anonymous, I never said there weren't any alligators in SC, just that most of them are in FL and attacks are rare.

Originally Posted by anonymous

I don't know of anywhere on the east coast that gets hotter than Columbia in the summertime. I know Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jax, etc. don't get as hot as Cola in June, July, and August.

Who said I've only lived on the east coast? I didn't write that! I could have been talking about another country too. I've traveled a lot and stayed in many places. All I was saying is that snakes are nothing to be concerned about in SC. People from the north often freak out even when they see a lizzard. Maybe Geico has changed some of that attitude! LOL

The more I hear about the painfully hot summers, the more I wonder if I'll be happy in Columbia. I was in Orlando in August once and I couldn't handle being outside. I've been in 113 degree weather, but not in FL. Think the hottest place I've been to is Phoenix, but once I spent a week in Vegas in July and it was brutal. I really don't know what the temperature was, but I spent a week in Costa Rica in 2001 and, although San Jose was much cooler, I never sweated so much as the day I hiked through Manuel Antonio state park. The humidity was 100%.

Anyway, if I were moving from Vermont (where I've been hundreds of times) to South Carolina, I would look carefully at all the photos I've seen on this board. Has VT changed a lot or do they still prohibit billboards? I admit it's been a long time, but before I moved to FL from NH in 1994, I had never seen a WalMart. Before an accident, I used to ski a lot and drove many weekend to Vermont or Maine or to the White Mountains in NH. I spent vacation weeks at Killington or Sugarbush and I've been to Bromley, Stranton, Mt Snow, Jay Peak and a few more. Vermont was always a place that discouraged superstores and shopping malls. Maybe I'm stuck in time, but that's what I remember about it. I remember all the protests against the large companies that were trying to ruin their economy and changing the environment. When I was in Stowe they finally gave into McDonald's but no signs or golden arches were allowed. Maybe I saw another side to VT, but I also remember it as being a very progressive, liberal state. Another thing is that Vermont is mainly rural and it's largest city (Burlington) has less than 39,000 people. It's also over 90% White. None of these things makes VT or SC any better or worse than the other, but IMHO I don't think alligators or snakes will have much to do with the "culture shock" people are mentioning.

[transplantct]

I did have a rat snake in my driveway once, but I think that was a rare occurance. Rat snakes are not poisonous.

It's funny. People coming to SC have to get used to Palmetto bugs and lizards, but I was talking to my husband's cousin yesterday. She lives in Arizona and familiar sitings there are tarantulas and rattlesnakes. Yikes! I much prefer the "critters" we have here.

justNancy, are you in FL? If you are, I don't know that the humidity/heat here would be any different from the one in FL, but I could be wrong.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by transplantct

I did have a rat snake in my driveway once, but I think that was a rare occurance. Rat snakes are not poisonous.

It's funny. People coming to SC have to get used to Palmetto bugs and lizards, but I was talking to my husband's cousin yesterday. She lives in Arizona and familiar sitings there are tarantulas and rattlesnakes. Yikes! I much prefer the "critters" we have here.

justNancy, are you in FL? If you are, I don't know that the humidity/heat here would be any different from the one in FL, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for asking. I wasn't going to write again on this thread, since I sort of overstated my case in my last post. When I type fast I also make errors which later bother me. I must say that the internet has definitely humbled me regarding spelling and grammar. In the past, I would see "it's" instead of "its" or "your" instead of "you're" or worse - "no" instead of "know." Now I'll return to a thread on a board and see my own goofs! I realize that people online don't have the time to check & recheck every post, but I was taught never to begin a sentence with "but" and I now I do that too all the time. (which I've spelled to in error. Yikes!)

Okay - don't shoot for going off topic. To answer your question, I live in Southwest Florida just north of Naples. I live very close to the Gulf of Mexico, so I wonder if that is why it seems cooler than when I drive a little further inland. Even when I worked in a store in Fort Myers 25 miles north of my home, when I got out of my car I could feel the difference.

I haven't had a lot of trouble with bugs in this home, but the home I rented on Sanibel was infested. I think sometimes it depends on the location and the surrounding vegetation and, of course, how well the homeowner maintains the pest control. I'm not bothered by anything on the outside. There was another thread on this subject where members posted about bugs & snakes. Maybe it's on another forum (Greenville perhaps)

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I don't come to these boards to argue, but there's always someone who wants to anyway. Anonymous, I never said there weren't any alligators in SC, just that most of them are in FL and attacks are rare.



Who said I've only lived on the east coast? I didn't write that! I could have been talking about another country too. I've traveled a lot and stayed in many places. All I was saying is that snakes are nothing to be concerned about in SC. People from the north often freak out even when they see a lizzard. Maybe Geico has changed some of that attitude! LOL

The more I hear about the painfully hot summers, the more I wonder if I'll be happy in Columbia. I was in Orlando in August once and I couldn't handle being outside. I've been in 113 degree weather, but not in FL. Think the hottest place I've been to is Phoenix, but once I spent a week in Vegas in July and it was brutal. I really don't know what the temperature was, but I spent a week in Costa Rica in 2001 and, although San Jose was much cooler, I never sweated so much as the day I hiked through Manuel Antonio state park. The humidity was 100%.

Anyway, if I were moving from Vermont (where I've been hundreds of times) to South Carolina, I would look carefully at all the photos I've seen on this board. Has VT changed a lot or do they still prohibit billboards? I admit it's been a long time, but before I moved to FL from NH in 1994, I had never seen a WalMart. Before an accident, I used to ski a lot and drove many weekend to Vermont or Maine or to the White Mountains in NH. I spent vacation weeks at Killington or Sugarbush and I've been to Bromley, Stranton, Mt Snow, Jay Peak and a few more. Vermont was always a place that discouraged superstores and shopping malls. Maybe I'm stuck in time, but that's what I remember about it. I remember all the protests against the large companies that were trying to ruin their economy and changing the environment. When I was in Stowe they finally gave into McDonald's but no signs or golden arches were allowed. Maybe I saw another side to VT, but I also remember it as being a very progressive, liberal state. Another thing is that Vermont is mainly rural and it's largest city (Burlington) has less than 39,000 people. It's also over 90% White. None of these things makes VT or SC any better or worse than the other, but IMHO I don't think alligators or snakes will have much to do with the "culture shock" people are mentioning.

The heat isn't that unbearable once you get used to it. I can't stand the heat, so it isn't brutal enough to make me move somewhere else.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I don't come to these boards to argue, but there's always someone who wants to anyway. Anonymous, I never said there weren't any alligators in SC, just that most of them are in FL and attacks are rare.

I agree.
You never said there weren't alligators in South Carolina. I never claimed you did. This was never an issue of contention.

Who said I've only lived on the east coast?

Not me. I made no claims about where you have lived. I simply stated that I'm not aware of anywhere on the east coast that's hotter than Columbia in the summer.

All I was saying is that snakes are nothing to be concerned about in SC.

I can't agree with such a broad generalization. I think that would depend on how developed your area is, and the local climate. Someone who moves to the Pee Dee Swamp should have some concern for snakes.

[justNancy]

Okay, anonymous. That's fine. As I said, I'm not here to argue and I don't live in Columbia yet. However, I wouldn't come to this board if I didn't have a serious interest in living in SC so I'm doing my homework. I agree that if someone interested in moving to FL were to ask me "are alligators a threat?" I would mention that it's not safe to walk around the Everglades at night or the Bayou on Sanibel Island. Actually, I wouldn't advise swimming in most ponds or canals either. However, regarding SC I need to go by statistics and everything I'd ever read says there are no reports of violent attacks by alligators in SC and serious injury from a snake bite is very rare. I've seen Black Racers, and even had one on my porch (think that's what it was) but it was so scared that it I just had to open the screen door and it crawled outside. Most animals only attack when they feel threatened or are protecting their young, unless you are a food source. Man is the #1 predator on the Earth. When housing hunting, I'm more concerned about the number of burglaries, assaults, rapes and murders by humans in the area than snake bites or alligator attacks. If I had children, I would want to know a lot about local sexual predators. Bugs are a nuisance, but sex offenders should be crushed and exterminated.

Of course, as you wrote, living near a swamp is going to increase the chances of running into creatures, just like living on a canal in FL (or anywhere) increases the chance of having rats.

This is a nice link and if you hold your mouse over the name of the snake, there is a photo on the right side.

Snakes of South Carolina and Georgia, SC and GA

[transplantct]

justNancy, maybe it is cooler there. I guess all of Florida just seems hot to me.

One thing I've been told about Columbia, is that it's in a "bowl" and feels hotter here for that reason. A lot of the heat/humidity settles. It doesn't seem we get many breezes either. Also, it may not be the best place for allergy sufferers.

I had a colleague in CT that went to Clemson and said that whenever she came to Columbia it always felt hotter, but I think the upstate is cooler in general.