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I am in the process of trying to decide between two promotions, one to Columbia SC and the other to Baltimore, MD. I currently live in Northern Virginia/DC metro area, and aside from the traffic and insanely high cost of living absolutely love it.
Columbia has several things going for it, the first is that I can finally afford to get a nice house that will fit my family, and allow my kids(age 4 and 6) to play out front and ride their bikes through an actual neighborhood. Our housing budget in SC would be approximately 180k, which from my research lands a very nice home. The second is, we would have family a short drive away in NC. Lastly, I have wanted to get to the Carolina's since I graduated from college in Florida in 07, so this would finally accomplish that!
That being said, I do have several concerns. The first is the crime rate, although i'm told that most of that is from domestic violence, so as long as I don't start to beat my wife that should not be a problem. Second, I see that it is a prominently white community. While that is fine and well, one of the things we have enjoyed up here is that our kids have been able to make friends and be around all different races of educated, intelligent people, and that skin color has absolutely no bearing to them(as it should be). I guess what I'm asking is if racism is still heavily prominent in South Carolina? If so, are there pockets where this is not the case? At any rate, it can't be any worse than it was in Florida, can it?
Thanks for your help, I will ask more questions as I think of them.
"Best to raise a family?" That question is too subjective to answer.
There is racism in South Carolina, as there are national news-making racial issues in Baltimore. On the whole, South Carolina has moved into the 21st century when it comes to race, particularly if you're living in a metropolitan area.
The DC area is very diverse, one of the most diverse areas of the country. Nowhere here is as diverse, but you may end up being surprised at the diversity here.
SCx, that is an excellent point especially regarding baltimore. Thanks for the response!
I guess as far as best area to raise a family, we want a neighborhood with kids playing out front for our kids to play with, where it is not uncommon to have to knock on your neighbors door to locate your kids and have them knock on yours for the same, and a neighborhood where things like trick or treating on Halloween become a neighborhood block party that is safe and fun for kids of all ages(including me!).
The townhouse community we are at is like that, and it has been very enjoyable. The downside is of course the lack of a place to ride a bike, and you live literally on top of your neneighbors. The 400k entry price isn't helpful, either. I'd like to find the same level of a neighborhood community without the downfall of no space.
Around 75% is what I've read. This is not a huge deal for us I just want to be around other people who also think in the 21st century
Edit: I may have taken this conversation unintentionally down a rabbit hole with that statement. I just want to make sure that Columbia has evolved past some other areas of the "Deep South" that we have visited.
Last edited by Fromcolumbiatocolumbia; 01-10-2016 at 12:35 PM..
Around 75% is what I've read. This is not a huge deal for us I just want to be around other people who also think in the 21st century
Edit: I may have taken this conversation unintentionally down a rabbit hole with that statement. I just want to make sure that Columbia has evolved past some other areas of the "Deep South" that we have visited.
Richland County is very diverse; you won't have any problems here. The divide in the South is mostly urban versus rural.
Its actually about 51% white. It is racially diverse, trust me. The old school small towns on the outskirts of the bigger cities are pretty much either mostly white or mostly black....You won't really have to worry about that in Columbia.
We lived in Northern Virginia before we lived in Columbia. In the grocery store there, I could hear people speaking 5 different languages in a 45 minute trip. I think that there are only a handful of places in the U.S. that are as diverse as Northern Virginia. We lived in NE Columbia and as others have said, Richland county tends to be the more diverse of the two counties that make up Columbia.
I would challenge you to explore Columbia to see if it will have the kind of activities that your family enjoys. We found that despite being the state capital, Columbia was a small town and didn't have enough for us long-term. We did many day trips around the state and spent time in Charlotte, too. For example, not that I spend a lot of time shopping, but there is basically one in Columbia - Columbiana in Irmo. For Christmas shopping, we would head to South Park Mall in Charlotte. The weather in SC was great and I miss our neighbors, but I know in my heart that we would have outgrown Columbia soon. Good luck with your decision!
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