work in Florence, live near Columbia? (Marion: theatre, university, places to live)

[pinkpocketbooks]

Sandhill sounds nice. In Charlotte we have a lot of these mixed use, work/play developments going up. I'm fine with suburbs; I live in a suburb now. But what's nice is that the 'city' is only a hope skip and a jump away. Sophistication and cosmopolitan are good words to describe the type of place we would want to live. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Chi2Midlands

Knowing this new information, if your husband doesn't mind a commute of about an hour or so, I would focus on the Northeast Richland side of Columbia, particularly around I-20/Clemson Road/Two Notch Road, which is anchored commerically by the relatively new Village of Sandhill mixed-used development (it is basically an outdoor mall with condos and eventually offices). You will be in a decidedly suburban environment but will be in one of the most sophisticated and cosmopolitan parts of Columbia's new suburban areas. This side of town is a haven of transplants from all over the country. As waccamatt implied, you should be able to get to downtown in about 30 minutes from there, 45 minutes tops in normal rush-hour traffic. Housing is mostly single-family suburban, but there is a variety of neighborhoods from $150k starter homes to $500k ones on a golf course. However, there are a couple of clusters of condos in the aforementioned Village of Sandhill and near the Wildewood community closer to the Clemson Road/I-20 interchange.

Hope you can find something you like.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Tommy1981

What does Small mean?

Cities in South Carolina have a certain Population based on the number of people that live in the city limits, but because a large portion of the population prefers a more rural house, they live out of the city limits and don't count towards the popluation count, but they definitely count as patrons toward local businesses.

I grew up in Abbeville, which is small by any definition. There are a total of 8 red lights in Abbeville county (as of 2000 or so when I left). But everybody in Abbeville drives to neighboring Greenwood to do almost any kind of shopping or entertainment. Greenwood isn't that much larger on paper, but the businesses there benefit from all of the neighboring towns.

Florence is the largest city in that area of the state. It has a nicer mall, tons of restarants, shopping, etc. There are many neighboring towns where most people drive to Florence to shop, eat out, go to a movie, etc. Also its at the intersection of 2 major intersates, and the malls and shopping is very accessable, so there are alot more people in Florence on any given day than the population shows. There isn't too much that you can do in Columbia that you can't do in Florence.

Have you visited Florence? I wouldn't rule it out until you visit the area.

Florence is small. All of Florence County only has about 130,000 people. Compared to Abbeville, Florence might seem "big", but it is a small city and there is not a lot to do there.

[Tommy1981]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

Florence is small. All of Florence County only has about 130,000 people. Compared to Abbeville, Florence might seem "big", but it is a small city and there is not a lot to do there.

I heard a joke once: What are the 2 largest cities in SC? Charlotte and Atlanta.

SC really doesn't have any "Big" Cities. Florence county at 130,000 is easliy in the top 10 counties in the state in terms of population.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Tommy1981

I heard a joke once: What are the 2 largest cities in SC? Charlotte and Atlanta.

SC really doesn't have any "Big" Cities. Florence county at 130,000 is easliy in the top 10 counties in the state in terms of population.

Yes, and that is still only about 1/3 the population of Richland County. Even though Columbia isn't "big", metro Columbia is still more than 5 times the size of metro Florence.

[usc_gal98]

Originally Posted by pinkpocketbooks

Sandhill sounds nice. In Charlotte we have a lot of these mixed use, work/play developments going up. I'm fine with suburbs; I live in a suburb now. But what's nice is that the 'city' is only a hope skip and a jump away. Sophistication and cosmopolitan are good words to describe the type of place we would want to live. Thanks!

Good luck with finding all that here in SC. You are going to be in for a huge culture shock.

[creekgirl4life]

Florence is not as 'small' as you may think. It has grown tremedously over the last few years and a visit may suprise you. There is easy access to the larger cities, including Columbia, Mytle Beach and Charlotte within a few hours. There are also many shopping and dining alternatives, in addition to 'cultural' venues. Actually I think WBTW Florence/Mytle Beach is looking for someone in advertising sales now. There is also a new NBC affiliate coming to Mytle Beach so you might check into that possiblity for your employment.

[ComputerUser000]

I live in Abbeville currently, have been here since December 06.. and quite honestly, I wouldn't call this town exactly, because of it's close proximity to Greenwood.

For a town of it's size, Abbeville does offer a fair amount for someone who lives here.

Originally Posted by Tommy1981

What does Small mean?

Cities in South Carolina have a certain Population based on the number of people that live in the city limits, but because a large portion of the population prefers a more rural house, they live out of the city limits and don't count towards the popluation count, but they definitely count as patrons toward local businesses.

I grew up in Abbeville, which is small by any definition. There are a total of 8 red lights in Abbeville county (as of 2000 or so when I left). But everybody in Abbeville drives to neighboring Greenwood to do almost any kind of shopping or entertainment. Greenwood isn't that much larger on paper, but the businesses there benefit from all of the neighboring towns.

Florence is the largest city in that area of the state. It has a nicer mall, tons of restarants, shopping, etc. There are many neighboring towns where most people drive to Florence to shop, eat out, go to a movie, etc. Also its at the intersection of 2 major intersates, and the malls and shopping is very accessable, so there are alot more people in Florence on any given day than the population shows. There isn't too much that you can do in Columbia that you can't do in Florence.

Have you visited Florence? I wouldn't rule it out until you visit the area.

[sonofaque86]

You would do well in Northeast Columbia off of I-20 probably near Clemson Rd. area. It's less than an hour commute to Florence from that part of Columbia

[moedog]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

Yes, and that is still only about 1/3 the population of Richland County. Even though Columbia isn't "big", metro Columbia is still more than 5 times the size of metro Florence.

Florence Co. is ranked 11th population-wise in SC, behind Greenville, Charleston, Richland, Spartanburg, York, Lexington, Horry, Berkeley, Beaufort, Anderson. Regarding the size of the advertizing markets--The Florence/Myrtle Beach TV market is ranked 103 by Nielsen, compared to Charleston 100, Columbia 82, Greenville-Spartanburg (and Asheville) 36, and Charlotte 25th. There are 210 markets in all in the US.

[skyfire43221]

Hey, I totally understand why someone would not want to move to Florence.
I personally was born and raised in Myrtle Beach, moved to Columbus, OH when I was 7, then Toronto, Ontario, Canada, then Ohio, then Melbourne, VIC Australia for a year, then back to Ohio, and now I'm in Florence. *Sigh.*

Florence is not that bad, but I will tell you that after visiting and living in major cities, it is difficult to find things to do. The nightlife is limited and the people are very religious. If you don't like those aspects, then Conway and Myrtle Beach is a good place to move-- they are unlike any other parts of South Carolina, really. I would live in Myrtle Beach right now if I could, but I have terrible road rage and can't handle sitting on 501 for 4 hours. At least in Florence, I am close enough to visit the beach whenever I want but I can get away from some of that traffic. Also, Conway is not as bad on your gas tank as Columbia--especially if you live on the east side of Florence, but I wouldn't recommend that (keep reading). But remember, Conway and Myrtle Beach are not huge cities. They just have a lot to do, because, as someone else mentioned, it's a tourist mecca out there!

Someone suggested Marion, but Marion (and Mullins, Loris, Aynor, Nichols) are ridiculously small and if you're looking for a large city, that's not the place for you.

The other thing that's crappy about Florence is that although it's a "larger" city, 1/3-1/2 of it (East Florence) is crummy, run down, and downright scary. If you think about it, that leaves only a portion of it that actually has places that you might even think about going to. Hence, Columbia has more opportunity than some other people have mentioned. (The nice suburbs of Columbia are really nice.)
Columbia is like a larger, more "modern" or kept-up Florence. I don't really know how to describe it. I know I'm sticking my foot in my mouth in this post, but I'll continue with my observations.

When I go to Columbia, I like it wayyyy more than I do Florence. The reason is is because it has more nationally-known stores (like Petsmart for example) that I like, adequate nightlife, more jobs, and a large college campus. Things to do, people to see. It reminds me of Columbus, in a way. Florence has some stuff and it is growing exponentially, but not like the other larger cities in South Carolina. It's still behind and backwards in a lot of ways, and definitely mostly rural.

Camden is relatively nice but still, pretty small. It's just a good compromise commute time-wise between Florence and Columbia. I don't want to move there because I got a speeding ticket there. Don't get me wrong though about Florence... with everything negative I said about it, I live in Florence and I do like the very small area that surrounds my apartment and west Florence as well, but that's about it. I guess home is where you make it!