South Carolina stereotypes? (Columbia, Charleston, Greenville: homes, weddings, living)

[Chi2Midlands]

Originally Posted by ShanaP

I've never been to South Carolina but my husband starts his job in Columbia on April 21st.

Coming from a huge city like Houston, I am a little nervous about moving to Columbia even though I've lived in the Deep South all my life. Many people have given us a bad impression of the area but we're trying to have a positive outlook on this move and what it will mean for our family.

I'm pretty excited about putting my house on the market and starting a new life in South Carolina. I'll look past the stereotypes and hopefully will be able to find a place to set down roots in Columbia. It looks like a great city to me.

Shana - you seem pretty open minded - I'm glad you're giving Columbia a chance. Columbia is a reasonably cosmopolitan city, and as long as you're not expecting Manhattan or San Francisco, I think you'll be fine. There are many nice things about this place - and of course, like any real city, we have some warts, too, but on balance I think this is a very pleasant town.

I might also add that since you're coming from Houston, at least you're already used to summers with high heat and humidity!

If you have any specific questions about Columbia, please do feel free to ask on this forum - there are plenty of us more than happy to help answer them.

[ShanaP]

I've lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Panama City, Florida, and Houston so I am very familiar with hot and humid. I think the pollen count is actually better in South Carolina than anywhere I've ever lived so I think we'll deal with the climate really well.

Thank you for offering to help me out with any questions I may have. I think I have so many right now, I just need to narrow them down and get my head wrapped around an impending move. I'm sure to be back here to nail down any details I can't fill in with the help of Google. I appreciate it.

[normie]

FWIW, here are my impressions. I've never lived in SC or spent much time travelling there, so these may be way off the mark. But the OP wanted to know what outsiders think, and I'm definitely an outsider.

When I think of South Carolina, I think of John Edwards and Vanna White. It's probably because those are the people you see talking about SC the most on tv. I happen to have a lot of respect for both people, so my impression of SC is very favorable.

My impression: People from SC are unusually polite... and more importantly, genuinely kind. The politness is not just an act. They achieve their goals even though they are not particulary pushy or aggressive (which I find refreshing).

They are well balanced emotionally, not particularly neurotic. As a result they can handle things that unnerve a lot of other people. Driving over the original Ravenal Bridge comes to mind.

They are not into being intellectual, but they are smart. They are especially smart about things like how to live a happy life. When I worked for Northrop Grumman, we had a guy from Clemson who could solve any problem. He didn't know a lot of big words, didn't know much about the latest trends in philosophy, didn't need to show off with a lot of "witty" sarcasm. But he was the person you went to when you had an engineering problem that needed to be solved.

SC people don't seem to care about being trendy, and they don't seem to need to show off their treasures in order for other people to "like them." In fact, most of the people from SC that I've met seem to believe SC towns are better off being a well-kept secret.

When I was in Los Angeles there was a girl from Greenville at our church. One guy said "Greenville? I've never even heard of Greenville!" And she smiled, as if she was thinking to herself: "Good!"

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by ShanaP

I've lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Panama City, Florida, and Houston so I am very familiar with hot and humid. I think the pollen count is actually better in South Carolina than anywhere I've ever lived so I think we'll deal with the climate really well.

Thank you for offering to help me out with any questions I may have. I think I have so many right now, I just need to narrow them down and get my head wrapped around an impending move. I'm sure to be back here to nail down any details I can't fill in with the help of Google. I appreciate it.

You'll probably think the heat and humidity combination in Columbia isn't bad after having lived in Houston. Have you settled on a section of town yet?

[ShanaP]

Yes, I think your highs are about ten degrees cooler than the typical ones here in Houston. I also think you guys might have actual seasons instead of 9 months of summer and a fall where the leaves don't change colors. The area there just looks beautiful after living on the flat Gulf Coast.

I would love to live in the city but I've heard that the schools are better in the suburbs. Of course, it all boils down to schools when you have an 8 year old. If you have any suggestions on great areas, I'll happily research them. I still haven't put my house on the market yet since the job offer came in last week and I am trying to ready the house. I think my husband will be working on the east side of the city, so that will strongly factor into our housing choices.

[burr]

[quote=ShanaP;3246422]Yes, I think your highs are about ten degrees cooler than the typical ones here in Houston. I also think you guys might have actual seasons instead of 9 months of summer and a fall where the leaves don't change colors.

If you're saying that Houston highs are 108 or more, than yes, it will be 10 degrees cooler, but Columbia can easily top 100, and hover in the mid-high 90s for days or weeks, with lows in mid 80s. With two rivers meeting, Columbia is set in a bowl, sorta, no air moving.

[waccamatt]

[quote=burr;3246542]

Originally Posted by ShanaP

Yes, I think your highs are about ten degrees cooler than the typical ones here in Houston. I also think you guys might have actual seasons instead of 9 months of summer and a fall where the leaves don't change colors.

If you're saying that Houston highs are 108 or more, than yes, it will be 10 degrees cooler, but Columbia can easily top 100, and hover in the mid-high 90s for days or weeks, with lows in mid 80s. With two rivers meeting, Columbia is set in a bowl, sorta, no air moving.

Columbia's average high in July is 92 and the average low is 72. There are occasional days over 100, but they don't occur every summer. I can only remember one or two instances in my 30+ years in Columbia that a low temperature exceeded 80 degrees. As far as Columbia being set in a bowl, nothing could be further from the truth since downtown Columbia was laid out at the top of a hill. Back in 1786, malaria was a problem so downtown Columbia was built on the top of a hill to lessen the number of mosquitoes and had all of its streets 100' and 150' wide because it was thought, at the time, that mosquitoes couldn't fly that far before dying. I sometimes wonder where so much misinformation comes from. The link below shows average high and low temperatures from the Columbia National Weather Service office.

Average Weather for West Columbia, SC - Temperature and Precipitation

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by ShanaP

Yes, I think your highs are about ten degrees cooler than the typical ones here in Houston. I also think you guys might have actual seasons instead of 9 months of summer and a fall where the leaves don't change colors. The area there just looks beautiful after living on the flat Gulf Coast.

I would love to live in the city but I've heard that the schools are better in the suburbs. Of course, it all boils down to schools when you have an 8 year old. If you have any suggestions on great areas, I'll happily research them. I still haven't put my house on the market yet since the job offer came in last week and I am trying to ready the house. I think my husband will be working on the east side of the city, so that will strongly factor into our housing choices.

I think you said in another section that your husband will be working in the Northeast area. The schools are mostly good in that section of town, but there are some good in-town schools as well. I would specifically recommend the Dreher High School and AC Flora High School feeder schools. The Shandon, Five Points, Wales Garden and Melrose Heights areas all feed into Dreher and its associated elementary and middle schools and they are great places to live. It all depends on what you prefer, but I always encourage people to at least take a look at some in-town areas because Columbia is known for its neighborhoods.

[burr]

[QUOTE=waccamatt

Columbia's average high in July is 92 and the average low is 72. There are occasional days over 100, but they don't occur every summer. I can only remember one or two instances in my 30+ years in Columbia that a low temperature exceeded 80 degrees.

I sometimes wonder where so much misinformation comes from.

How about last summer ? On the site you provided, check the record temps instead of average. Avg temp of 92 is deceptive in that a rainy day or average rain for a month will knock down an average temp. Last years' drought had temps for weeks straight in the upper 90s and 100s, remember ?

[usc_gal98]

Dear Mr. Iraqvet,

Nice to meet you. My brother, an army captain, is serving another glorious tour in Iraq right now. I really miss him alot.

Anyhoo, you know how us trailer park living, beer drinking, nascar loving rednecks is. We is just as country as country gets. We eat possums fer dinner, drive huge 4x4s with them gun racks in the back, and fly our rebel flag fer all to see. No wonder people just lusz us!

Yers truly,
The typical no tooth redneck southern girl!