Cost of Living : COLUMBIA? (Blythewood: real estate, 2009, apartment)

[jegonda]

Does anyone have any good/reliable online salary (cost of living) calculators they can share? Trying to get an idea of how COLUMBIA area compares to ANN ARBOR, MI... and I have found a wide range of figures, many of which seem contradicting. Thank You!

[james fitzgerald]

My husband and I are relocating to Columbia, S.C. this year (2009). We have never been there. This is totally new to us. I had lived in Georgia in the 80's for three years. We are leaving our families and the horrible northeast winters behind. The beauty is we can always visit and vice versa. We are looking for an area to reside/work in that is relatively safe. Can you give us any info. We're kind of homebodies. We basically work and love to fish so info on fishing areas (lakes) would be appreciated. Also, we are looking for a Catholic church in the area. We hear the cost of living is low which is great. Thank you in advance.

[Columbiadata]

What's your price range? Urban or suburban? So far it sounds like a good start would be to look at Shandon. There's a huge Catholic Church (gray granite) on Devine Street there. I can't remember the name of it. Shandon is an in-town neighborhood. The only thing about your description of what you're looking for takes us out of Shandon is the fishing part, unless driving to a lake, pond or river is ok with your boat parked behind your house out of sight.

[waccamatt]

Shandon would be a good choice if it's in your price range since St. Joseph's Catholic Church is located there as well as proximity to museums, shopping, restaurants and all of the volunteer opportunities in town. There are, of course, many more Catholic Churches in Columbia so you have many options there. What type of home are you looking for? Highrise condo, single family on a small lot, townhouse, large home/large yard, apartment?

As for the cost of living, real estate costs are going to be your biggest bargain, including real estate taxes. Otherwise there probably won't be big differences in the cost of living.

[james fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by james fitzgerald

My husband and I are relocating to Columbia, S.C. this year (2009). We have never been there. This is totally new to us. I had lived in Georgia in the 80's for three years. We are leaving our families and the horrible northeast winters behind. The beauty is we can always visit and vice versa. We are looking for an area to reside/work in that is relatively safe. Can you give us any info. We're kind of homebodies. We basically work and love to fish so info on fishing areas (lakes) would be appreciated. Also, we are looking for a Catholic church in the area. We hear the cost of living is low which is great. Thank you in advance.

Mrs. Carol Fitzgerald

[ranger17]

depending on where you would be working, i'd also suggest one if the burb's by Lake Murray. We moved here from Wi in Feb, with Murray being one of the reasons we chose this location. So living near the lake for us was an important factor of choosing the spot we did, both temp for now as well as building later this year.
We noticed many items are similar in cost to back home, but yes the prop taxes are worlds apart from what we paid before ( note that you will pay prop taxes on boats and cars but lumped together it's still lower overall ).
good luck

[jkwing]

for a comparison, try this web site Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[HowardRoarke]

Originally Posted by ranger17

depending on where you would be working, i'd also suggest one if the burb's by Lake Murray. We moved here from Wi in Feb, with Murray being one of the reasons we chose this location. So living near the lake for us was an important factor of choosing the spot we did, both temp for now as well as building later this year.
We noticed many items are similar in cost to back home, but yes the prop taxes are worlds apart from what we paid before ( note that you will pay prop taxes on boats and cars but lumped together it's still lower overall ).
good luck

Great post. Three areas we really like in Columbia: Rosewood, Shandon, and Lake Murray. Blythewood is nice with all the horse farms and whatnot, but, it really hasn't come into its own, yet. Spring Valley/Lake Carolina area are nice, too.

We moved to SC from Rochester, NY, and love it here. Overall, our cost of living is lower, yet our incomes are slightly higher.