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Glad to see some other Buckeyes, by the way....
I moved to Sumter from NE Ohio about 2 months ago for a job. I wasn't sure if I would like the transition or what to expect, so my decision to move my family was tentative at best. But Sumter isn't a bad place to live. The cost of living here is very affordable. The people I have met and work with are all very nice and A LOT more polite than us northerners. Sumter is not a cultural Mecca, but there is enough here for the day-to-day (a couple of decent restaurants, some great little local shops, movie theaters, some general shopping places like Wal-mart...) and it is amazingly close to much bigger places (2 hours from Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Charlotte and Savannah). I agree with an earlier post that there are some things I miss from Ohio (my kingdom for a Borders or a Kohls) but all in all, I am happy with the move to Sumter. There are a lot of diverse backgrounds here because of Shaw and some great people. I think I prefer the "town" feeling of Sumter as opposed to the "city" feel of Columbia. After all, I can visit Columbia in 30 minutes at any time.
Go Bucks (Will never like it enough to be a USC or Clemson fan!)
If you see a little green Subaru driving around Sumter with an Ohio State Football sticker on the back glass (and if I have the Yakima racks on, a Block O on the faring), that's me ;c)
Northern Ohio is obviously different than Southern Ohio/Appalachia. Where I'm from, strangers greet you with a big warm hug. Down here, their 'southern hospitality' means they look forward and try to pretend like they don't see you. You might get a smile or a response 30-35% of the time.
And the cost of living is twice here what it was back in the Mid-Ohio Valley (tripple, for some things). But I'm here, not there, and have to make due with what's available. Like I said earlier: geographically, we're not that bad off. You touched on some of the same things I did. With a bit more development I think I can be content here.
*Edit - Hmm, I see you just registered today. Are you a different user than the "Buckeye in SC" (with spaces) I spoke to back in June via PM?
*Edit - Hmm, I see you just registered today. Are you a different user than the "Buckeye in SC" (with spaces) I spoke to back in June via PM?
Yes, that is a different person, but I am w/him, go Bucks! Looking forward to that big game in Southern Cal in September.
As for the prices being double & triple here from mid-Ohio, think you're over-exaggerating a bit, I was just actually in Canton for a week, and while some things are lower like groceries & sales tax, other taxes are higher there - cities tax your income in most cases 2%, property taxes are lower here than there for the most part. Most everything else I've found to be somewhat similar in comparison.
There are cost-of-living calculators out there, can't remember what the site is, but I researched that before moving here, and it was a very minimal difference, like 1-2% between Akron metro & Columbia metro.
My cousin will be visiting Columbia next week in an attempt to familiarize himself with the area and determine which areas he likes best. Do you think it's worth his time to spend a day in Sumter?
It depends.. If he will be working in Columbia then it may make more sense for him to visit and look there first. Sumter is about 35 -40 miles from Columbia. The cost of living is comparable between the two cities. If he is looking for more of a laid back lifestyle and smaller city setting and will not mind the commute, then Sumter may be worth a visit.
Sumter may be worth considering if retiring. The City has been featured in several retirement magazines and it was noted for being inexpensive, slower paced, close to major destinations like the beach and the mountains, etc.
If I may digress for a moment and make a final comment about the Transportation Center that opened in Sumter..discussed in a prior post. SWRTA who operates the City Buses in Sumter and several commuter routes to Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Orangeburg was considering at one time marketing its Sumter to Myrtle Beach route to SC residents seeking to go to Myrtle Beach. They would be picked up at locations in Columbia travel to Sumter, transfer at the Transportation Center then travel on to Myrtle Beach. The route from Sumter to Myrtle Beach is fairly active, but mainly with folks who work in Myrtle Beach. The buses make several stops along Ocean Drive before returning to Sumter. If the "tourist" route was created, Sumter would be the one of one or two stops between Columbia and Myrtle Beach. It would be interesting to see if this concept is pursued, one challenge would be for those who ride it to the beach, but want to go to the outlets or other location outside of "downtown" myrtle beach that are not within walking distance. Myrtle Beach may have to step up their transit options to coordinate with SWRTA to improve tourist wayfinding connections... but the fare to Myrtle Beach, last I recall, was reasonable.
Looking forward to that big game in Southern Cal in September.
Yeah, did you hear Carson Palmer running his mouth last week? What a goof...
Quote:
As for the prices being double & triple here from mid-Ohio, think you're over-exaggerating a bit,
Overall, maybe, but there were certainly lots of increases in our costs. Our apartment went from $375 to $875 for the same space, milk went from $3.50 to $5.50, chicken from $1.89/lb to $4.00, yearly car/tag renewal from $30 to $800.... etc
I don't mean to complain, it just kind of grits my nerves (a minor annoyance, really) when everyone talks about "how cheap" it is to live here. We are just as well of now as we were there, when we made less than half of what we do now. I guess it all balances out.
Sumter might be alright for retirement. His interests might have some bearing on that but there's a fairly active population walking the mall in the mornings, lots of fishing potential, etc. If he's a veteran, there's a small medical center on Shaw and then a hospital at Fort Jackson, about 40 minutes away (and the VA hospital is about 45 minutes up 378, right by 77).
Woodlands, that's interesting about the Cola-Sumter-Myrtle route. I'm excited to get downtown and check out the new transit building (I've got some library books that I want to take back Thursday so maybe I'll do it then) and look forward to seeing how things go from here.
I've been telling my wife for years that the intersection of 441 & 378 was a money spot. When they put the McDonalds, I told her that if they put a Starbucks in the empty lot next to it that it would probably be the most successful business in all of Sumter County (just because you've got folks coming in to Shaw, folks coming in to Tuomey, folks heading out for Cola/Jackson/McEntire/etc). That's a busy intersection for a lot of commuters. I always wondered why it wasn't more developed than it was. They're now doing some excavating across the way but I'm not sure what's going in there. I always wondered why 441 wasn't more developed, too, especially when the hospital/barracks gate was still open.
I think we are growing more and more each day, but the housing market has slowed. I wished the Wal-Mart and Lowes would have not stopped building and then we would have had more jobs in the area.
We are getting the World Little League Soccer championships in here soon, so this should help us out a little more. I think 441 wasn't developed becasue of Shaw AFB was on the hit list for quite a few years and now the 3rd Army's coming, maybe we will get back on the growing path we were on a year or so ago.
The housing market is slow for the retirees because most of the military bought homes 2-3 years ago, financed 100%, and put their VA funding fee into the loan and they cannot come down on the price like the rest of the nation is doing. I still like it in Sumter because I can get to many bigger cities and the beach with little problems at all
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Jame Clyburn Transportation Center in Sumter
