Before You Relocate to Columbia (Charleston, Greenville: car rental, appointed, theatre)

[psol]

Cola here I come.

I was born and raised in SC. I've lived in upstate NY for 22 years, I have had enough of the cold weather for 8 to 9 months a year, the snow...well its snow, cold, (pretty). There are so many depressed people in NY state it's unbelievable.

However my family will be relocating to Columbia July 2009 we are soooooooooo excited. I fell in love with cola all over again, the weather is awesome, the people are friendly (miss that southern hospitality). My son is looking forward to playing sports where the whole community supports the cause. We are planning to live a better life in SC.
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]

South Carolina Here We come!!!!!!

[waccamatt]

Welcome back, psol, and welcome to the forum.

[ebreezy]

here is my 2 cent worth i feel columbia is a good area to live at because were your only 1 half hr drive to charlotte nc, 3 hour drive to atlanta your not that far of drive to 2 major city if you want that city life style. because when you come back from the city you always know how good it feels to be in area were life is just a bit slower. on top of the i rather live in a city like columbia you got your target,best buy, to shop at the rent is alot cheaper which i consider as a huge plus so too me i'm more than willing to make the drive to either city if i want a bit of city life.

[moparboy]

One thing I respect about this state, compared with my native NY, is how much the people love it. White. Black. Etc. The people love their state. despite some of its problems and whatnot.

I'd put a flag sticker (that uniform crescent thingy with the Palmetto tree) on every vehicle I own, but, I'm not a native. The people here are proud of their state, as they should be. You see the flag, everywhere, and rightly so.

[Tucsonmom]

Hello.,
I've been following this thread (as we have been looking to relocate
from AZ) the question I have is, being I have lived in the desert for
nearly 40 yrs, far from the ocean (where I was born) and with
the mountains a short ride away (they surround Tucson) has anyone
reading these posts come from area(s) where being stuck in the middle of land without these near by, felt land locked?

I also heard that the air quality can be a roller coaster there.
Are there any county fairs, or carnival type amusments for kids?
Thanks!

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Tucsonmom

Hello.,
I've been following this thread (as we have been looking to relocate
from AZ) the question I have is, being I have lived in the desert for
nearly 40 yrs, far from the ocean (where I was born) and with
the mountains a short ride away (they surround Tucson) has anyone
reading these posts come from area(s) where being stuck in the middle of land without these near by, felt land locked?

I also heard that the air quality can be a roller coaster there.
Are there any county fairs, or carnival type amusments for kids?
Thanks!

My brother lives in Tucson, so I know what you mean about being land-locked and not close to any water - though I've never spent more than two weeks at a time in Tucson.

It is very rare that there are ever any air quality alerts in the Columbia area. It has been a few years since I can recall such an alert.

The South Carolina State Fair occurs in Columbia every October for 12 (I think) days and then there are other fairs in the area too - the Sparkleberry Country Fair in NE Columbia and the Okra Strut in Irmo (NW Columbia) come to mind. On a regular basis there is Frankies Fun Park in the Harbison area and the beach is less than 2 hours away with Carowinds Theme Park only an hour to an hour and 15 minutes away from most parts of Columbia.

[Tucsonmom]

Thanks for the info.
Another question..., any trains run to the coast or these other
locations mentioned ?

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by Tucsonmom

Thanks for the info.
Another question..., any trains run to the coast or these other
locations mentioned ?

Amtrak runs to Washington D.C. from here - I'm not sure why a route has never been created to run from here to Charlotte or Atlanta or even Charleston for that matter. Maybe w/higher fuel prices, that demand will be going up creating an opportunity for that to eventually happen.

[mettler]

When the olympics were in Atlanta there was talk of a high speed train from Columbia to Atlanta, but that fizzled - which is too bad. I've taken the train to Orlando from Columbia, and that wasn't too bad. The only problem is that it left at some crazy time - like 2am.

[Woodlands]

The Railroad Barrons (Amtrak) who of course schedule the convenient departure and arrival times of the Silver Star to suite those leaving from the NE and FLA which leaves most of the Carolinas having the late PM or early AM departures. Along the coast the departure and arrival times in Florence and Charleston are much better particuliarly the short haul Palmetto which runs from NYC to Savannah daily. It makes for a mid morning or mid afternoon departure at most SC cities along the coast and early to mid evening arrivals. Both Florence and Charleston should capitalize on this with expanded services at their stations. I have not been to Charleston' station, though I have heard grumblings, but Florence at one time(not sure about now) offered rental car pick up/drop off via Enterprise which made for a convenient connection if you were going to the beach or other small towns in the region. Charleston should explore similiar arrangements since it is obviously a major destination.