Schools in Richmond County, Columbia (Charleston, Lexington: fit in, credit, homes)

[kyahuag]

We are a family of four moving from IN to Columbia. We are choosing Richmond County, for its progressive, liberal and cosmopolitan reputation. Can someone give me any advice on the schools in this area?

[mpaquette]

It's Richland county. The school district is going to depend on where in Richland county you live. I think there are 5 different districts.

[anonymous]

Columbia/Richland County is progressive, liberal and cosmopolitan only compared to the rest of SC. By national standards I'd say it's fairly moderate to conservative. The downtown neighborhoods are typically less conservative than the suburbs.

There are three school districts, Districts 1, 2, and 5. District 2 and 5 are the better ones.

[Nausikaa]

If you are a liberal you need to stick to areas around the university, i.e. Shandon. Otherwise, you are talking more like you want to live in Asheville, NC.

[outofsc]

Having spent many years in Columbia and the past 5 in Charleston, I believe the Charleston area is more liberal than the Columbia area. Columbia is great - we loved it there - but I wouldn't call it progressive except in the arts.

[Nausikaa]

Charleston is a conservative town. Can be very snobby.

Columbia is pretty conservative, but the Univ of SC is here, which brings in more liberal-minded people.

If you want liberal go Asheville.

[Akhenaton06]

If you want to talk about voting patterns (which don't always correlate to conservativeness/liberalness), Richland County is definitely bluer than Charleston County. However, if you were to take into account the results of Amendment One last year (the ban on gay marriage), Richland and Charleston counties had similar numbers voting against the measure (between 30% and 40%), the highest in the state, although the majority voted the other way in every county in the state.

As far as "feel," Charleston is a bit different, since the city has a heavy "Old South" (conservative) vibe due to history, but it also have a substantial arts scene, which tends to attract more of the liberal element.

Anyway, back to the schools in Richland County.

[Carolina_1690]

Richland 2, and Richland-Lexington 5 are the better districts as a whole.

Richland 1 has Dreher HS, Hand Middle, and AC Moore Elem and Rosewood Elem, each of which are good schools located in or near Shandon. Shandon is an "old money" neighborhood in the city, so if you locate in District 1, you will want to make sure you are in those school zones. There are affordable homes near Shandon but not in the expensive/over-priced parts.

Columbia is one of the more liberal places in SC, but thats all relative of course. You won't find anything like New England in this state, but if you have liberal leanings, you will fit in just fine. Richland County tends to vote Democrat in most elections. Columbia is one of the more progressive cities in this state in my opinion.

[Akhenaton06]

I say that Columbia isn't as progressive as it could be (largely due to leadership, but it could be a LOT worse), but it's more progressive than most would give it credit for.

[Nausikaa]

Voting patterns of Dem or Rep won't really tell you anything, as far as which areas are more liberal. In SC historically more blacks vote Democrat, and more whites vote Republican. Some counties have more white population, and some counties more black. The democratic voting doesn't point to a liberal area of the state. But, as Jack said, Columbia is probably the most liberal city, because of the University.