Moving to Clemson area (Walhalla, Pickens: 2009, how much, houses)

[Stickknitter]

Hi,
I'm new here, but I've been reading some of the posts about bugs and other pests. It seems regular pest control may be wise. I hate spiders and other creepy bugs. I respect snakes, as long as they stay outside.

My husband is considering a job offer near Clemson, and would like to live nearby. We recently visited the area and noticed alot of vacant homes, not new, but not really that old. Does anyone know what's up with that?

We're also curious about:
-quality of internet services
-factories in the surrounding cities and towns
that may be spewing nasty smells and
polution
-severity of storms
-severity of your drought

Any input will be appreciated.
We're also into motorcycle riding, knitting, and acoustic music.

[Kkirch123]

I know someone warned us when we looked in pendleton close to clemson to not go too close to a tire plant. They said you can smell burned rubber sometimes and it can give you a headache. We have bell south and just moved here in aug. I have no complaints at all.
The bug issue I have not had any troubles. We live out in the woods near many farms etc and have not had any bugs in the house at all. That is without any bug services.
The drought seems to be getting better now since the rains. It is not great but better then before. The storms from what I have been told are not too bad. I was warned about ice storms and to buy a kerosene heater. I did and not had to use it yet.
I have been through clemson area alot and have not noticed too many empty homes. Maybe it is forclosures or just the certain area you looked in. I think you will absolutly love the area. There is so much to do in the clemson area. We go to college games alot, hiking, camping etc. Highway 11 would be a wonderful motorcycle ride. My neighbor does that every sunday! Good Luck

[Stickknitter]

Thankyou Kkirch123,
Very good info about the tire factory, as we have seriously been considering Pendleton.

Stickknitter

[Stickknitter]

I had asked about the abandoned houses in my first post. Going to the map, I think we noticed them along Walhalla Hwy, between Lake Keowee and Pickens. There seemed to be quite a few, not all right together, but just here and there along that route.

[Kkirch123]

We live in easley on the outskirts and do have a few barns and such run down. Not sure about that area though.

[gvillesc]

I live in Clemson. Northland Cable provides the cable services. I've yet to find someone who likes them. We have cable tv and internet. It's not the best and their call center staff is not the most helpful.

The drought is pretty severe, though the inches and inches of precipitation last week has helped tremendously.

[boydman]

Hello Stickknitter. I was borne and raised in Pendleton I live down in the woods and have lived here for over 20 years. I have never seen what you would call a problem with bugs, we had a swarm of some type bug show up on the back of our house a few years back. I called Clemson University and to my surprise they were here with in two hours of that same day, they told us what type bug it was and that they were just resting during there normal migration and they would be gone in the next two days. I’m not sure if this was normal are not but they assured us the bugs caused no harm and they were gone in the next two days just like they said and we have never seen them again.
We do have snakes I would think our most common ones would be the green snake and the black snake. We do have poisonous snakes but you hardly ever see them and form what seen all snakes try there best to avoid people. We have never hade a snake in the house but we had two black snakes that lived in a tree out back my wife and me used to set on the back deck and watch them, but we never had a problem with them.
I don’t want to mislead you if you live in the woods say pines you will have ticks but that is nature. It is also nature for the snakes to eat the bugs, so please if you do so happen to have a snake wonder to close don’t kill him. Around here its not hard to find someone that lives close that will come remove him for you.
For internet we have DSL, Northland cable, and you can also go wireless with Alltel are one of the other cell companies. I use Alltel wireless and its great, but DSL and Cable are really fast. I can not tell you what that smell is at Michelin tire plant but it’s not rubber and I kind of like it, but you would have to live very close to smell it. We only have two storms that I would even give a second thought to and it would be tornados, which in my 46 years have never seen the real thing just the damage it has caused, the other would be ice storms that knock the power out because we don’t have that many were not set up for them, they are so for and few in between that I wouldn’t consider them. We are in a drought right now and Hartwell lake is way down, but it never stays that way long.
The last things you mention, motorcycle riding, from Clemson you can be in the mountains in 45 minutes do some of the best bike riding you cold ever have motorcycles are my life I ride cruzers and sport bikes, yall will love it.
I have lived here all my life and to me it is the best place in the world, the people here are great. Give it a try it really is nice here

[Greenville]

Originally Posted by gvillesc

I live in Clemson. Northland Cable provides the cable services. I've yet to find someone who likes them. We have cable tv and internet. It's not the best and their call center staff is not the most helpful.

LOL! I had to laugh at this, because Northland Cable was despised when I was at Clemson too. On a positive note, I heard that they are finally getting ESPNU (also known as ESPN Unavailable).

[Stickknitter]

Boydman,
Thankyou, very helpful information. Sitting on the deck watching snakes play in a tree sounds just delightful!
As for Motorcycles, my husband bought a 2009 Road King last fall and I have the Honda Shadow that we both learned on. Riding is very important to him, and finding people to ride with would be a plus. I'm not sure how much longer I will ride, as I have a carpel-tunnel problem. Also, the traffic around the area seemed a little intimidating for me.