Three questions about couthern cities, please (Columbia, Charleston: appointed, real estate, crime)

[AOYAS]

Hello!

My husband and I currently live in the southwest and we want to move, but we can't decide where. We've narrowed it down to NC, SC, and GA for various reasons including weather, relative low cost of living and real estate in cartain areas, "green-ness" (something you really miss after living in the desert southwest for years), proximity to the ocean, etc. We also think we'd really like the "southern" way of life. We both work in the television and print media industries, and we want to move somewhere we can live a relaxed suburban life, and be happy for a long time (ie we don't want to move anymore, if at all possible!)

We're initially interested in Charlotte (NC), Raleigh (NC), Columbia (SC), Charleston (SC), Augusta (GA), and Atlanta (GA). We don't know much about Greenville (SC), but we've come across it in our research, and we're open to it, if it seems like the right place. We're kind of thinking of throwing Atlanta out of the running because of the horrendous traffic, and we're on the fence with Charlotte because of all the development going on (we're afraid it may get too overcrowded, expensive, and "suburbanized" too quickly).

1. Did any of you compare any of these cities when you were deciding where to move?

2. What did you like/dislike about the cities you compared?

3. What made you choose Charlotte in the end?

I apologize for the long post, and thank you so much for any help you can provide! It's such a daunting task to choose our future home when it's a few thousand miles away from our current one! I figure some of you may have "been there, done that" so maybe you could help me out??

[AOYAS]

Sorry, I meant why did you choose GREENVILLE, not Charlotte...

[tlccherry]

I have stayed in several of the cities that you mentioned I will try to list the bad points of each city. Btw I grew up near Charlotte and went to college in Atlanta (go Tech).
Charlotte's traffic is just as bad as Atlanta, and is getting worse.
Columbia is ususally 8 - 10 degrees hotter/humid than the rest of the area and its traffic is bad also. Charleston is the most expensive of the listed cities because of its history and fame. Raleigh and Greenville would be my pick. Have you considered Winston-Salem, and Asheville. Winston is halfway between Charlotte and Raleigh area, about the size of Greenville, and is very nice.

[YankeeinSC]

Atlanta is a nightmare, I lived, worked and have family there. It has lots to do but Greenville is just about 2 1/2 hours away so that makes it easy for day trips or weekends.

Columbia, SC is HOT humid and has nothing really to offer.

Charlotte is nice and has some nice sections but it has crime and Mexican gang problems. Liberal gov't has pushed taxes way up to pay for local boondoggles like a light rail project.

Greenville, SC will offer you affordable living, 4 seasons (although it may snow a dusting 1x a year), and proximity to destinations like the ocean and Atlanta.

If you are looking for a traditional winter season take a look at Asheville, NC. about an hour north from Greenville..

[augga706]

Augusta metro has plently of surburbs or towns who surround the city. The outskirts like Evans, Martinez, Thomson, Norh Augusta, Grovetown, are all 10 to 30 min to augusta. You will only have to drive to the city when u want to do major shopping or something. Evans has the most things to do, Martinez is getting a new mall later this year. North Augusta is the closes to downtown augusta, Grovetown is the closes to augusta mall, and Thomson is a small town only 30 min from augusta. The house market is great in augusta u should fine a beautiful home no matter the price range we have the most affordale market in the whole states. U can also check on appling, hephzibah, clearwater, aiken, and wrens. U can google augusta to get city links

[Skyliner]

I recommend checking out places in and around Greenville after visiting the city first. You won't be disappointed with this area at all, if the record continues to remain true for newcomers. Places of residence to check out include:

• Verdae
• Acadia
• Griffin Park
• The Cliffs Communities
• The Reserve at Lake Keowee
• MonteLago
• Montebello

[StillMissingNC]

Atlanta and Charlotte- too large, sprawling cities with high traffic. I always dread driving though Atlanta.

Charleston- interesting city but in the hurricane zone although it's been pretty lucky, I guess. I live in Houston now and sweat every hurricane season, want to get out of it. Nice to be where you could visit Charleston.

Columbia- just didn't interest me, it would be too hot.

Augusta- marginally too close to coast and too far from mountains when you have Greenville.

Raleigh- lived there for 6 years and loved it, but wouldn't return because of personal reasons...nothing bad. However, it has a tremendous number of people from NY,NJ, New England, CA moving there so I don't know how it's all going to turn out. Didn't mean northerners are bad, just lot more people. To me, it's really a beautiful city, especially the old parts, but they are getting very expensive. Four seasons with a beautiful fall usually. Some people gripe about the traffic but I find that I can be almost anywhere in the city itself in about 10-20 minutes. 3 hours to the Blue Ridge and half of that to Wilmington and beach. Education level and doctor count/quality high with two major medical schools, UNC & Duke. See local Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill, Cary forum...really active.

Greenville- Identical climate to Raleigh. really super downtown area for its size. Farm baseball team, symphony, zoo. 30-60 minutes from over 7 SC mountain state parks. 30 minutes to Brevard,NC and 60 minutes from Asheville NC. A few hours to Charlotte and Atlanta and Charleston/beach. We are going there this week to check it out. We're not interested in the gated communities, however. I'll lock my door, but that's it. Forum not as active as Raleigh.

[flgargoyle]

For us it was simple- we wanted rural living within a reasonable commute of a city for work. Greenville was the only area that seemed to offer this within our preferred climate (4 seasons, but not too cold, we've been in FL for 26 years). We bought 7 acres about 15 miles north of Greenville, and plan to build in a couple years. Other cities that met our needs were Rome and Athens, GA, but they were no match for Greenville.

[StillMissingNC]

Originally Posted by flgargoyle

Other cities that met our needs were Rome and Athens, GA, but they were no match for Greenville.

We were thinking of visiting Athens as well. Could you give me more specific reasons as to why it was not as good as Greenville?

[Skyliner]

Other than the nice dining and shopping options, it is totally a college town (University of Georgia), it is somewhat remotely located (not along any interstates), and is much smaller than metropolitan Greenville. Those are only a couple of quick reasons I would give, but there are many others I could come up with.

Edit: Seriously though, if you are interested in checking into a city, I recommend visiting it in person if possible. Some places I might advise you to avoid, but Athens is certainly not one of them. It is completely worth a visit from interested individuals. I tend to not like living in cities that revolve around a major university (Knoxville, Columbia, Athens, Chapel Hill, etc...), but some people prefer it. That is no problem.