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Hi, my husband and I and our 1.5 year old are planning a "possible relocation" trip to scout out the area near Myrtle Beach. My husband has visited once for two days (Little River) and liked it - I have never been there. Any recommendations for where to focus our seach on?
My husband is retired and I work from home, so we do not need local employment. We would like to send our daughter to a Catholic or Lutheran School for preschool and later. We would like to be in a quiet but bot boring area, close to culture (art exhibitions, continued education, restaurants, festival etc), grocery shopping, beach, but not directly in the most touristy and crowded parts of the area. We would be looking for a 3+ bedroom house with a garden, between 130.000-200.000, hopefully not too cookie-cutter style (love brick). We will be relocating from the midwest but have previously lived in New York City and coastal Northern Europe. We are interested in moving as we have read about the low cost of living in South Carolina, and we like the idea of relaxed coastal living in a nice climate but less than 1 hour's drive to an airport as we will travel from time to time, and with good local medical facilities.
What are the differences between Little River, Murrell's Inlet, North Myrtle beach and the other areas that I see mentioned on the forum from time to time?
And is Myrtle Beach itself livable?
And one more question: are the summer months completely unbearable or just very hot and humid? How do they compare to say summer in New York City?
if you have moved to MB from the NorthEast - would you do it again? Would you move to the same place? Why/Why not? Is the "MB dream" just a dream, or is it really nice to live there?
Any recommendations for where to focus our seach on? ....
What are the differences between Little River, Murrell's Inlet, North Myrtle beach and the other areas that I see mentioned on the forum from time to time?
And is Myrtle Beach itself livable?
It all depends on you own preferences. When we moved down we immediately became smitten with the Surfside / Garden City area. So much so that just driving through the North Myrtle Beach area was enough for us to know we didn't want to live there. But since we only "drove through" I have no basis for that other than that, for us, it didn't feel as homey as the southern end.
Myrtle Beach is very livable. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I do love it ... just not as much as where we are.
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And one more question: are the summer months completely unbearable or just very hot and humid? How do they compare to say summer in New York City?
Yes, it is very hot and humid but to me it is no worse than the North East. In fact to me it is better. I NEVER went outside during the summer months up North. That stale and stagnant air was just miserable to me. I don't spend my days cooped up in the air conditioning down here. On the beach there is almost always a nice breeze that makes sitting at the waters edge, in my low a$$ chair, a down right enjoyable experience.
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if you have moved to MB from the NorthEast - would you do it again? Would you move to the same place? Why/Why not? Is the "MB dream" just a dream, or is it really nice to live there?
Yes, I would do it again! Yes, I would move to the same place! Why? For us the Surfside / Garden City areas has felt like home since the day we first set foot here. ... I guess those answered the last question as well ....
Location: Lakewood NJ/Murrells Inlet SC/ N. Naples FL/Swainton NJ
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We are from central NJ. We chose Murrells Inlet and love it. While I have not found the summer months to be too hot and humid (if you can live through the weather in NJ, you can live through the weather anywhere), I dO find the mid-winter months too cold. But it is a very short winter compared to the NE. And no significant snow!
I agree with neecewh, your choice of where to live will depend on what you're looking for. We moved from CT about 1.5 years ago and looked at everything between Little River and Murrells Inlet. We chose the Forestbrook area because it's convenient to everything MB has to offer but we can avoid tourist traffic to do our daily tasks (grocery store, shopping, etc.). We're 5 minutes from the mall, the airport, walmart, target, etc. We're 10 minutes from the beach and on the "right" side of the intercoastal for a break on our homeowners insurance. We rented initially to help make sure we liked the area and when we decided it was the right place for us, we signed to build a house and moved in about a month ago. Houses in our neighborhood are right in your price range and will only have 49 homes so if PM me if you'd like more info and a link to the web site for our neighborhood.
We liked Little River but found it a little to far away from most of the activities in the MB area. There are free concerts all summer in downtown MB and at Market Commons and it would be a 20 minute drive from Little River vs 5 minutes from where we are. We also go to MB State Park rather than the beaches in MB because it's less crowded and more family oriented. Like neecewh, we didn't particularly care for NMB and MB was ok but not what we were looking for. We loved Surfside and Garden City and where we are is relatively close to those areas.
What I tell friends from the northeast is that summer here is like the two hottest and most humid weeks in CT but it lasts from June to the end of August. But, if you're at the beach, the breeze makes it feel much more comfortable. Another thing I tell them...they stay inside all winter to avoid the cold and snow and we stay inside a lot in the summer to avoid the heat. It depends on your tolerance for heat/humidity.
Would we move here again...absolutely. It's everything we hoped it would be and more. But, our children are grown and if we had school age children, we might feel differently. But, if you are doing private school, it would not be much of a concern but there are good public schools here, you just have to be picky about where you live to get in those schools.
My best recommendation is to take a "vacation" here for a week but use it to explore the area to find out more about specific towns/neighborhoods. Get out of your car and talk to people walking in neighborhoods and in Home Depot, etc. Ask them where they live and what they like about it or don't like. People who vacation here and take in the "tourist" stuff don't get a feel for what it's like to live here. You have to get away from the beach and hotels and explore the real housing areas and regular businesses.
We are moving to Little River this coming Monday so cannot comment yet on whether all is as we expect but after 8 years of vacationing in LR several times a year I think we have a good feel for what to expect. We find the LR end of the Grand Strand to have less traffic and this is why we chose to relocate permanently to this end. It is also close to several of our favorite golf courses. It continues to amaze me how many non-golfers relocate here too but that is our primary motivation - that and the fact that we love warm/steamy weather. We were never really beach goers but now love going late aftrenoon after a round of golf. Good luck with your search!
Good morning...I would probably want to move towards the south end of Myrtle Beach, Surfside...near the Market Commons possibly with a young child...Best wishes to you!
we moved from southern nj to south of myrtle beach and love it here less bugs then jersey its hot in the summer but not that humid stale air we had up north since you have a young child that needs schooling the best is to check out the schools in the district you are going to
We live in the Carolina Forest area of Myrtle Beach, many families, good schools. I do like this area -
The summer months when it is so hot, you stay in the air conditioning go to the pools or beach.
We moved from NJ - would I do it again - yes, if I didn't have to worry about schools, I am just not happy with the schools here.
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