Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ok I been in Columbia SC enough time to know that the place and area isn't for me totally. I still see it as very much the deep south despite any so called strides they claim they might be trying to make. Not enough though I'm afraid for someone in my situation.
Now when I move to a place,I don't look for it to be the next Portland or Seattle no, but at least someplace a bit more tolerant than a place with lots of anti tolerance, even if it comes with a polite front.
SC seems to bring in the worst of the worst to me.. its gotten to the point where even blacks and latinos there are prejudice when it comes to peoples genders.
I am a Male to Female trans person, 40 years old simply just want more shots and chances to date and make friends. Haven't been getting them in Columbia.
But over the 13 years I been on the net, I had better luck finding people in NC to be friends with or they even found me first. I see it as a more net savvy place at least, a place where more people use the internet.
Columbia has that old charm which I do like, some of NC probably has it too but if its in too high a degree, it could make a lot else lag behind too. I even found the Columbia LGBTQ to be cliquish and discriminatory as well or they'd see me and not take me serious or something to that effect.
I never asked for much and it just seems like I get treated like **** no matter where I go. At this point a Raleigh move is just to reduce some of that if I can, even if I have to eat a slightly higher cost in rent. Just to have the odds be higher I have more nice conversations when I go out in the public vs everyone being prickly and not so nice like I get here along with enough misgendering. Apparently if I voiced these views to some people though, I'd be seen as a liberal nazi when I am in fact a fair minded moderate who doesn't like Trump but I am not ANTIFA at the same time.
Can someone validate or tell me if they've had similar experiences to me if they we're one of those people who moved to NC from SC.
I actually picked Columbia just incase Raleigh was becoming insanely expensive but it appears like it isn't the more research I am doing and Columbia isn't THAT cheap at the same time also for what you get. So this is entirely a nothing to lose situation. What will I pay? just an extra 50-100 a month?? Columbias BEST neighborhoods cost dough to live in. You pay at least 600 bucks a month to split a house, some even more than that. For me it will be worth it though if I have a higher quality of life to eat that extra 100 AND I have a few people I would know when I got to Raleigh as well vs 0 here.
It all goes back to the whole, I made friends in NC rather easily throughout my life on the internet. No one, I mean no one greeted me at the airport when I came to Columbia. Someone even offered to if I was going to choose Raleigh but I didn't at that time, but the good news is, its still not too late!! It was just 7 months ago.
I also foresee the indie scene being a lot better in Raleigh as well than it is in Columbia.. What are your thoughts? I had the right idea with Columbia, it just got executed a bit wrong. I saw it as a cheaper Raleigh with a lot of the same stuff but its not. As far as food goes maybe though or minor league teams. bar and club scene though, doubtful.
Sorry you've had some bad experiences in SC. Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill seem like good fits for you culturally. But things aren't cheap around here.
Not a trans person here, but I do know several as friends of friends, and they seem to like the area and find it very accepting. But the cost of living is pretty high here. If you can find a place that costs you under $600 a month, consider yourself very fortunate. I think you'll definitely enjoy a livelier food and bar scene here too, and going to the Durham Bulls stadium is the best damn bang for your buck you can find for an evening out of entertainment around here, in my opinion. Good luck on your relocation.
600 bucks to split a house with a roommate is a pipe dream in Raleigh and the Triangle: at least it is if you are in one of the actual cities (Raleigh/Durham/Cary/Chapel Hill, etc.). Maybe you can come close to that number in the far flung burbs or countryside, but then you risk some of the same issues that have in Columbia. The Triangle is very blue politically at its core, but like most cities it transitions to way more conservative exurbs pretty quickly. One wild card might be Chatham County south of Durham and Chapel Hill. You might find something less expensive there and it's more progressive than the other largely rural counties surrounding the Triangle.
Have you considered Greensboro? It's less expensive and they have a pretty big LGBT community. I rented a 2BR apartment in Raleigh a few years ago for $1500 in a nice building, so it seems possible that you could find what you're looking for with a roommate. If you're looking for an apartment to rent for $600 and rent that would probably be pretty unrealistic.
Sorry you've had some bad experiences in SC. Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill seem like good fits for you culturally. But things aren't cheap around here.
I determined I should give it a shot though even if I have to eat the extra cost and who knows, it might not even be that much more at all, maybe even the same for someone in my situation. Lexington SC is expensive too and thats immediately in Columbia area. Not that cheap over here either! and like I said I would know one person, have a 2nd one who I could meet, and then a 3rd possibility even. People easier to meet in the Triangle, even Asheville, Charlotte than they are in Columbia. I would say the most cultured place in SC that catches my interest is Rock Hill. Its in the Charlotte metro. Looks like they have a nice revitalization over there to make it a nice enough place.
Its best to avoid the poorly educated. I'm not a fan of kiddy land as well though even if it seems more educated or schools are better. I wouldn't want to live where theres a lot of little ones and less people like me.
But no Columbia I found is really not my bag, kind of cool when I was new here and more open as I never been here before, but I learned fast about it. Thats why I would tell people that if they had to come here, I would tell them to come for 2 weeks and leave. See all the main spots of it but more seem to go to Charleston and skip this place unless a job transfers them.
And where I have lived in FL and want that more socially liberal kind of thing like being trans wouldn't be a problem, I feel the Triangle meets that balance.
Even things like basic services, counselors, someone to talk to about things, its tougher to find, even in the nicer neighborhoods. You might find a YMCA, maybe a food bank here and there. It is almost like the dark ages, good for vacation or stopping through but not to set up shop and stay a long time. I won't do Myrtle Beach I know that and Charleston is the most expensive.
Not a trans person here, but I do know several as friends of friends, and they seem to like the area and find it very accepting. But the cost of living is pretty high here. If you can find a place that costs you under $600 a month, consider yourself very fortunate. I think you'll definitely enjoy a livelier food and bar scene here too, and going to the Durham Bulls stadium is the best damn bang for your buck you can find for an evening out of entertainment around here, in my opinion. Good luck on your relocation.
I come from Massachusetts originally, it has to be easier than Massachusetts and NH now to find a place for 600 in the Triangle. Or else America is going down the tubes, and time to open up all borders and open up a whole new bunch of land to people. We're getting real bad in the USA. Might as well go with the whole World Without Borders thing or the North American Union. It cannot hurt. and I will push that because it seems to fit.
I look at the fact that even in the deep south, 600 is tough to find also. I might as well pay the extra cost and I feel again it won't be much more. Motels ran me 1100 a month as is in the not so good section. I feel I paid a LOT already in where I wasn't getting all my moneys worth and thats in a less cultured area down south so.. again, nothing to lose and through a connection or 2, I could actually hit it. All Columbia has is food on its side,some nice buildings and plaza like complexes and the university. People are a lot ruder than I would have expected though, almost like east coast rude. Philly kinda stuff. Its an every person for themselves kind of culture or most at least whether its the hood or the nice parts, working class also give off that vibe.
You think smaller city, the south, easier travel than a mega city, a lot should come easier but I was dismayed to find that it didn't. It reminds me of Fitchburg and Lowell Massachusetts in some ways. Dead end, rust belt'ish, most people have no way out or thats the mindset at least even if they're well fed and don't realize they have it better than a lot of the newcomers that move there.
Well as far as food goes, I am expecting less out of Raleigh actually but if the rest fits, I am good with it. Because Columbia's food scene is easily just as good. I have to give it its due there. But by all means if Raleigh does have an awesome food scene, then good. I just don't know if its mostly yuppie places vs more local reasonably priced eateries. I do like some grit if I didn't mention that before. Thats why I chose a motel in a not so good part of town. I just like grit and was willing to live in the grittiest areas, nothing was even available in those though where the price would have been the best for me. I'd live in the hood, I have little to no objection to it.
Thanks for wishing me luck, I have a feeling people wise I'd have a better time even if its not perfect or I find some hurdles. I have the upper hand by knowing 1-2 people as well.
And if the area has flea markets too, then I will definitely sign up! Flea markets are my thing. See I like working class things, I just don't like the whole "poorly educated" mindset that some of the lower middle class has. Maybe I needed to come to Columbia to learn again and open my eyes up to that though and it served a purpose if that was the case so all things happen for a reason.
I live in Durham and I would not want to live in anything here that only charged $600 a month for rent here. Probably Raleigh as well.
Even if its 100 more, still. I said I didn't care. I believe there are some for 600 at least in the Triangle. I don't know where exactly but I have a feeling there still is. Its up to the home owners in the end. Personally I'd never charge a lot for rent if I had a place. I couldn't . I just don't have it in me to be greedy. so maybe theres someone like that also, you think?? More chance I find it there than here where people seem to have that whole cheapskate tight with a buck in all cases kind of mindset so its all about profiting. No one gives anything away here or accepts a cut as in a tenant getting a deal like if the tenant is good, thats my point. I had a case where 30 dollars was sliced off the top because he saw I was trust worthy. He wanted 650 but gave it to me for $620. In St Petersburg some time back. I found places in Tampa area for $500 in Brandon, thats an awesome deal for that area. 550 maybe it was but still. Wasn't in a bad area either and socially people dont give 2 damns if you're trans, gay or whatever.
People get cut breaks all the time, I am just one of the unlucky ones but where I am trans and identify, I could get further if I am in a place like this vs one with less enlightenment. And no I am NOT looking for a Portland replica, NO WAY or else I'd stay put. You speak like the Triangle is just as expensive as Portland or California, Seattle, it isn't. Even St Petersburg which has gone up in price as a city is still just as cheap as Columbia is in a lot of rentals. Seriously. I checked and St Pete felt the most Californicated city in the South. Some greedy b-tards in Columbia. No joke.
Columbia is the expensive place if anything for what you're getting and with a high crime rate on paper as well, not that I seen it in front of me but if you go by the index, a lot would be afraid, I just have tougher skin to hoods than some do. If you think Durham is high, well its about 47 per 1000 violent crimes or something, Columbia is 63 and thats with no other cities around until you get to Charlotte. I think people mistake SC for being cheap if anything and the myth is kinda like NC being extremely expensive. Not saying it isn't or it hasn't gone up but because SC is overrated for being "cheap", its worth the gamble for me to come to this area. I mean can you blame me for trying?
The only place this area in SC seems cheaper than is New Hampshire based on my experience looking for places and even then, it might even be a tie. Well whoever pushed the whole "SC is cheap" myth really profited off that and often will use the lower taxes to justify it, no income tax, you got car tax though and it can add up to a lot. Hell even GA is more forward than here and some of the listings cost less!! around Atlanta!!! I am telling you!!
600 bucks to split a house with a roommate is a pipe dream in Raleigh and the Triangle: at least it is if you are in one of the actual cities (Raleigh/Durham/Cary/Chapel Hill, etc.). Maybe you can come close to that number in the far flung burbs or countryside, but then you risk some of the same issues that have in Columbia. The Triangle is very blue politically at its core, but like most cities it transitions to way more conservative exurbs pretty quickly. One wild card might be Chatham County south of Durham and Chapel Hill. You might find something less expensive there and it's more progressive than the other largely rural counties surrounding the Triangle.
You're suggesting its as bad as Portland or Seattle there.. trying to scare me away ? I'm not falling for it.
I don't at all believe I have to go extremely far just to get that, I mean come on. This is a tactic you're using. I already stated how in SC its that way also if anything and more money hungry hardcore republicans here if anything. I do think the market makes it high in Raleigh sure, but I am more likely to find the exception who will knock some off my rent if they like me or want to invest in me and will curb at least a little of their need to make money on rentals. I am experienced I know. and whether you want me to or not, I am coming so scare me all you like on the costs. This is America and we're free to pursue where we want.
To be fair though yes, in the far burbs of Raleigh I do see it like Columbia maybe more far out feeling depending but I won't have to go that far. What about Clayton? that seems close enough in, but further out for comfort too. Someone i know is in Clayton. The other in Raleigh who was actually in the New Wave scene. and then a trans person who was willing to meet me, again more than I got in Columbia. This place is more backwards than I expected for the "most" democratic stronghold". Even Rock Hill or Greenville would be better., I just am not a mountain person really. I thought how behind Columbia felt was cute at first or like a trip back in time like Back to the Future but then I saw the reason why as I observed it more. Even the Lake Murray area is getting crowded, but maybe with the wrong kind of people. I thought I'd meet a few trans folks or offbeat types hiding out here but I guess I was wrong.
I think Columbia is on pace to becoming the next Portland. It will fix up in time, more blacks will be driven out, the locals will get mad at the even higher costs. That will be the new Portland.. Asheville at least still seems pretty laid back even though it got expensive and Portland is a lot less laid back and friendly than you would expect, again back to the whole SC is cheap argument. Same analogy. Columbia to me was like taking a trip back in time to either Sacramento or Portland before they became something, better but not really, one reverse replaces the other reverse in the end. It will be discovered but even then, not enough room to build, the expansion will have to move outward. It might even have to places like Chapin. There are people here though who want to make Columbia like Portland, theres just less weirdness... for now.
Asheville and Austin seem to be more in the same category with Raleigh getting into that mix too.
Columbia I forecast will be more like Sacramento and Portland level. Poor economic but quirky hubs, less than B rated music scene. Sactown because of the heat and the cool at night.
But yea I will take note of Chatham County and see.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
