Advice on Relocation Which City or Area would be Best? (Columbia: condos, low crime)

[Misty Panda]

Hello folks,

Hopefully someone can share some advice. We are looking for a new place for this point in our lives. Seems everyone is moving everywhere these days. We aren't set on any particular city or region, just floating the idea out.

Things we love and look for, tech centers (lots of tech geeks), very diverse people, real mom & pop shops everywhere, unusual restaurants, very low crime, excellent school system, excellent cost of living standard, a young-minded populous.

We would choose a quaint locally owned organic grocery over a supermarket, a real hometown hardware store over Home Depot or OSH, a m&p general store or wacky thrift store over Costco or Walmart. We want a place with "real" values not "showy" values. A city with a physically active outdoors scene would be very important, running, biking (good bike lanes), volleyball in the park or beach, many unusual places to take walks.

We aren't really interested in new developments, cookie-cutter tracts, McMansions, stripmalls, etc. We're looking for an older home (Bungalow or possibly Victorian) that would be outside of the downtown or historic districts, maybe even something a bit out in the countryside surrounded by other similar homes or open spaces and farmland.

Now that property values are dropping across the country things are looking more promising for buying something nice and getting good value. We aren't interested in overpaying, but we don't mind spending a very good amount.

Thank you and we look forward to your response.

[ninaschmitt]

check out condos in surfside beach for under 100000. the zip code is 29575

[DJShymansky]

Try Summerville, SC or other cities/towns in the Charleston Tri-County area. There are plenty of places that I'd recommend. You'll certainly find something you're in love with down here.

[Carolina_1690]

Thats a lot of qualificaitons you have there. I think Columbia might be your best bet. I think it would end up meeting most of your criteria. Specifically diversity, great schools, great parks, young population, great cost of living, locally owned stores, and lots of old neighborhoods to choose from.

But from a recreational perspective, Spartanburg and Greenville have a better arrangement. Biking is pretty popular in the Upstate, and Spartanburg is the only city in SC (so far) that has recieved recognition for its efforts to become a bike-friendly city. From here you have access to lots of state parks, hiking trails, and the mountains in Western NC are right up I-26.

Columbia has a lot of options too though, and its location puts you at about 2.5 hours from the beach and 3 hours from the mountains, so its easy to make day trips to do whatever you want. You can be pretty much anywhere in the state within a few hours from Columbia.