Charleston, SC vs. Jacksonville, FL (Isle of Palms: employment, wages, living)

[tangerinepuddle]

Hi everyone-

Has anyone lived in both? What are the differences? Are there any?

1. Employment - what/who are the major employers in both areas? I would imagine Jax has more "white collar" jobs because it is much larger - or am I mistaken? Wages?

2. Level of education in the general population? (In your best guesstimate)

3. Better beaches? Cleaner? More public beaches?

4. Which city is more conservative? Liberal? Which has a higher tolerance of alternative lifestyle (interracial marriage, gay, tolerance for different races) (I know its all relative - I realize they are both in the south, and are probably quite a bit less liberal than the west coast or northeast)

5. Cost of living? Which is cheaper?

Any and all opinions, insight, fact is welcome, and thanks in advance!!!!!

[tangerinepuddle]

Originally Posted by tangerinepuddle

Hi everyone-

Has anyone lived in both? What are the differences? Are there any?

1. Employment - what/who are the major employers in both areas? I would imagine Jax has more "white collar" jobs because it is much larger - or am I mistaken? Wages?

2. Level of education in the general population? (In your best guesstimate)

3. Better beaches? Cleaner? More public beaches?

4. Which city is more conservative? Liberal? Which has a higher tolerance of alternative lifestyle (interracial marriage, gay, tolerance for different races) (I know its all relative - I realize they are both in the south, and are probably quite a bit less liberal than the west coast or northeast)

5. Cost of living? Which is cheaper?

Any and all opinions, insight, fact is welcome, and thanks in advance!!!!!

Please please and thanks so much!

[lowcountry]

OK I will take a shot at this. Try clicking on Citi-data.com at the top of this page and drilling down into the stats on each place regarding cost of living etc. Also use the search feature on this forum and the Florida Forum for each city to get all the posts about each city. Try to frame google searches for what you need about each place. Go to the convention and visitors bureau site for Charleston. Its more of a visitors attraction than Jax. and has a lot of cultural, dining and entertainment events. Then I would fish around on realtor .com for each area. I would try the Places Rated type web-sites and the Sperling site for Best places to live listings. Checkout websites re. Isle of Palms, MT. Pleasant, James Island,. Go to SCIway.com.
Most people would say that Charleston is a dream location if you have a really good profession and can afford all that it offers. Jax is more of a commercial center and has more kinds of employment opportunities .The weather is probably a little nicer in the winter in Florida.

[waccamatt]

Jacksonville is much bigger than Charleston, but it is more conservative. I am gay and I know people in both cities and I would choose Charleston. As far as the beaches; they both have beautiful beaches and a nice climate, though Jacksonville is somewhat warmer during the winter. I would bet that wages are higher in J'ville, but the cost of living is probably a little higher, too. The ports are big in both places and there is a large military presence in both cities. Charleston's economy revolves mostly around tourism and the port, I don't know as much about Jacksonville.

[eureka1]

My folks live in Jacksonville and housing prices are definitely cheaper there. Good advice from the poster who pointed you to the websites. To me there isn't much resemblance between the two towns. Charleston is more "urban", Jax is like an LA sprawl. Great zoo, though!