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My family is considering relocating to Florence, SC from Minnesota for a job offer. I sincerely need feedback on the overall vibe of Florence - including safety, schools, any tension in the area, etc. We have 3 young children, so safety and schooling is of course a concern.
I am looking for completely honest feedback from people who live here or people who have relocated here.
My husband and I are very open-minded people, but need to weigh our decision on moving. We have heard that the crime is TERRIBLE, but would love feedback on what is going on in 2016.
I live in Florence born and raised, Florence is a great area to raise your kids and work. The perception is not the reality. Crime is not out of control, new schools are being built and on average a new one has opened every year for the past five. The Downtown is seeing a rebirth and Floretines are coming together. Come for a visit we are friendly this is not hersay or from someone who passed through, but from someone from here.
I've lived on and off in Florence for over 30 years, and have never been the victim of crime, nor have any family members (who have lived here the whole time). The crime stats in Florence are high in the poorer east and north parts of town, and out by the I-95/52 intersection where there are numerous hotels. In most of the rest of town, crime is much lower. If there is any crime in these other areas, it is often late night convenience store robberies. Which is why convenience stores at night may be one of the few places I would avoid.
Florence is a growing interstate city (only one hour from the beach and three from the mountains) that gets a bad rap due to the crime stats, but if you look at the actual numbers of crimes, your chance of being involved in an incident is pretty low. I've lived in North Charleston and felt nowhere near as safe as Florence. Crime in the downtown area, which is being revitalized, is low, partly because there is strong police presence in the area. The public schools are generally decent and safe (Sneed, Delmae, Royall & Lucy T Davis, as well as South Florence, West Florence and Wilson High schools are good examples, where incidents are extremely rare).
Are there better options in SC? Sure. Greenville is booming and a great area to live, as are parts of Columbia (Lexington), and Charleston (West Ashley/Mt Pleasant). There will be more to do, and the crime rate will be lower. Traffic will be significantly worse however. Myrtle Beach is a major tourist area, but it's crime rate is similar to Florence..and summer traffic is awful.
In summary, don't let the fear of crime deter you from moving to Florence, as it's a very good place to raise a family, and the options of things to do is decent for a small city. To be honest, the strikes against this area to me is the extreme summer heat (really all of SC), the relatively flat terrain of the area, and it's lack of being located on a river or ocean (though as I said the Atlantic is only an hour away).
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