What do you love/hate about the SC Lowcountry? (Charleston: homes, school)

[ah090206]

Love- It is beautiful and warm during the winter! I am so glad to be away from the snow!

Hate- Too many people! Its becoming a big city...and is not big enough to be a big city.

Other info...Chas. one of the Best Cities in America (voted #4 behind Chicago, San Fran, and New York.)

[IBrakeforTailgaters]

I was born, raised, and currently live in the Charlotte area, but I have relatives in the Lowcountry (Colleton County) and visit every now and then. I absolutely love the palm trees and the Spanish moss! They just make the area unique.

However, I can't stand the unbearable humidity. It is much more uncomfortable down there than it is up here. I remember standing outside of my uncle's shop one time on a summer day. It was 98 degrees, but the heat index was 119 degrees. It REALLY felt like someone slapped a wet towel on my entire body!

[Colddiamond102]

[quote=gdog1985;3873160]

Originally Posted by locallady

There are tons of alligators on the Naval Weapons Station and one ate a dog last month down at Marrington Plantation. If you leave them alone they won't bother you.

yeah, there are alot of them.My boyfriend graduated from NWS. There's a couple in the ponds at the Nuclear Power School...the sailors call them their "Attack Lizards" lol

[Charleston Class]

Love: The scenery. Coming over the JI connector, Ashley River Bridge, or Ravenel Bridge during a sunrise is priceless-heading downtown-.
The people. Genuine and honest. An old professor once told me: " You have South Carolinians..and then you have Charlestonians". I believe it now.
The Food. I know good food because of this place, and I'm very particular about what I eat.
Schools: CofC, The Citadel, MUSC, Charleston School of Law, Charleston Southern..all of those great schools are within minutes of each other. If you have the desire to learn or further your education, take your pick.

Hate: Traffic. Charleston has outgrown all of it's roads.
Classism: Charleston doesn't have a large enough middle class IMO. For the most part, people are either well off and have been for sometime, or are just barely making it.
Jobs: The city needs a more diverse job market. Most jobs are either in the Medical or Hospitality field. It has come a long way, but more work is needed to compete with other southeastern cities.

[mafitz]

We left the low country after living there for 8 years. I have far more hates than loves let me tell you. I would never ever recommend that anyone move there.

Loves:
The ocean.

Hates:
The area is filthy! Highways, neighborhoods, and roads are lined with trash. People just throw their trash out and don't even think twice about it. It happens everywhere.

The mentality of the people. Its called Charleston Blue Blood syndrome. They really think they are accountable to no one, have no value systems or even the most basic manners.

Lack of quality in services. It doesn't matter what it is. They do the minimum amount of work for the most pay. County employees and elected officials are the worse. They could care less about their taxpayers.

It is full of ambulance chasers and people who are out to make a fast buck. It is not about right and wrong, or even the law, it is always going to be about WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU KNOW!

People are self absorbed and materialistic.

Quality of life is very LOW!

The growth of the area resulted in the worse sprawl which has just made the low country UGLY!

It is far more expensive to live there if you are a taxpayer, but you are paying more to live in filth.

People are lazy.

The beaurocracy is exceptionally bad.

The police like to shoot and kill people far more than what you see in some of the largest cities. (We lived outside of DC and then later in Tacoma WA via military) The police are a bunch of gun toting red neck wannabes. You can't even call them red necks because they are spineless.

People are rude and inconsiderate. They talk big about themselves, but they have no moral fortitude, no family values, the middle class taxpayers are their slaves, and they are so beyond just being ignorant. They really just don't care. They will fine you if you don't mow your lawn, but as long as you mow your lawn, you can starve and abuse your domestic animals and no one will call you on it unless you are poor. We lived in a middle class burb of cookie cutter poorly constructed homes, and saw this mentality on a daily basis. People would have very well manicured front yards, but then you look beyond the well trimmed hedges, and they have a flea infested dog chained to a tree in the backyard. They are so obsessed in keeping up with or outdoing each other that they live well beyond their means. Their kids LIVE in childcare, just so mom and dad can work to pay for a brand new SUV or truck every two years.

The pollution is so bad that allergies and sinus infections are a way of life. Its bad enough that you can smell it.

The perfect example of just how incompetent the government is out there is to look at the state of their schools.

We left and will never ever go back.

[GJBenn85]

mafitz,

I am not exactly fond of this area (I like Hilton Head/Bluffton & Mt. Pleasant, not crazy about anywhere else here) but your comments are laughable. Pollution? What pollution? Allergies and sinus infections are a way of life here because of the vegetation and inherent mold, not pollution.

As for the rest of your complaints, you just described all of America.

Thank you for the entertainment.

[Geechie North]

Pollution:

Charleston's air and water are worse than the average for US cities.

Then there's the radiation, I mean you are downwind from the old "Savannah River Project", for gawd's sake; the old "Bum factory", as Charlestonians used to call it.

Read : "Dealdly Deceit" by Jay Gould and Benjamin A. Goldman, formerly of the EPA.


But, like: Folly Beach, Gullah culture, boiled peanuts.

Dislike: Racism, sprawl, the way they treat the average child.

[mafitz]

That is just it GJBenn its not the rest of America. As I said we have lived from coast to coast, as well as Florida, Texas, Arizona, Missouri, and now Arkansas. Step out of your bubble and see the rest of the country at least.

I can't believe I forgot about the Gullah culture, I was nearly obsessed with studying everything I could find on it after we got to the Low Country. I love it too.

We moved to Northern AR, and I can not even begin to say how much you appreciate fresh air until you have spent a spell smelling that bizarre sewer smell and the paper factory smell.

The allergies caused by nature do not work, given the lack of NATURE left in the Low Country. Wetlands that were supposed to be protected are being developed rapidly and have been since we first moved there. What is left are 10 to 20 foot strips of woods. If you want to call that nature then once again, travel some.

The only thing that is slowing the sprawl now is the housing market slow down.

You not knowing what is polluted and just how bad it is is just one of the very issues I do believe I covered in my post. People just don't care what is going on.

Other like though that pollution and sprawl reminded me of, those huge old oak trees.

[lolagranola]

The area IS beautiful. Gorgeous.

Great iced tea.

Great seafood, especially the local shrimp.

I have seen sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, a manatee, otters all from my mom's kitchen.

It is the most racist place I have ever lived.

They hate me (yankee).

Racist.

Humidity. When you get out of the shower, how do you know when you're "dry"?

Rascism.

Never-ending construction to get to the beach.

[Geechie North]

Geez, I almost forgot Love:

Bull Island. Forever pristine.

Funny, there was a realtor back in the 80's who wanted the island "developed" because only a few people were able to enjoy it as nature made it, whereas if the native vegetation was cut down and McMansions filled with doctors and stockbrokers from places like Passaic, NJ, were to dominate the scenery then the beauty would be enjoyed by all.

Most civilized places, that would be labeled as the self-serving buffonery it was, but the old "Newsless Courier" promoted the idea for a few issues. Until the Feds said, "Hell no", and the vultures found other carcasses to pick clean.