Looking for info on SC

[Geechie North]

If warmth is your thing.

[Greenville]

Originally Posted by PawleysDude

If SC currently has 4M people, at least 3.9M of them must live at the coast. Population density is much higher in coastal regions, so if you like space, the coast is not the place to be. There are numerous small towns in the Piedmont region where acreage should be available fairly reasonable. The middle of the state, known as the Sandhills, also has areas that are not densely populated.

Population density is NOT higher along the coast. The Greenville-Spartanburg area in the Upstate has 1.2 million people. Columbia contributes another 700,000+. Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and Hilton Head contribute population to the coast, but there are also plenty of small coastal towns with nothing going on. To characterize the coast as more populated or more dense is simply not factual.

[JN5147]

It sounds like you would like to purchase property for your wintering in South Carolina. If so, I would do more research on property taxes. SC is very unfriendly to non-resident property owners. It is not uncommon for NRs to be paying 2-3 what the residents pay for like properties. The principal culprits are point-of-sale assessment which means that you will be taxed on what you pay for your property (not what the previous owner was assessed for) and the school operating costs which are paid 100% by second home and investment property owners. Also, NRs pay on the basis of @ 6% vs 4% (for residents) of the assessed value (50% more). The best advice is to check with the Assessor in the County where you are contemplating buying. Ask the right questions because sometimes people involved in the transaction don't always volunteer it. I wouldn' rule out North Carolina if I were you. A LOT friendlier and fairer for non-residents property owners.

[Tinabean]

Geechie, are you serious about the contaminants in our water? Are we really #1 in the nation for contaminated waterways? Please clarify and offer a resource where I can read more about this. My grandparents lived on Lake Murray and both my grandfather and mother died from glioblastoma brain tumors. I've been petrified and convinced there must be an environmental link since this is not a hereditary type of cancer. We always fished and ate from Lake Murray. I'm very interested in reading more about this.....

[Pixielou55]

Clifford - I presently live in Chaska, MN and lived for about 7 years in Barnwell SC. You don't want to go to Barnwell - bad culture shock. I enjoyed Greenville and the northen part that goes a bit into hill country (can't call them mountains but it's elevated). I also liked visiting Charleston but the traffic is horrendous and I would be afraid of hurricanes out that way.

I also lived in Altanta for about 4 years - congested 24 hours a day. I felt claustriphobic. I'd go grocery shopping at 5-6am on Sundays (in Alpharetta) to get away from people, and the roads were packed.

I like living in MN - I like the weather (I died in Barnwell with the heat and humidity - and those fire ants, gnats, mosquitoes and bugs everywhere). I'm looking to move (KY or TN) - the liberals up here are taxing us to death. During a huge deficit and recession, they can't seem to keep their hands out of our wallets. Libs love to spend other people's money.

[Nausikaa]

Originally Posted by Tinabean

Geechie, are you serious about the contaminants in our water? Are we really #1 in the nation for contaminated waterways? Please clarify and offer a resource where I can read more about this. My grandparents lived on Lake Murray and both my grandfather and mother died from glioblastoma brain tumors. I've been petrified and convinced there must be an environmental link since this is not a hereditary type of cancer. We always fished and ate from Lake Murray. I'm very interested in reading more about this.....

Lake Murray is very safe to eat fish from, there are low levels of mercury.

Lake Hartwell has some contamination problems.

The State Columbia SC (http://pd.thestate.com/sp?skin=&aff=1100&keywords=mercury+levels&submit=G o - broken link)