Pelion,Gilbert,Elgin,Lugoff (Lexington, Camden: luxury, travel, housing)

[salatheel]

Our house is sold and we are finally going to be heading down. We are looking at new construction in these areas; Pelion,Gilbert,Elgin,and Lugoff.

We were wondering if any that new the areas had any opinions on these areas. We want a country setting with an acre or 2 but with decent schools. None of these areas look bad as far as crime stats or school stats.

Does anyone have any opinions on them? Thank you for your help!

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by salatheel

Our house is sold and we are finally going to be heading down. We are looking at new construction in these areas; Pelion,Gilbert,Elgin,and Lugoff.

We were wondering if any that new the areas had any opinions on these areas. We want a country setting with an acre or 2 but with decent schools. None of these areas look bad as far as crime stats or school stats.

Does anyone have any opinions on them? Thank you for your help!

Salatheel, I personally don't care for Pelion, the land area is not very attractive and I do not believe the schools are highly rated. I believe Gilbert is more highly rated and it is also close to Lake Murray. IMO, the further north you are in Lexington County, the more attractive the scenery and the better the schools' ratings. If you want a more rural area and very highly rated schools, check out Blythewood in Richland County and Chapin in Lexington County. I believe the Lugoff and Elgin Schools also have an ok reputation.

[salatheel]

What do you think of Leesburg and Camden? Chapin seems nice but a little more expensive. Blythwood has higher crime according to relo.com.

[waccamatt]

Camden is cool, its a nice little town. The crime stats for Blythewood must be skewed by something, because the area has a good reputation.

[salatheel]

Thanks for your help.

[simplyaged]

Salatheel, I live in Elgin and love it. I have one child still in school and he will be going into high school. He has gone to these schools since day one. I'm not saying they are perfect, but what school really is!

A lot of where to move to depends on the school age of your children or child. Your occupation, meaning what you can afford. And just how rural you want.

Elgin is growing by leaps and bounds compared to two years ago. Lugoff is our next closest town and right now we share the high school with them. Lugoff is larger than Elgin. Camden is known for it's historical buildings and horses. It's a beautiful town with a lot of old money. And close to all three is Lake Wateree. Kershaw County is a lower taxing county compared to Richland and Lexington County.

We live very close to Blythewood and if I could afford it, I would move there. They just built a new high school which has a lot more to offer than ours. But they have grown tremendously in the past two years and as I said before it is in Richland County which is a higher taxing county.

Elgin, Lugoff, Camden and Blythewood do have the luxury of Fairfield Electric Co-op which is a whole heck of a lot cheaper than South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G).

I grew up in Lexington and I loved it as a child. The schools were great. But they have grown so much that I wouldn't want to live there now, although I don't know much about Chapin other than how to get there from here.

I like being out away from others and having to drive 20 minutes to get to the grocery store. And I'm a lucky person because all the people who live around us is related in some way. So we don't have to worry about any housing developments moving in on us. They are currently building plenty of those here in Elgin. You can still find plenty of land here though it just isn't as cheap as it was just a year ago.

And if aren't from the South, be prepared to slow it way down. We tend to do every thing slower....even talking. Plus most of us are so polite that it can seem un-real. But trust me it won't be long and you'll feel right at home!!

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

[salatheel]

That all sounds great Simplyaged. We have been through Elgin and Lugoff and really liked them. It definitely felt like home to us. We are going to buy an inexpensive travel trailer to live in for a month and then use on our trips back up to see family. Thanks for your help.

[simplyaged]

Originally Posted by salatheel

Thanks for your help.

Anytime, and you are more than welcome!