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My husband and I are looking to relocate to North or South Carolina from New Hampshire. We'd like a small, quaint and rural town (so we can buy a house with some land and our kids can go to smallish schools) with an excellent school system.
Emphasis on "small, quaint and rural" and "excellent school system."
If you are looking for a small and quaint rural town that offers a great school system may I suggest for you to look into the Williamsburg County School District. http://www.wcsd.k12.sc.us WC receive numerous rewards from the state department and it is one of the leaders in the state who implement single gender education.
The entire county is very rural and at the same time you are near to bigger cities such as Florence, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and Columbia.
The teachers in the WC are very dedicated into educating their children and the people who live in WC are very friendly. The schools in WC also have the latest in technologies such as Promethean Boards, SMARTBOARDS, Study Island, and Orchard.
I would also like to add if you love southern BBQ, you will definately feel at home in Williamsburg County since we are known as the BBQ Capital of SC! ;-)
Quaint towns...I know what you are talking about. I've lived in different cities in SC over the last few years, but before that, I grew up in western MA, near the VT/NH border. One of the areas that came to mind encompasses the Spartanburg District 1 schools, which would be the Campobello/Landrum area, near the mountains. That would be my pick in the upstate, especially seeing you are coming from NH. The topography is very similar to the NH mountain areas. The culture is different, so quaint towns in the South have a different feel than up north, IMO. I also like the Six Mile area in Pickens and some of the Oconee County towns, all with mountainous topography. More of a Southern feel here.
If you are looking to be closer to the beaches, I also happen to really love the Bluffton/Okatie area and schools, although it is becoming a fast growing area because people are discovering it. No mountains, but gorgeous spanish moss trees, close to the beach and lots of northern transplants so the feel is different, more like home to me. And Friendly's Ice Cream is in Beafort, if you are a fan of that restaurant...none in the Upstate! My kids LOVE Friendly's.
I should mention I absolutely LOVE the Pawley's Island/Litchfield Beach area, but land is probably going to be very hard to come by and pricey. Nice, modern schools there, too (Waccamaw Elem, Mid, High).
Aetcas-I live in Central Massachusetts and want to move to South Carolina. Nice to see someone from this area is happy they moved. I'm trying to stay as far away from a winter as possible-i.e. no snow!
I have dogs, is the area you are mentioning dog friendly? I grew up in Berlin, MA a small cow town outside of Hudson/Marlborough...I show Chihuahuas in AKC events so I would love a nice small town but still be able to drive not too far to work. (I'm a real estate paralegal but up for something different). My dogs are my children so I won't go anywhere without them.
I have met some people that show who live in Charleston and love it.
Some of the areas mentioned do not have the best schools so do your research. Check out all of your resources. Technology does not equal good schools.
Clover school district is supposed to be really good, at least it used to but I haven't checked them out in recent eyars. Also there are individual schools that are great but are within a district that is notoriously bad and vice versa, so take that into consideration as well.
Unfortunately in SC rural usually equals bad schools and since we are a mostly rural state, that is why SC has a bad reputation for schools. But we do have some GREAT schools, like the best in the country. Greatschools.net is a very good resource.
My husband and I are looking to relocate to North or South Carolina from New Hampshire. We'd like a small, quaint and rural town (so we can buy a house with some land and our kids can go to smallish schools) with an excellent school system.
Emphasis on "small, quaint and rural" and "excellent school system."
Suggestions?
my suggestion is to stop looking for New England in South Carolina.
and i mean that in the most friendly way. you probably oughta learn more about NC or SC. we don't really have "small, quaint and rural towns with excellent school systems." Between the two states we have had hundreds of thousands of transplants moving down here, all looking for the same thing; so if there ever was such a thing, it isn't "rural and quaint" any longer. Cary, NC is a good example, going from a population of 20,000 in 1980 (which really wasn't even rural to begin with), to 125,000 today.
if you want an excellent school system, look in suburban school districts near one of our cities. or, move to a "quaint, rural area" and send your kids to the nearest private school.
if you find a rural area with a good school district, let me know, because i'm curious where it is. i'd be willing to bet there are a few in the upstate, i just don't have any ideas where.
my suggestion is to stop looking for New England in South Carolina.
and i mean that in the most friendly way. you probably oughta learn more about NC or SC. we don't really have "small, quaint and rural towns with excellent school systems." Between the two states we have had hundreds of thousands of transplants moving down here, all looking for the same thing; so if there ever was such a thing, it isn't "rural and quaint" any longer. Cary, NC is a good example, going from a population of 20,000 in 1980 (which really wasn't even rural to begin with), to 125,000 today.
if you want an excellent school system, look in suburban school districts near one of our cities. or, move to a "quaint, rural area" and send your kids to the nearest private school.
if you find a rural area with a good school district, let me know, because i'm curious where it is. i'd be willing to bet there are a few in the upstate, i just don't have any ideas where.
Very well said. The only small town I can think of is Mooresville, NC outside of Charlotte, and that is probably overpopulated now as well.
Clover school district is supposed to be really good, at least it used to but I haven't checked them out in recent eyars. Also there are individual schools that are great but are within a district that is notoriously bad and vice versa, so take that into consideration as well.
Clover's not changed...and I'm not saying that because I am an alumnus Clover and Fort Mill (both York County districts) are very competitive districts and among the top rated in South Carolina and in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Clover's actually a bit more rural than Fort Mill, which is dead to the south of Charlotte and you could probably get more bang for your buck as far as land and homes go. You could also live in very rural areas as the Clover School District expands across northern York County from the Cherokee County, SC/Cleveland County, NC lines into the town of Clover and out toward Lake Wylie, which is where most of the growth is. You can be in the city in 30 minutes from many points. And once again, the schools are a real selling point.
define small school. in south carolina small school sometimes means 600 kids. SC districts like to have large 1,000 to 2,000 plus high schools. hec there are some elementary schools in SC that are over 1,000 in grades k-5 alone.
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you probably oughta learn more about NC or SC. we don't really have "small, quaint and rural towns with excellent school systems." Between the two states we have had hundreds of thousands of transplants moving down here, all looking for the same thing; so if there ever was such a thing, it isn't "rural and quaint" any longer. Cary, NC is a good example, going from a population of 20,000 in 1980 (which really wasn't even rural to begin with), to 125,000 today.
Clover and Fort Mill (both York County districts) are very competitive districts and among the top rated in South Carolina and in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Clover's actually a bit more rural than Fort Mill, which is dead to the south of Charlotte and you could probably get more bang for your buck as far as land and homes go. You could also live in very rural areas as the Clover School District expands across northern York County from the Cherokee County, SC/Cleveland County, NC lines into the town of Clover and out toward Lake Wylie, which is where most of the growth is. You can be in the city in 30 minutes from many points. And once again, the schools are a real selling point.
