If your looking into Camden, SC..... (Columbia, Irmo: real estate, low crime, house)

[Sierra2Caden]

I live there now and can help you with questions. I also lived a short time in Elgin.

[salatheel]

I am very interested in Camden. I loved the historical feel. My real estate agent tried to steer me away from Camden because it was too far out from Columbia. She seemed to prefer Lexington and Irmo. We don't want cookie cutter. We want a nice lot with privacy in a safe area with decent schools and low crime. We also want a cute usuable downtown area. Our trip in the area didn't allow us a lot of time and we only saw the revolutionary war monument area. we did not go downtown at all. We looked a lot in Elgin and Lugoff and liked that a lot. Ideally I would like an all brick ranch in good shape on a couple acres for under 140k. I love history. Especially revolutionary war. So Camden really appeals to me.

[Sierra2Caden]

Camden looks nice, but there really is not much to do here. People will say hi, but it's not easy to make friends. I have only 1 friend after being here 1 1/2 yrs. The school are not that good even compared to NC. We paid $124,000 for a 1408 sqft house on .97 acres. We are tired of eating the same old food all the time. Most homes here the have a couple of acres are either junk or in a bad area.
I have lived in Elgin and the only thing nice about it was how close to Columbia it was and the schools there were better. Even out there you wont find a few acres and a house for $140,000.
I would say that if you want things to do, then you best bet is Elgin. Camden is about old money, and they have a law called the Blue Law, where nothing opens until 1:30 pm on sundays. Wal-Mart is the only thing opened and even in there you can only buy food and a few other things. This is thanks to the churches.
In Elgin, the best Elementary school is Blaney and for middle-Leslie Stover.
I have heard that Lexington, is not a good area, but that is just hear say.
Also wanted to add that Lugoff has nothing either.

[outofsc]

Camden is nice but it is difficult to break into local society. When we moved to Camden, we were warned by everyone not to do it b/c we would hate it. We loved it! But, my job allowed me to meet and mingle with everyone in town, including the mayor, so we felt comfortable there. Camden is very protective of it's historic feel and generally doesn't embrace change. That's one of the things that preserves the beauty and charm of the town. However, it makes it difficult for newcomers. You may love it or not - just know that if you move there you may have to work far harder for friendships than in other areas. Hope this helps. It really is a great little town once you "break into" the area.

[spmoran]

My wife is a McManus and we are moving to Camden in the next several weeks. Hopefully it won't be too big a shock to our system. We're coming from Richmond (for 1 yr) but we were Seattle-ites for a long time. But we like being close to family, and are looking forward to the move.