Familiar With Minneapolis St Paul? (Charleston, North: house, income, taxes)

[vhoeppner]

Thanks for reading our post - we need a reality check.

We're lifelong Minneapolis St Paul residents recently returned from a Charleston house hunting trip (vacationed there multiple times over the years in winter and summer). Everything's a go in our minds except for lingering doubt over weather - may be succumbing to well intentioned friends )

In our minds, two or three months of humid heat trumps five months of cold and snow. We're not crazy about Palmetto bugs but they go with the territory I guess. Both of us are 57, kayakers, walkers and dog lovers. My husband has a solid handyman business that would be fairly easy to relocate (corporate guy went home repair, couldn't be happier!).

Our 25 year old son was along on last week's house hunting trip. He spent the last five years in Nashville and is ready to settle down, raise a family, etc. He's interested in C of C's discovery informatics program so it'd be great to have him nearby.

Thoughts or comments for us about the weather - or other transitions? If you're familiar with Minneapolis St Paul, my guess is you'll understand where we're coming from!

Thanks.

[OleTomCat]

Read Here: //www.city-data.com/forum/charl...questions.html

[roxanneself]

Originally Posted by vhoeppner

In our minds, two or three months of humid heat trumps five months of cold and snow. We're not crazy about Palmetto bugs but they go with the territory I guess.

Thanks.

Unless you are used to higher summer temps I would plan on more than two or three months. I come from the Pacific Northwest where summers are very mild so for us it's more like five months of humid heat, since for a good five months the temps are higher than we are used to. We came here looking for higher temps, so once our blood thins a bit we'll be happy as can be. We did spend two months here during the summer before we decided to move to be sure it was what we wanted though. Unless you are in a hurry to make a decision I highly recommend taking a trip out here in July or August so you get a real idea of what to expect.

[joyeaux]

I'd be more concerned over relocating your husband's business. It seems many well established home repair businesses have had a rough time of it here lately. If generating income is of no concern, then come on down. Between the AC & beachbreeze, who notices the humidity?!!!!!

[SCBeaches]

The heat and humidity def. take some getting used to esp. when you are coming from a frigid climate like St. Paul. Some people come, absolutely hate it, and move back to where they came from within a few years. I've been here 27 years and love it. I don't mind the heat, but wish it was a bit drier. There have been days when the actual temp. is 98 but the heat index is 105 and you can barely breathe outside. Those days I try to stay in the AC and not go out at all. As Roxanne suggested, I would come down to spend some time in July and August before deciding to live here permanently.

[scdreamer]

While Minneapolis has extreme cold, there is also some extreme heat in the summer months:

Average Weather for Minneapolis, MN - Temperature and Precipitation

You will experience hotter temps in Charleston (obviously), but it's not as drastically different as one might expect:

Average Weather for Charleston, SC - Temperature and Precipitation

The inland upper midwest has some of the most extreme weather in the country!

...And in Charleston, you can always cool off at the beach!

[OldCavalier]

Hmm. Mosquitos vs. Palmetto bugs? For me Minn.-St.Paul is a weather nightmare. In the Summer as soon as the sun goes down one is innudated with large mosquitos, the MN State Bird. In the Winter is is snow, snow and more snow along with ice, ice, and more ice. Meanwhile in Charleston, 45+ degree weather, walk on the beach or downtown, and ignore the bugs in the Summer. Hmm.

[OleTomCat]

Our Mosquitoes need copilots....

[newtotheocean]

I grew up in southern MN (Mankato) left at 21 & spent 15 years in Colorado before moving down here 16 months ago.....

In my opinion the "biting" bugs (mosquitos, flies, gnats) are not near as bad down here as they were in MN. A little skin so soft down here and you don't really notice them. In MN it seems like using 100% deet is the only thing that keeps them away. I live a couple blocks from a marshy area here and sit outside a lot, the only times I really put on bug spray is when I am doing yardwork, stirring them up. Now the sizable bugs ("Palmetto bugs" aka roaches and those banana spiders) are very freaky to me but as long as you have a good pest control company spraying regularly, seeing them is very few & far between.

As far as the humidity comparison.... Yes the humidity is more intense down here, consistantly for a longer period of time, in the summer months than it is in MN. I feel like it seems more intense sometimes though because it just seems to be hotter down here in the summer than in MN. Overall, it really doesn't bother me that much I do my dog walking/running early in the mornings during the summer & spend a lot of weekends at the beach. Even though the water gets very warm by the end of the summer, the beach still seems cooler to me than my backyard.

The effect the humidity is going to have on you is all about the particular person & their tolerance for heat. I am the type of person that would much rather be hot than cold. So for me it's really not a huge deal & does not force me inside for the summer months, just adjusts my schedule a bit....

Good luck to you!

[ranger17]

we moved to SC 2 yrs ago from WI and love SC; in our opinion the SC summer is far easier to deal with then the winters back home ( you dont shovel humidity ). Yes there are days up there that the heat index can slam you, but those are far fewer then the stretch down here. But after spending our lives in WI, where winter after winter can avg 48" of snow and some years hit over 100".... then add in days where the high is below zero and the wind chills are 40+ below zero.... and the ice is on the lakes 4+ months.... well you get the idea.

My wife and I are both in our 40's, made this a relocation by choice. It allows us to do things outdoors year round ( we did not ski/snowmobile/etc back home ) and depending on where you live in SC a couple hour drive can take you to real mountains, to the ocean, and to many locations where the history is far deeper then we had in WI ( or anywhere in midwest ).

For bugs, we have our home sprayed and rarely see those palmetto bugs ( roaches ), and actualy though we live across the street from the lake have fewer skeeters here then we did in WI. Now there are more snakes here, but again just something to watch for outdoors.

Oh, once you dig in ( if you haven't already ) you'll see likely large differences in taxes, etc here as well. You may not have a "mall of america" here, but i'd guess as locals there it wasn't always your first choice for shopping...
Good luck!