Please tell me about Charleston, SC (Moncks Corner: transplants, moving to, ticket)

[Pattig]

Originally Posted by emilybh

I lived in Charleston for 4 years and tried to pretend I loved it but after a year or two the novelty of the being there and all the tourist attractions wear off and the BLASTED HEAT INDEX in latter spring, summer and early fall makes it very uncomfortable to do anything outside. You have to run your a/c 24/7 which means big utility bills.

I finally had to face the facts and moved to the "upcountry" where it is not only cooler during those seasons but a LOT less humid. The heat index is closer to what it is like in New England summers. You only need to run the A/C a few hours a day and only for a few months . You can actually do things outdoors in the summer here.

I also didn't like all the huge stinging jellyfish in the water at the beaches.

If you like the heat (real heat like 109 that feels like 125 or more degrees), you may like it.

Where the Coast Guard station is, is a pretty spot though. If you could live right near there it would make it a lot more tolerable (for me anyway). Also if they have boats you can sail, the harbor there can be nice for small boat sailing once you learn to avoid the shallow spots. Unfortunately the heat index is even worse on the water in the summer ---but in the winter and during the cooler times it's nice.

Sullivan's Island off of Mt. Pleasant is the other spot that os gorgeous enough for me to tolerate the hot weather again if I could live there.

So you did finally move Emily!! Best wishes to you!! I hope you love your new life there. For me.. I would miss the ocean too much!!! Take care..

[IsNull]

Originally Posted by emilybh

I lived in Charleston for 4 years and tried to pretend I loved it but after a year or two the novelty of the being there and all the tourist attractions wear off and the BLASTED HEAT INDEX in latter spring, summer and early fall makes it very uncomfortable to do anything outside. You have to run your a/c 24/7 which means big utility bills.

I finally had to face the facts and moved to the "upcountry" where it is not only cooler during those seasons but a LOT less humid. The heat index is closer to what it is like in New England summers. You only need to run the A/C a few hours a day and only for a few months . You can actually do things outdoors in the summer here.

You must have some pretty high heat tolerances because even in the uppermost corner of SC in the mtns you're going to run your AC most of the summer.

[coastie_wife]

Originally Posted by Robynn

Where is the coast guard station?

I'm not sure. I'll have to ask my husband.

[OleTomCat]

Originally Posted by OleTomCat

Drive down East Bay until you get to the Battery, then keep going around where it curves the Coast Guard station is at the very end of that road..

Originally Posted by coastie_wife

I'm not sure. I'll have to ask my husband.

See above...

[bryancrabtree]

There are definitely some areas in Charleston that have high crime areas. But, there are also some areas where frankly I feel about as safe as I do anywhere I've been in the World. And, as to schools, while the "overall" numbers aren't that appealing, there are a few school districts that Parents call "pockets of excellence." Some of the schools you might want to check out depending on your price point are Dorchester II Schools in Summerville area, or the Elementary schools of Mount Pleasant (including the exception lottery-based Buist Academy). I find Greatschools.org to be a great resource of sorting out the rumors and the reality. You'll do great in the Charleston area if you pick from the 3-4 communities (ranging from $100's in price to infinity) that generally alleviate your concerns.

[mrpeatie]

OTC response is correct but not the easiest router. Go south Locklear to where it makes that 110 degree curve and turns into Broad Street. (If you could have driven straight accross that little piece of marsh you would have driven right up to their dock). Right at the first light (Chisholm?) and right onto Tradd for all of 100-200 feet.

I think there is also a separate office and another dock else where. I am friends with a couple that just retired from the CG and will ask them when I see them next.

If he is at the downtown location James Island or West Ashley would be your closest affordable areas. If he is North Charleston I think Hannahan is a great compromise area (its one of those places nobody moves to town to live in but as they move around they discover it has all the things they want at a reasonable price.)

West Ashley has a number of very good elementary schools- 3 or 4 could go up against any of the local schools, one good & one so-so middle and a middle of the road high school. But the top students do not sudenly become mediocre as much as the lower end brings down the average when you get to the high school.

Mt Pleasant has the best public schools in the area top to bottom. But it is very homogenous & the high school is huge.

James Island is #2 two to Mt Pleasant for the most part. Dorchester District 2 is the best overall district because it does not have poor performing schools bringing down the average. Charleston County Schools have everything from a magnate high school ranked top 20 in the nation to St James, North Charleston and Stall High Schools which unfortunately look like educational battlefields on paper. There are also 2 magnate (one for arts, one academic) high schools for Charleston County that are open to anyone in district.

Daniel Island and Hanahan are Berkeley County Schools. And IIRC Daniel Island will be feeding into Hanahan High for a while. Hanahan schools are actually good they just don't have the buzz of Mt Pleasant or belong to a district with more consistent schools like the portions of Summerville & North Charleston in Dorchester 2.

And one odd note to point out- check the district any particular house is in. Daniel Island is City of Charleston but Berkeley County and North Charleston actually has portions in both Dorchester and Charleston Counties.

The biggest disappointment for people moving to Charleston tend to be the diference between being a tourist in a town and an actual resident. Their eyes & heart falls in love with downtown & their budget dictates Summerville or Goose Creek. Or they see it as a small city & assume its a thriving liberal town- or vice versa, that its a conservative Bastion since its in the South. It is also not a large city like Charlotte so jobs, opportunities & even retail will reflect that.

I think you'll probably like it since Charleston compares very favorably to Savannah & Wilmington in a lot of ways and you seemed to like Wilmington.

[Techgeek]

For many years, the city of NORTH Charleston was on the list of most dangerous cities in America. It's been slowly getting better over the last few years. This isn't to say that crime doesn't happen elsewhere in the area (it does) but chances are, what you are hearing about if you aren't from around here is that.

Crime actually happens everywhere (not that we are a lawless cesspool just that no area is immune). Even Mt. Pleasant (gasp!) has their fair share of occasional hoodlums being up to no good. Generally, the crime tends to be concentrated in areas that are low income and relatively easy to spot. If you stay away from those areas, the worst thing you will ever deal with in the Charleston area will likely be attributable to "bored kids on summer break" or something similar.

The school system here is interesting to say the least. Dorchester II (in Summerville and part of North Charleston) is the best public school district in the state. There are some (a large number actually) who will argue that Wando is a better high school than anything in Dorchester II despite being in Charleston County and that the only reason it ranks lower is that the other Charleston County schools (Burke, North Charleston, Stall etc) pull down their average. Berkeley schools tend to vary from my understanding. Some schools are in rural areas where most families don't exactly pull down large salaries, the schools rely entirely on state funding and it shows. Other schools, like Daniel Island, have VERY active PTAs that are ready, willing and, most importantly, able to make up for any shortfall from the state and it shows (it's a nice school and they have nice stuff there).

You will want to bear all of that in mind when you make your choices as to where to live in Charleston.

[joyeaux]

Originally Posted by OleTomCat

... while MtP has some really good ones too, they are in one of the worse counties in the area for schools, CCSD (Charleston County School District).
...

Oh, so true & oh, so wrong ... what a back-handed way to trash a decent town's good school system. MtP schools are very strong (really good) regardless of CCSD.

[OleTomCat]

Originally Posted by joyeaux

Oh, so true & oh, so wrong ... what a back-handed way to trash a decent town's good school system. MtP schools are very strong (really good) regardless of CCSD.

That is exactly what I said, there was no back handed trashing, just stating the facts. The facts are that CCSD, one of the most dysfunctional school districts in the state runs the MtP schools, the fact that they do so well in-spite of this fact speaks very highly of the schools there. MtP supports, monetarily, nearly half of the rest of Charleston county.

So Joy the next time you want to try to take one of my statements out of context please get your facts correct...

[joyeaux]

No facts were distorted, OTC, just defending my turf. OP reads what I did & hears ugly about MtP amongst your "praise".