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Sorry if this is redundant but my husband and I are considering moving from NH to the Charleston area but I had several questions that need answering. We are looking to start a family so would like to live in a nice area. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
1) How is the job market? What's the best website to use to look for a job?
2) Which areas of Charleston should we stay away from?
3) Are there racism in Charleston? We are an interracial couple.
4) How is the night life?
5) I am an account manager but also do accounts receivable. Are the pay comparable to NH?
I'm hoping someone can answer these questions better than I but....
The job market is likely to be better than NH as I understand it. The economy is fairly robust here compared to the NE in general.
There are good neighborhoods in all areas of Charleston and some bad ones as well. Search through the posts, it's a common topic. What you want in the way of a lifestyle (urban, suburban, country, small town) should determine more of where you would search for your spot.
I think in urban Charleston you'll find more open minds but I admit as a middle-age white guy, I have little understanding of the challenges that an interracial couple might face. I've had friends who were in interracial relationships (not married) but they are a lot younger and the younger crowd is more open/accepting of such things too. Go out of Charleston into the "country" and I think you will find a lot more resistance. I am interested to hear other opinions on this!
Night life is good in downtown Charleston and not bad in some of the outlying areas. That said, it depends on what you're looking for. It's a big college scene downtown but there's often festivals happening that offer something different. I'm not a big city person and there's plenty of options for someone like me on most nights.
I don't know NH but the pay down south is likely lower than most everywhere else in the country. :-( Entrepreneur opportunities are good though.
1) How is the job market? What's the best website to use to look for a job?
I find the job market to be great here. It is much better than in MA where I moved from. The pay in my field is comparable to what I was making up north. I used careerbuilder.com and indeed.com to look for jobs before moving here. I found my first job on careerbuilder.
2) Which areas of Charleston should we stay away from?
I had some long conversations with a potential employer before moving here. I think he gave me the best advice. He told me not to live where I would have to drive on 526 to get to work. He told at the time that I should look in Mt. Pleasant, James Island, or West Ashley to live. I am very happy I listened to him.
3) Are there racism in Charleston? We are an interracial couple.
I don't see the racism and know several interracial couples.
4) How is the night life?
I can't help too much with this, but I have gone out a few times downtown and to Shem Creek. I really wish I lived here when I was in my 20s. It would have been a lot of fun! I know a lot of people in their 20s and they are always going out to different clubs/bars.
5) I am an account manager but also do accounts receivable. Are the pay comparable to NH?
I have no idea in this field, but my field is comparable to the area of MA I moved from.
Sorry if this is redundant but my husband and I are considering moving from NH to the Charleston area but I had several questions that need answering. We are looking to start a family so would like to live in a nice area. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
1) How is the job market? What's the best website to use to look for a job?
2) Which areas of Charleston should we stay away from?
3) Are there racism in Charleston? We are an interracial couple.
4) How is the night life?
5) I am an account manager but also do accounts receivable. Are the pay comparable to NH?
Thank you in advanced!
Welcome in advance, if you decide to make the move here! I will tout time and again that Charleston is a one-of-a-kind city, and after living all over the country, I've been here for years and will never again leave. To answer your questions -
1) How is the job market? What's the best website to use to look for a job?
Job market is pretty solid. Last year, my mother moved down here - she's in her mid-50s and after getting laid off in a major mid-western city during the economic crash some years ago, she had been doing consultant work and just dying for a permanent job again. Within 4 months of moving down here, she got a permanent job offer for a government contractor, which is stable, well-paying, and has excellent benefits. My husband found a job quickly here as an engineer (less than 3 months). Join the Charleston SC Job Seekers group on LinkedIn - need to get approval for that, but that's not hard - and see if you have any mutual contacts with any position you're applying for. Network, network, network!
2) Which areas of Charleston should we stay away from?
There aren't any areas of Charleston I'd tell you to stay away from - it depends on what you're looking for. You're wanting to start a family, so I'd pick an area with a school district you like. James Island is popular with younger families, as is Johns Island. Mt. Pleasant is ever popular with families but costs more than almost anywhere else in Charleston. You can also bet on Summerville and Goose Creek for inexpensive, family friendly developments; however, traffic coming toward Charleston in the morning and back to S-ville/GC in the afternoon is just thick, slow, and frustrating.
3) Are there racism in Charleston? We are an interracial couple.
Sadly, sadly, sadly - there is racism everywhere. It's all relative. It depends on who you interact with. Will you get comments walking down the street? I can't imagine you would - I've never heard anything like that said to other people when walking around Charleston. I visit NYC often and you can hear more racists things in a day there than you ever will down here, due to the population density. I can say I sincerely think you'll be alright - people down here for the most part are overly friendly, and you do have a lot of NE transplants from larger cities if that makes any difference to you.
4) How is the night life?
It's great! For a mid-sized city, the nightlife is booming. Downtown, Thurs, Fri, & Sat have really fun vibes, with the college crowd running around in the Market Street area and the slightly older, hip crowd hanging out on East Bay and Broad. There are so many delicious restaurants, hole-in-the-wall bars, classy rooftop venues, and everything in between. We never lack for things to do at night here in Charleston.
5) I am an account manager but also do accounts receivable. Are the pay comparable to NH?
Not sure about your specific position in NH, however, expect to get paid less down here - sometimes around 25%-30% less. When I moved back here after a couple years away, the position I took was a 20% pay decrease - hence my enthusiasm in finally getting my real estate license and making that dream a reality! Haha. My husband makes what his colleagues make up in Louisville, where we moved from. It depends what field you're looking at.
Good luck in making your decision! Hope you choose "us" - you'll love it here!
Sorry if this is redundant but my husband and I are considering moving from NH to the Charleston area but I had several questions that need answering. We are looking to start a family so would like to live in a nice area. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
1) How is the job market? What's the best website to use to look for a job?
2) Which areas of Charleston should we stay away from?
3) Are there racism in Charleston? We are an interracial couple.
4) How is the night life?
5) I am an account manager but also do accounts receivable. Are the pay comparable to NH?
Thank you in advanced!
I'm from Maine originally and I say....Come on down! LOL. There is much more racial diversity down here and I havent seen issues with bi-racial relationships. Race relations/racism....some tension but really superficial. You'll have to get used to the increase in crime rate but if you aren't into drugs/hanging with criminals....you'll be fine..... Do you have children? If so, you need to really pay close attention to this because some schools have issues with gang/violence (think inner-city like). The areas go from good to bad to great to good....in close quarters. Clubs down here have bad reputation for gang violence, more-so than Maine, NH, RI, VT. It depends on what you mean by "night life". There are plenty of late night things to do in down-town Chareston. I don't do "night life" anymore so I'm not the person to answer this. Cost of living is very affordable here.
You'll have to get used to the increase in crime rate but if you aren't into drugs/hanging with criminals....you'll be fine..... Do you have children? If so, you need to really pay close attention to this because some schools have issues with gang/violence (think inner-city like). The areas go from good to bad to great to good....in close quarters. Clubs down here have bad reputation for gang violence, more-so than Maine, NH, RI, VT.
I don't know about all this - do you have any stats to back that up? The website I use (which I can't link because of Fair Housing laws), shows that in the past few years, Charleston's violent crime rate was considerably lower than national average as well as lower than South Carolina's violent crime rate. Charleston's property crime rates were lower than South Carolina's average too.
New Hampshire overall has a crime rate that's trending upward, including violent crime and property crime trending to be higher than national averages. Looking at the largest city - Manchester - violent and property crimes were higher than national average (so, higher than Charleston) for the past several years.
Just want to make sure the site I use isn't highly inaccurate! I don't think it is though - correlates with police reports and credible news agencies.
I don't know about all this - do you have any stats to back that up? The website I use (which I can't link because of Fair Housing laws), shows that in the past few years, Charleston's violent crime rate was considerably lower than national average as well as lower than South Carolina's violent crime rate. Charleston's property crime rates were lower than South Carolina's average too.
New Hampshire overall has a crime rate that's trending upward, including violent crime and property crime trending to be higher than national averages. Looking at the largest city - Manchester - violent and property crimes were higher than national average (so, higher than Charleston) for the past several years.
Just want to make sure the site I use isn't highly inaccurate! I don't think it is though - correlates with police reports and credible news agencies.
Statistics are important but when crime is closer to your home than more rural places....it feels very different. Lots of times stats are based on population and some more rural areas have fewer people and are more spread out. If a murder happens in a rural population....it makes the stats looks crazy high when it comes to per 1,000 stats. If I were you, I'd definitely continue to use the website you like, it can be a great resourse, but being place in a situation can also be extremely important.
Statistics are important but when crime is closer to your home than more rural places....it feels very different. Lots of times stats are based on population and some more rural areas have fewer people and are more spread out. If a murder happens in a rural population....it makes the stats looks crazy high when it comes to per 1,000 stats. If I were you, I'd definitely continue to use the website you like, it can be a great resourse, but being place in a situation can also be extremely important.
What you're saying is true, however, that is true of everywhere. I think OP can move here without feeling overly scared of crime considering Charleston's crime rate is pretty good.
1) How is the job market? What's the best website to use to look for a job?
I think the job market here is great. I'm not sure where to look for a job here, as my husband's job is why we moved here and I moved my job with me, I work at home. But there are many networking groups and lots of jobs to be found here, from what I've seen. It really depends on field, though. Tech jobs are definitely out there, that's what my husband does.
2) Which areas of Charleston should we stay away from?
There are a few rough pockets of North Charleston and also a few rough areas downtown I would stay away from.
3) Are there racism in Charleston? We are an interracial couple.
I don't think you'll have any issues with being an interracial couple here. Granted this is the south and you might experience some tension but I think people are cool for the most part. There is racism everywhere though .
4) How is the night life?
There are some fun clubs/bars downtown... also Avondale in West Ashley has some neat places for post-college adults.
5) I am an account manager but also do accounts receivable. Are the pay comparable to NH?
I can't really comment on pay... that probably depends on wherever you get hired, but I will say that with pay and cost of living here, we definitely have to budget our money.
What you're saying is true, however, that is true of everywhere. I think OP can move here without feeling overly scared of crime considering Charleston's crime rate is pretty good.
I'm not trying to persuade her not to come....I actually think she should come. Being that I'm from a similar area, I know how I felt....not saying that is how the OP will feel but it is worth mentioning.
I also know that this can be applied for many places.
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The website I use (which I can't link because of Fair Housing laws), shows that in the past few years, Charleston's violent crime rate was considerably lower than national average as well as lower than South Carolina's violent crime rate. Charleston's property crime rates were lower than South Carolina's average too. 
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