Charleston Bound?? (Spartanburg, North: live, vs., rating)

[Ziggy100]

Originally Posted by DiannLE

Thanks for this chart. If they are both pretty hot and humid/ then in your opinion does Charleston have Florida beat in my other areas?

I've lived in both Florida (North Florida) and Charleston. I love Florida's lack of income tax, but property tax is higher than South Carolina.
Charleston has 4 seasons while Florida has 2. Expect a Florida summer to last deep into October before it the drier weather starts.
Florida has more franchise style restaurants, while Charleston's non franchise restaurant scene can't be beat.
Florida has far more beaches to choose from, Charleston has more history.
I think Charleston has far better public schools than Florida ( at least where I lived).

[dmlarue1]

Hi!
I have lived in Tucson Arizona for 6 years and have been in Summerville SC for 4 years. Both places are pretty hot and miserable in the summer. Even though Tucson is dry most of the year, they do have monsoon season in the summer during which it can get more humid than usual

Both places get WAY OVER 90 degrees. Arizona has been breaking heat records and we had over 100 degree days here in SC in July....Plus you have to remember the heat index. It may be 95 here, but with the heat index that feels like 105. (this year June and July had days 100 before the index, august has been in 90s before index)

Both places I treated the summer like our winter up North...You stay in the AC and don't do much outdoor activities.

I loved both areas. Tucson I loved because I loved hiking and you have 2 mountain ranges within driving distance. You are land locked though...we would drive to San Diego (5 hours) to get some ocean time. I think the desert is really beautiful, but I know some people don't like it

We originally are from RI, so missed being closed to the coast. I love Summerville because we are 30 minutes from the coast. The whole low country area is gorgeous. There are places to hike here, but it's the low country so it's flat...and there are lots of mosquitos in the summer so it makes hiking not as fun.

I think you need to choose what is the most important...the mountains or the beach? Hiking is always better in the mountains....but you are farther away from the beach....

I would say that no matter what place you choose, try to choose a place friendly to transplants. Both SC and AZ were, but we also lived in NC and the people I worked with were not friendly to outsiders. It made my time there pretty miserable.

[jonrd463]

The whole outsiders thing can get a bit overblown, but there is a key thing to remember that will make things much easier. We southerners love our home cities, states, and areas. We love our traditions, our slower pace, our history (and yes, we acknowledge there are some aspects that are ugly), and our way of life. We're open to anyone who wants to share in those things. It's only those who come down and want to turn our cities into extensions of Ohio, New Jersey, New York, etc., or who constantly remind us of how much better things were handled where they came from that we find irritating.

General advice to anyone wanting to move to Charleston and pretty much anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line: Come share in our way of life and we'll welcome you with open arms. Come down with judgement and disdain and expect to be treated in kind.

[13Bulldog]

No way can you do Charleston if you can't deal with humidity. Your denim will feel disgusting!

[thaifood]

Originally Posted by Ziggy100

I've lived in both Florida (North Florida) and Charleston. I love Florida's lack of income tax, but property tax is higher than South Carolina.
Charleston has 4 seasons while Florida has 2. Expect a Florida summer to last deep into October before it the drier weather starts.
Florida has more franchise style restaurants, while Charleston's non franchise restaurant scene can't be beat.
Florida has far more beaches to choose from, Charleston has more history.
I think Charleston has far better public schools than Florida ( at least where I lived).

Charleston doesn't really have much of a spring or winter.

We have about a month of winter in February and part of March with an inch or so of snow every 4 years. We have a month of spring and a nice fall from October to January. Summer is June to Oct 1 and 90s. ACK !!!

[Ziggy100]

Originally Posted by thaifood

Charleston doesn't really have much of a spring or winter.

We have about a month of winter in February and part of March with an inch or so of snow every 4 years. We have a month of spring and a nice fall from October to January. Summer is June to Oct 1 and 90s. ACK !!!

I wouldn't consider January fall by any means. It's cold, grass is brown, trees are barren.
Mid March grass starts to green up, trees refoliate.
Starts to get get hot around mid June till mid September.
Leaves start turning in Oct and Nov. Start wearing jackets again.
There might be an early or late cold or heat spell here and there but otherwise sounds like 4 seasons to me.

[thaifood]

Many January's start off with highs in the 60's. Hardly winter. It's not unusual for Christmas day here to be 70. Regarding SPRING. It's a month long here, then back to hot.

[m1a1mg]

Originally Posted by thaifood

Many January's start off with highs in the 60's. Hardly winter. It's not unusual for Christmas day here to be 70. Regarding SPRING. It's a month long here, then back to hot.

Define hot? Over 90?

[thaifood]

over 85 is hot, June hits 90s. I lived in Eugene Oregon for 4 years where I had 4 real seasons and 50 to 70 degree springtimes for months. God that was nice. Today in Eugene is 83 with a low of 49 !

[m1a1mg]

March had 0 days over 85.
April had 1 day over 85.
May had only 9 days over 85 and 5 of those were the last days of the month.

I thought this was a very nice spring. In fact, there was 1 day in April with highs in the 50s.