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My husband & I & our 2 small children are planning to relocate to SC. We were thinking of Summerville as it's close to Charleston (& my in-laws live in Mt. Pleasant). I've just read some articles in the Post & Courier online that they are considering making a train line from Summerville to Charleston due to all the growth. My questions are - is Summerville becoming overcrowded? is there really a huge commute time from Summerville to Charleston? are there other, affordable, communities that you would recommend over Summerville? Our children will not be in school for a few years, but we obviously need to be in an area that has good schools. I've heard that Dorchester 2 schools are good, but if that area is becoming too over-burdened already, maybe we should think of another area?
I'd appreciate any local insight/advice!!
Thanks.
Jennifer
An affordable (let's say Mt. Pleasant doesn't qualify) place with good schools is very hard to find. When you couple that with the cost of the Charleston area, it becomes even more difficult.
James Island is going to be cheaper than Mt. Pleasant, and it has a reputation for good schools. But it won't be much cheaper. Hollywood and Ravenel will be a good bit cheaper, but I can't say that the schools are any good. Goose Creek is affordable, but again, I can't vouch for the schools there.
You could go farther up to Moncks Corner, on Lake Moultrie. A good buddy of mine went to the public schools (Summerville High) in that area, and he tells me they are pretty good by typical SC standards. But then you're venturing out of the Charleston area a bit.
Summerville has been rapidly growing for about 15-20 years. It isn't a recent thing. I don't have any numbers offhand, but I know that it was a very small place in the 1970's and 1980's.
Do you know anything about the commute time from Summerville to Charleston? Is traffic congestion really that bad? I'm from NY, so I can't imagine it could be as bad as it is here!!
You could go farther up to Moncks Corner, on Lake Moultrie. A good buddy of mine went to the public schools (Summerville High) in that area, and he tells me they are pretty good by typical SC standards. But then you're venturing out of the Charleston area a bit.
Hi there -- FYI, Summerville High is in Summerville within the Dorchester 2 School District - not near Moncks Corner.
My husband, two kids and I are moving to Summerville, SC this coming Saturday! Although we will be living in an apartment for a short time in North Charleston (still within the Dor 2 school district) we will eventually be within Summerville.
We spent a lot of time driving around the surrounding Charleston area. Mount Pleasant was not an option because it is too expensive for us as well as hearing from people that it is one area that is already congested. We looked in Moncks Corner, Goose Creek (Berkely County) before learning that we should really concentrate our search within the Dorchester 2 school district. So, we stuck to the west side of 526 and really, really liked the feel of Summerville much better than the Goose Creek area. It is one of those things that you have to get out and drive around, talk to locals, etc.
We have been told that there is a lot of "traffic" on 61 (I think that is Dorchester Rd) going from Summerville into Charleston, but believe me, it cannot be anywhere near as bad as the Wash, DC / I-95 corridor. One of the main reasons we are fleeing VA. We have yet to learn what "traffic" is really like in that area. So far, with what we've seen, it ain't bad!
If no traffic, I think from Summerville into downtown Charleston would be about 30-40 minutes. Others who have lived there certainly would know better than I.
We have also heard about the growth in Summerville and are well aware that it is indeed growing. Growth is just about every where there is affordable housing these days. Summerville so reminds me of what our town in VA was like when we first moved to Stafford in 1994. We are not fooled into thinking that Summerville won't eventually become too big. We are thinking we'll be there 10 yrs. By the time our youngest will be on to college.
As for a commuter train from Summerville to Charleston, I can't think that is a bad thing. Stafford / Fredericksburg ended up putting in the VRE (Virginia Rail Express) which is used as a commuter train into Washington, DC with stops along the way to Quantico, Springfield, Crystal City and then Union Station, DC. It's been great for people who don't want to drive although they have to share the train tracks with CSX and the VRE doesn't get track priority all the time. (I used the train for 4 years.)
All in all, we are very excited about moving to Summerville and starting over there. From what we have seen, the people with whom we have talked and chatted over the last several months during our visits there, we are very confident in our decision. Time will only tell. Good luck! Grace
Hi, Goose Creek is not a bad place, lots of military families and retirees, same as Summerville. Great mix of people.. check out the "Crowfield Plantation" area, nice housing middle to upper priced. The schools are Berkeley County and are probably the best in that county. You'll be a little futher out, at rush hour expect another 15-20 mins on your commute to Chas.compared to S'ville. Traffic on I-26 is only heavy during rush hour. S'ville. has a population in the mid 30,000 range although they are building more schools as we speak, they still have a small town feel, and on the outskirts they have some nice stores (Berkeley County) that are national chains, they are doing a nice job and do not have that "strip mall" feel, in town (S'ville.) there are many charming locally owned shops. Oh, one thing about Berkeley County is they have the lowest taxes in the area. That's probably we in Dorchester County's major gripe.
Last edited by Lowcountry Girl; 07-10-2006 at 08:44 AM..
Lowcountrygirl - totally agree with you re: Crowfield Plantation. Very nice community in Goose Creek. We actually looked in there as well and liked it very much.
I am a physician in Michigan, looking to move back south-(three years in Atlanta); looking for affordable, growing town with good schools, near water and fun. I am looking at jobs in Orangeburg/Walterboro/Charleston. My research tells me that Columbia would be a good spot to live near Orangeburg and Summerville the same for Walterboro. My wife and I spent several weekends in the low country-Edisto/Charleston-when we lived in Atlanta, and fell in love. Hopefully moving soon. Any ideas re: commutes from Columbia-->Orangeburg vs Summerville-->Walterboro. Is Summerville close enough to Charleston to access it easily--(going out at night)?? Appreciate any input.
There is/was a Summerville High up towards Moncks Corner, we have a good friend that went there. He said they even had the same colors as Summerville High in Summerville and were BIG football rivals. I know, kinda strange. Just a little trivia for ya. Anyway, that is another thing I want to mention. Football, big here, REAL big, so I hope you like it because you will hear about it, A LOT.
Walterboro is growing. Maybe not as rapidly as Summerville, but that area has certainly seen some interest recently. The commute into Walterboro from Summerville would depend on what area of Summerville you live. We live on the outskirts on the side closer to Walterboro, so it takes us around 25minutes to get to Walterboro. If you lived on the other side of town it might take about 10-15 minutes longer.
Summerville is definitely close enough to access Charleston. We do it all the time.
As far as traffic goes commuting between Summerville and Charleston. I never had to deal with it before until recently when we had family in town and we went to downtown Charleston for the day. Not thinking, we left from downtown at the peak of rush hour. I can only say that I now know first hand why so many people complain about the traffic around here. It was absolute gridlock everywhere. What is normally a 30 minute drive, took us an hour and a half. So, if you can manage your drive times around rush hour you will do okay.
Last edited by scjj; 08-03-2006 at 06:54 AM..
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is there really a huge commute time from Summerville to Charleston? are there other, affordable, communities that you would recommend over Summerville? Our children will not be in school for a few years, but we obviously need to be in an area that has good schools. I've heard that Dorchester 2 schools are good, but if that area is becoming too over-burdened already, maybe we should think of another area?
Summerville - clarification
