Florida vs South Carolina (living, best, cost, state)

[smurfman82]

Currently I live in Charleston, SC but originally relocated from Texas. It's not bad here but the city is kind of a mess. I will say the first time I visited Charleston I had to drive through North Charleston. That alone almost deterred me from relocating. The good parts of Charleston seem small in comparison to the rest of the area. The city also lacks access to stores and amenities. The roads are just horrible. We've looked at Mount Pleasant, Daniels Island and Summerville but they're all very dismal and uninteresting. The housing is also very high compared to Texas. I've also found that the housing quality isn't as good as places we've lived previously in Texas.

My main issue with Charleston is that there is simply not much to do once you've done it. The weather is very humid in the late summer months. The cockroaches (not palemetto bugs) are bad in certain areas, especially near the water. I was raised in South Louisiana and I have never seen so many. Maybe it's the location? The state seems very poor compared to Texas, not a lot of NEW development. The roads are a mess and people can't drive to save their life. I'm also new to all the tax laws they have here in the state, seems silly.

Anyway, it's not all bad and it's pretty here in some parts. I really appreciate the Spanish Moss trees and beaches, something Texas lacks. In a way it does remind me of Louisiana. However it still seems stuck in the past. The schools are horrible. I'm a Software Designer by trade and there isn't much here in terms of diversity and technology.

I noticed that Florida has a tax system similar to Texas. Florida also seems to be more diverse and offers more in terms of IT jobs. The technology sector is almost non-existent here in South Carolina. We were looking at Tampa as a possible location. Thoughts?

We like the city but want a house with a bigger yard. I love to fish but dislike the overcrowded beaches and tourist destinations. We sort of dealt with that last summer in Charleston. Especially with the PGA thing on Kiawah. The traffic was an utter mess for those three weeks.

The hot weather doesn't bother me, it's the 99% humidity. Ideally we'd like to find a fairly conservative city that's progressive in jobs/technology sector. We're a young conservative family which is one of the reasons I could never live in California, no offense. Ideally we'd like something close to the water that offers easy beach access while at the same time has larger city amenities (Tech Stores, Gyms, Cleaners). We also would like to find a business friendly state. A state that is easy on the taxes for small businesses. Maybe such a place doesn't exist in the United States anymore... Maybe we should just move back to Texas? LOL

I guess our questions:

Which state/city has...

- More IT Jobs
- Better beaches, parks and recreation
- Better schools
- Better infrastructure
- Lower crime
- More diverse
- Lower/less taxes
- Less restrictive laws (guns, cell phones)
- Cleaner

[titaniummd]

Originally Posted by smurfman82

I guess our questions:

Which state/city has...

- More IT Jobs
- Better beaches, parks and recreation
- Better schools
- Better infrastructure
- Lower crime
- More diverse
- Lower/less taxes
- Less restrictive laws (guns, cell phones)
- Cleaner

I grew up in the Charleston Metro Area. Nice place. However, traffic has gotten worse over my lifetime. I lived in Florida during my military tour in Jacksonville. I travelled all over Florida. It is some hot weather. I did prefer the beaches in Florida -> less commercialized, no boardwalks in many areas. Golf is plentiful and less costly. Gas is expensive. So was personal property taxes. You can get a great deal on houses since it is flooded with short sales and foreclosures. However, jobs are somewhat low in supply for white collar positions. Minimum wage, tourism, retail are plentiful but salaries are much lower.

Crime is always higher in the big cities: Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Daytona

Better Beaches, Cleaner cities? Clearwater/Sarasota/St. Petersburg/Ponte Vedra/St. Augustine/Port Charlotte/ Amelia Island

Better schools? Public or private?

Diversity: Miami, Tampa, Orlando

No state income tax but the property taxes and sales tax is high. It ends up being a wash. If you're a consumer, then the taxes will be higher.

Florida is pretty much universal for guns. It's very liberal with Stand your ground. You can conceal any legal weapon, such as automatic knives, Balisongs, Bowie blades, as long as you have a concealed weapons license. It covers guns and other weapons (legal weapons).

More jobs? That's the million dollar question. Tampa, Orlando, Miami.

Recreation= golf, beaches, shooting ranges, hiking, and shopping. Most places except the panhandle. The panhandle seemed more rural to me.

South Carolina was nice. I went to school in Columbia. Sister in law lives in Greenville. Father in law in Aiken. Being in the military allowed me to adapt anywhere. I liked almost any major city. It's a beautiful state. Cost of living for housing is higher, though, in the major cities. Cost of houses will be higher in places like Greenville, charleston, Mt. Pleasant, Hilton Head.

[Hawaii4evr]

Florida wins. Of course it has the better beaches, with warmer, clearer water all year!

[StreetSmarts]

hard to say, just depends on where. Would I rather live in NE FL or the middle of SC? I'll take NEFL. But if I could choose ANY city to live in, of the two states, I'd choose GReenville SC.

[OptimusPrime69]

Florida is a huge state as I'm sure you're well aware. It runs the gamut of extremely built-up and touristy with beaches flanked by high rises and resorts to the desolate areas on the gulf coast where very little development exists...

You mention humidity being annoying to you---well dont think it's gonna be any better in Florida lol. In fact, it's prob even a bit worse. Tampa/St.Pete is a decent option because u have all the amenities of a larger metro area, yet u can still come across some more laid-back areas along the coast lines...Pinellas county is completely built up, so u may wanna heard further south into Manatee and Sarasota to get ur space...


roads in FL tend to be pretty good. I've found Florida to have some of the best roads anywhere. usually always will lit, well-paved....however traffic in Florida is a bear in any of the metro areas, especially Miami/Ft Lauderdale.... Orlando and Tampa.

[wendalan8]

We moved to the Greenville, SC area from MI about a year ago. I love it!

[MrKnight]

Florida hands down! Here are my answers to the OPs questions:

- More IT Jobs - About the same in both states
- Better beaches, parks and recreation - Florida by a thousand miles!
- Better schools - It really varies by county/neighborhood, both states have areas with goods public schools
- Better infrastructure - Florida due to multiple large metro centers (Miami/Tampa/Orlando/Jacksonville)
- Lower crime - Depends on the area, both states have good and bad parts
- More diverse - Florida (Especially Miami/South Florida and Orlando/Central Florida)
- Lower/less taxes - Florida (No state income tax)
- Less restrictive laws (guns, cell phones) - Florida
- Cleaner - Depends on the city/neighborhood, Florida tends to be more visitor friendly hence "cleaner" in most areas

[DavidMichael]

More IT jobs- Definitely Florida! According to indeed.com there are 43,404 IT jobs in Florida, while in South Carolina, there are only 8,670 IT jobs.
Better beaches, parks and recreation- Florida gets this one having both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Florida also has a wider variety of tourists attractions and recreational opportunities such as golf.
Better schools- Neither states are noted for their good K-12 schools but I would give the edge to Florida in universities.
Better infrastructure- Florida! It has more big cities and a better economy (Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee)
Lower crime- Both states have a high crime rate but it really depends on the area. South Carolina was ranked fifth in the nation for violent crime, however 11 of Florida's cities made the list of the 100 most dangerous cities in America. Stay in the suburbs if possible, but that comes with any area.
More diverse- Florida just because of it's proximity to Cuba, the Caribbean and Mexico as well as it being looked as a paradise by many different parts of the United States and the world which causes a lot of people to move there.
Lower/less taxes- Florida has no state income tax.
Less restrictive laws- Not quite sure about this one but Florida is a lot more liberal and South Carolina is a lot more conservative.
Cleaner- It really depends on where you are. Some of the South Carolinian cities (Greenville) and suburbs are very clean. Florida has a lot of clean cities (Jacksonville, Tampa) and some dirty ones (Miami (not the suburbs though))

If you are interested in the Tampa area, go for it! It is a very nice city with a good size. The weather is warm, the houses are cheap, there is great vibrancy, it has great amenities such as it's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and Orlando, and people are very nice there. However, watch out for hurricanes. There is also no mass transit and it is a very spread out city. Traffic can also really be bad. If you do not want to live in the actual city, go for suburbs such as Land O'Lakes and also check out Davies Island.

Also some other places to check out in Florida are the West Palm Beach area (Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Wellington) as well as if you are interested in the Miami area (Pinecrest, Kendall, North Miami Beach).

Good luck!

[franktoo]

Originally Posted by smurfman82

Currently I live in Charleston, SC but originally relocated from Texas. It's not bad here but the city is kind of a mess. I will say the first time I visited Charleston I had to drive through North Charleston. That alone almost deterred me from relocating. The good parts of Charleston seem small in comparison to the rest of the area. The city also lacks access to stores and amenities. The roads are just horrible. We've looked at Mount Pleasant, Daniels Island and Summerville but they're all very dismal and uninteresting. The housing is also very high compared to Texas. I've also found that the housing quality isn't as good as places we've lived previously in Texas.

My main issue with Charleston is that there is simply not much to do once you've done it. The weather is very humid in the late summer months. The cockroaches (not palemetto bugs) are bad in certain areas, especially near the water. I was raised in South Louisiana and I have never seen so many. Maybe it's the location? The state seems very poor compared to Texas, not a lot of NEW development. The roads are a mess and people can't drive to save their life. I'm also new to all the tax laws they have here in the state, seems silly.

Anyway, it's not all bad and it's pretty here in some parts. I really appreciate the Spanish Moss trees and beaches, something Texas lacks. In a way it does remind me of Louisiana. However it still seems stuck in the past. The schools are horrible. I'm a Software Designer by trade and there isn't much here in terms of diversity and technology.

I noticed that Florida has a tax system similar to Texas. Florida also seems to be more diverse and offers more in terms of IT jobs. The technology sector is almost non-existent here in South Carolina. We were looking at Tampa as a possible location. Thoughts?

We like the city but want a house with a bigger yard. I love to fish but dislike the overcrowded beaches and tourist destinations. We sort of dealt with that last summer in Charleston. Especially with the PGA thing on Kiawah. The traffic was an utter mess for those three weeks.

The hot weather doesn't bother me, it's the 99% humidity. Ideally we'd like to find a fairly conservative city that's progressive in jobs/technology sector. We're a young conservative family which is one of the reasons I could never live in California, no offense. Ideally we'd like something close to the water that offers easy beach access while at the same time has larger city amenities (Tech Stores, Gyms, Cleaners). We also would like to find a business friendly state. A state that is easy on the taxes for small businesses. Maybe such a place doesn't exist in the United States anymore... Maybe we should just move back to Texas? LOL

I guess our questions:

Which state/city has...

- More IT Jobs
- Better beaches, parks and recreation
- Better schools
- Better infrastructure
- Lower crime
- More diverse
- Lower/less taxes
- Less restrictive laws (guns, cell phones)
- Cleaner

Clearwater or Clearwater Beach. Much cheaper food and restaurants, cheap rents (forget about owning), low crime, good schools, little traffic, humidity around 80%. The beach in the residential areas is almost deserted. It really is a paradise. We moved here 10 years ago after living in Miami and before that in the Atlanta area. No comparison. We will never leave Clearwater Beach, FL!

[franktoo]

Clearwater or Clearwater Beach. Much cheaper food and restaurants, cheap rents (forget about owning), low crime, good schools, little traffic, humidity around 80%. The beach in the residential areas is almost deserted. It really is a paradise. We moved here 10 years ago after living in Miami and before that in the Atlanta area. No comparison. We will never leave Clearwater Beach, FL!